LAWRENCE: LHS swimmers post win before big week

Cards have HoVal, South on horizon

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   The Lawrence High School boys swimming team was happy to return to the regular season with a win on Tuesday, but a better test comes today.
   Fresh off a 139-23 win over undermanned Ewing at The College of New Jersey on Tuesday, the Cardinals host Hopewell Valley.
   ”We really look forward to a competitive meet right after the break,” said LHS head coach Mike Underwood, whose boys are 4-3. “That’s where you instantly see your hard work paying off.”
   It was an especially intense winter break of training for the Cardinals, whose only “break” came in a third-place finish at the Hornet Relays. The rest of the break was spent preparing for the remainder of the season.
   ”We had a really intense winter break,” Underwood said. “There was a lot of focus on stroke work and getting really good technique. Coming off the Hornet Relays, where they took third — we took third to two people we lost to — we said, let’s make sure we don’t have any more losses. We have two tough opponents coming up, West Windsor South and Notre Dame.”
   Tuesday’s win over Ewing was a chance to see how they came off the hard weeks of training and get a look at some new events. The girls also won easily, 135-34.
   ”There were some definite improvements,” Underwood said. “Not a lot of guys were swimming normal events. There were time drops. I’m excited to look at (today’s) meet against Hopewell. We’re excited to see if the hard work really did pay off.”
   Underwood is excited to see how his team responds to a stiffer challenge. A young Hopewell team comes off a loss to West Windsor-Plainsboro North on Tuesday.
   ”We’re looking to make sure the close meets go our way,” Underwood said. “And we’re looking to compete with two of the top teams in the CVC after that.”
   The make-up of this year’s Cardinals team has Underwood optimistic about the finish to this season and the years beyond it. LHS has just four seniors and no sophomore boys, but has more than enough to be a CVC contender.
   ”We have really good senior leadership,” Underwood noted. “We’ve got fantastic depth. We’ve got some fantastic juniors that will really, really help us out next year. We have some very, very talented freshmen. We have new faces that will make an impact for years. Our depth, I don’t think there’s another team in the county that can say they’re as deep as we are. It’s very promising.”
   For now, however, the Cardinals are focusing on sending the seniors out with the best possible season. Jon Cohl, Paul Konopko, Andrew Schofield, Pat Thiel deserve it.
   ”They’ve been fantastic leaders in meets and practices,” Underwood said. “It’s been a nice four years. I’m not looking forward to the season ending. I’m enjoying my time with them.”
   Progress for this season begins with them. Their example has set the tone for the Cardinals.
   ”The nice thing about them is all their times, they can see their times peaking in the events they swim,” Underwood said. “They know they’re getting faster. It’s nice to see that at the end of the season, your times getting faster before we get into the taper. Once we get into the taper, I’m excited to see their times explode.”
   The rest of the team is following suit. Both the junior and freshman classes have significant contributors already.
   ”We’ve got utility guys,” Underwood said. “They are very good at a lot of strokes. Chris Ball, Joe Hanko, Bobby Bostock, Luke Yammamoto, Mike Mus, Sam Sciarra, and Dominic Wirkijowski. Those guys including the seniors, their two individual events, can be anything up and down the entire meet. They are very good in everything. It’s interesting and fun as a coach to say, let’s see what you can do in this. They’ve never swum it and then they get out and it’s a fantastic time.”
   LHS will need good times to win today’s meet. A victory would set up the remainder of the regular season.
   ”Traditionally, we’ve won the past several years,” Underwood noted of today’s matchup. “It’s in our home pool. The last couple years, we’ve had to travel to them, and it’s at night at Pennington, which can throw you off. It’s nice to have a home meet. And they’re not used to a meters pool. That’s in our favor also.
   ”Pulling off a win there would be nice. To have a 2-0 week and next week, with Trenton on Tuesday then West Windsor South on Thursday, if we can be 3-0 going into the West Windsor South meet and get the emotions high, with the training, you never know.”