BOYS SWIMMING
By: Tim Falls
Hopewell Valley Central High School senior Billy Dunne won the 100-meter backstroke at the Mercer County Championship at Lawrence on Saturday.
Dunne finished first in the event with a time of one minute, 2.24 seconds.
The senior Bulldog led the county in the backstroke by several seconds. Pennington’s Jordan Lieberman took second in 1:05.24 and Hun’s Connor Bowman placed third in 1:05.53.
Dunne did even better against his Colonial Valley Conference competition. West Windsor-Plainsboro South’s Hugh Le finished fourth in 1:07.11.
"The backstroke was just amazing," said Hopewell Valley coach Bill DeHaven. "He wasn’t even close to the pack."
Dunne gained a quick lead with a 30.37 second split in his first 50 meters.
"We knew he was going to do well," said DeHaven. "We just didn’t know he was going to do as well as he did."
Dunne’s 1:02.24 was his season best.
The senior Bulldog really got into the competition in his last county championship. That excitement helped drive Dunne to his best time.
"He was really pumped up," said DeHaven. "So we knew he was going to do his best time." Along with his individual efforts in the 100 backstroke, Dunne raced the backstroke leg for Hopewell in the 200 medley relay.
Dunne, freshman Alex Field and juniors Matthew Birkhofer and Will Armington took fourth in the 200 medley in 1:57.61.
Dunne gave his teammates a lead with his 28.75-second split.
Dunne also finished fifth, individually in the 200 free in 2:05.76. Nottingham ‘s Craig Lupa just edged the Hopewell senior for fourth with a time of 2:05.75.
While Dunne had a decent amount of time between his events, instead of using it to prepare for his next swim, the Bulldog cheered for teammates and friends.
"He’s always up cheering," said DeHaven. "He cheers for the Hopewell swimmers and the swimmers on his club team who are on other teams."
That excitement seemed to motivate Dunne for the backstroke.
"He was just swimming against himself and his time," said DeHaven.
Field finished fifth in the 200 individual medley in 2:18.24. The freshman Bulldog also took eighth in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.37.
Armington placed eighth in the 100 free in 57.27 and claimed ninth in the 50 free in 26.02.
Armington, Field, junior NickPace and Dunne won the consolation heat of the 400 free relay in 4:02.65 to place seventh overall.

