Pirate swim by Montgomery for second time
By: Justin Feil
Kate Winters didn’t feel great about last season, and it had little to do with losing in the Central Jersey ‘A’ Division final.
"Junior year was when I stopped growing," Winters said. "My muscles weren’t caught up with my height. Last year, it wasn’t a good season for me. I had some not great times. I wasn’t happy with my swimming and I was losing some spirit since I was not doing well."
It didn’t help when the West Windsor-Plainsboro South girls’ swim team lost to Lawrence to end their season. But in the summer, Winters was bolstered by dropping a few seconds in Junior Olympic competition. Her strength caught up with her 5-foot-10 frame and she returned this year with a brighter outlook and bigger goals for the Pirates.
"She’s changed more than any other swimmer I’ve encountered in the pool," said WW-P South head coach Paul Hamnett of the senior captain. "She always worked hard, but not to this level. From Day One this year, she came in leading her lane and kicking the boys’ butts. She’s trained so much harder. She deserves the success she’s had this year."
Winters won the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly and was a part of the winning medley relay as the Pirates topped Montgomery High School, 97-73, Tuesday at North Brunswick High for the CJ A championship, their fourth in five years.
"It was a pretty big deal that we didn’t win last year since we beat Lawrence at counties and before that," said Winters, who last year was part of the winning medley and won the 100 backstroke for the Pirates in the CJ A final. "We came in hoping to go farther than last year. Now we have. It was pretty awesome to get farther than last year."
The 15-0 Pirates were scheduled to face South Jersey champion Cherry Hill West on Thursday in the state A Division semifinals. The winner faces the Westfield-Randolph winner 12:15 p.m. Sunday at The College of New Jersey.
"It depends on all the girls," Winters said. "The whole season, we didn’t have any really close, close meets. Besides the Bridgewater meet, we haven’t had a meet that came down to the last event. I think our girls can pull off anything they want, just as long as they know what we’re getting into. The captains, we’re doing our best to let them know every point counts.
"If we win, I think I’ll cry for three days. I’m going to be upset the high school season will be over. I’m upset it’s going to be over."
Winters, who is bound for Rowan University, is hoping to push the season to Sunday’s state final. She is hoping to get a couple last swims in for the Pirates, a team that she has enjoyed being a big part of for four years.
"I think one of the reasons I’m doing so well is I’m a team person," Winters said. "I will do anything for the team. I’m very much a team person. That’s why my relay times are always better than my individual times.
"I do it all for the team. I really want us to go far this year. I’ve stepped up a lot. I’ve had a lot of best times."
Winters’ example is one that the younger Pirates can emulate. A club swimmer with Eastern Express, she has continued to do whatever WW-P South has needed.
"We’ve been swimming her in primarily in back and 200 free," Hamnett said. "She’s also done fly. She’s probably our most versatile swimmer. She can win the IM. Probably the only things she hasn’t done are the 50 and the 100 breast."
Winters was content to come out of her usual back to swim the fly Tuesday. She responded with a win to help the Pirates pull away from the Cougars.
"The first time around, I swam the 200 free and 100 back," Winters said. "This was the fifth time I ever swam the 100 fly. It was kind of different. All of a sudden, I’ve started doing the fly. I don’t mind, whatever he wanted to put me in, I’d swim.
"I think if I swim it a few more times, I’d be more confident. I’m not too confident in (winning) it. I’m confident enough to swim it and get points for the team, but I’d be more confident if I swam it more. I’m just happy I didn’t have to swim the backstroke against Meghan (Leddy)."
Leddy was the lone individual winner for Montgomery, taking both the IM and the backstroke. She also helped the Cougars capture the final 400 free relay to end their team season on a positive note. Erica Hydrusko, Jillian Prentice and the 200 and 400 free relays will compete in the Meet of Champions to end the season.
"We swam well," said MHS head coach Claire Scarpa, whose team finished 10-3. "We closed the gap on the score. I thought it was going to be even closer than that. I’m bummed we lost. It would have been nice to be sectional champions. But they’re the better team. We swam better in some events and swam worse in other events than last time.
"We had two pool records, both by Meghan Leddy. We broke the pool record in the 200 free and they beat us. They went 1:43.09. It was a great race. I thought it was a great season. Two of our losses were to West Windsor, and we lost once to Mount St. Mary’s. The season, all in all, was fantastic. It was a great year."
It ended for the Cougars with a rematch of a December meeting of the two that ended with a 99-71 WW-P South win. That win helped give the Pirates some confidence.
"I’d say it helped a little bit," Winters said. "It was good we knew it was possible we could beat them. None of them were cocky today. Nobody on our team has too much pride. We all gave it our all.
"In December, we had no idea who was going to win that meet. It was a good thing to know we could win. If somebody didn’t win a race, it was OK because we knew we could do it."
Confirming they were the better team had double the effect Tuesday. It kept the Pirates’ season alive and gave them the sectional title that had eluded them last year.
"I know for our seniors, they really wanted to win after getting beat by Lawrence last year," Hamnett said. "It was most important to the seniors. They wanted to go out on top. They never lost a CVC or county meet. They wanted this pretty badly. They definitely led the way. It was nice for them."