ROBBINSVILLE: Johnson makes first MOC swim finals

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   SEWELL — Taylor Johnson saw progress in her second trip to the Meet of Champions.
   ”I came last year, but I didn’t make finals,” said the Robbinsville High School sophomore. “It was a little better this year. I didn’t really swim my best last year, so this year is better.”
   The Ravens swimmer was the only individual to advance to the second day of competition at Gloucester Institute of Technology on Sunday. Johnson delivered a pair of personal bests to kick off her championship portion of the year. She will swim in the Junior Olympics the weekend of March 18, where she hopes to qualify for the Grand Prix in Michigan, and got a good taste of how she stacks up against top competition at the MOC.
   Johnson’s best finish was a 12th-place showing in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:11.00.
   ”I really did think I was going to break 2:10,” Johnson said. “I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t, but maybe next year.
   ”My butterfly felt good. My backstroke and my breaststroke felt not so good. My freestyle was OK. I know what I need to work on.”
   Johnson also was an alternate for the 500 freestyle final after going 5:14.82 in Saturday’s preliminaries, a personal best by three seconds.
   ”It hurt a lot,” she said. “I was a little sore. It’s still a best time, which is good.”
   Johnson swam 2:10.91 in the preliminaries on Saturday to ensure that she returned to her first state finals.
   ”I’m happy I made it this far,” Johnson said. “Still, I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t break 2:10, but there’s always next year for that. And 2:10.91 is the best time I’ve done.
   ”I have a pretty good idea of where I am.”
   Johnson was a lonely representative for the Ravens on Sunday. She swam in a pair of relays on Saturday.
   ”The Robbinsville girls teams, they swam good races, but they were seeded a little lower in their events,” said Robbinsville head coach Pam Owens. “They were just happy to be here. They just never thought that was a possibility. In the beginning of the season, they kind of saw it more likely, then in the middle, Taylor really saw the potential in the 400 free. Alice Nie, being a senior, thought it was a wow experience.
   ”They just loved being here. They loved getting the sweatshirts with their names on the back, loved being here and what the future holds for them.”
   Robbinsville is hopeful that it has the numbers to split its co-ed team into boys and girls. The Ravens raised standards this season with a first trip to the state Meet, and being at the MOC was another step in pushing the program forward.
   ”It was the first time we had relays from either team make it,” said Owens, who also helps oversee the quartet of Allentown swimmers that came to the MOC. “We had two from Robbinsville and two Allentown relays actually make it into states, so that was phenomenal.”
   Allentown had a tough trip to the MOC. They had entries in the 200 medley relay, the 50 and 100 free races and were banking on a big finish to the 200 free relay, but missed the start of it when they thought they were in the fourth heat, not the third.
   ”Because of the no show for that relay, Samantha (Hynes) could not swim her 100 breast,” Owens said. “It was a rough thing. It was a learning experience.
   ”We said to them, at least you were here, you made it, your relays made it. It was a tough learning experience for them, especially for Alexia (Hynes) being a senior and her last year here.”
   Three of the four — Taylor Owens, Samantha Hynes and Delaney Bader — have the chance to return next year. They have plenty of motivation after missing their chance to shine Sunday.
   ”We talked about, it does happen,” Pam Owens said. “It happens to Olympians. It happens to top swimmers. They’re just going to have to share that with teammates.”
   And for Taylor Johnson, she hopes to share her positive experience with the Ravens to spur them to greater things. She has bigger things in sight for her as well after seeing an improved performance at MOC.
   ”Taylor, she has very high expectations,” Owens said. “She swam her best and was right there, and she’s a sophomore. She’s got two more years to be here. That’s how I look at it. You look at a lot of these races and there’s a lot of seniors, so there’s a lot of potential for her and her growth.
   ”I think she’s got so much potential. So she’ll be on that podium for the A finals. I definitely see that in her future.”