Hopewell girls start season with win

SWIMMING

By: Tim Falls
   Taking on the Pennington School gives the Hopewell Valley Central High School swim team a good idea where it will be this season.
   The Bulldogs’ girls swim team defeated the Red Raiders, 96-74, while the Pennington boys won their meet, 95-75.
   "It’s always a big meet," said Hopewell Valley coach Bill DeHaven. "We know Pennington is always a good team. To get a win, it’s really a big boost."
   Along with being a good reference to measure the team, Pennington is a good rival for Hopewell. Pennington shares its pool with the Bulldogs so both teams take a ‘home pool’ advantage in the meet.
   "It was intense," said Hopewell freshman Laura Eckel. "It was a really intense first meet of the season. We were pretty even so it was a tough meet."
   Both girls teams graduated some significant talent, but Hopewell retained the depth to win out in the end.
   "They lost a few girls and that was the difference in the meet," said senior Catharine Brookes. "Last year we only beat them by a few points. To stay ahead this year shows we have depth. We have a lot of freshman swimming for us and scoring points for us, which is important."
   Sophomore Samantha Kietlinski led Hopewell with first-place finishes in the 200-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly.
   Senior Anjana Sinha won the 50 free for the Bulldogs, Eckel took the 100 free, senior Maddy Jacobs won the 500 free and Brookes led a sweep in the 100 breaststroke.
   Sinha, Brookes, senior Cristin Coleman and senior Kristin Cuprzinski won the 200 free relay.
   Cuprzinski added to Hopewell’s total by taking second behind Kietlinski in the 100 fly and finishing second in the 200 individual medley. Likewise, sophomore Kristen Brouwer helped Hopewell record a one-two finish by claiming second in the 500 free, while Sinha and junior Megan Angelastro claimed second and third, respectively, in the 100 breast.
   Lauren Smart led Pennington with victories in the 200 IM and 100 back along with helping the Red Raiders win the 200 medley relay and the 400 free relay.
   Asya Roberts added second-place finishes for Pennington in the 200 and 100 freestyles, Kate Suyo claimed second in the 50 free and 100 back.
   While the Bulldog boys’ team suffered an opening loss, Hopewell had reason to celebrate after the two school record swims.
   Senior Billy Dunne rewrote his own school record from last season in the 100 backstroke with a first-place finish of 56.30.
   Dunne’s backstroke also helped freshmen Alex Field and Matt Kietlinski and junior Will Armington break the Hopewell 200 medley relay record. The Bulldogs placed second in the event in 1:44.56 and erased a four-year old record.
   The Pennington School had to break one of its records to stay ahead of the Bulldogs in that event.
   Brandon Hullings, Andrew Butler, Jesse Lieberman and John Tarchis finished first in 1:43.39 for a Pennington record.
   Butler also claimed an individual school record by winning the 100 breast in 1:03.13 and his split of 50.72 in the first leg of the 400 free relay also set a school record. In fact, the entire 400 free relay team of Butler, Jordan Lieberman, Jesse Lieberman and Tarchis, claimed a school record in the event with a 4:26.86 for first place, which beat the previous Pennington record of 3:29.72 set in 1997.