ROBBINSVILLE: Owens happy to return for state meet

Swimmers build on success

By Justin Feil, The Packet Group
   Taylor Owens had already missed the last week of the regular season plus the Mercer County Championships, but the Robbinsville High School junior wasn’t going to miss the Ravens’ first girls state meet.
   ”I went to practice Tuesday and Wednesday,” Owens said. “It hurt, but I pushed through the pain.”
   The pain was still there, but the pride was as well as Owens was in the pool for Robbinsville’s first state meet, a 106-64 loss to Cherokee in the Central Jersey A Division quarterfinals last Friday.
   ”We had an idea what we were going into,” Owens said. “We went above our expectations. We came in as a team and we came out as a team. We did the best we could and we were proud.”
   Owens had swum in the state tournament last year, but that was as a part of the then co-ed Ravens’ team. This year, the teams split at the start of the season, which gave the girls the ability to make the state tournament for the first time in school history.
   ”We had more confidence this year,” said Owens, who was fourth in the 100 back and swam in the 50 free as well as the backstroke leg for the 200 medley relay. “The girls were so excited just to be able to go into states. It was just the girls. Last year, it was considered a boys meet. It was just the girls themselves that made it to states this year.”
   Cherokee came in with more power points and flexed its muscles against the states newbie, but it was an experience the Ravens will have to build upon in coming years.
   ”We all thought we did better than we expected we were going to,” Owens said. “We went in as hard as we could. We all said, treat it like it’s your last meet and swim the hardest you can. There were a couple races that we got nervous on, but we had a good meet. We were happy with ourselves.”
   The Ravens were 9-3 in the regular season before falling to Cherokee in their team’s season finale.
   ”I personally think our girls did absolutely amazing,” Owens said. “I was kind of shocked by us. I didn’t think we’d be 9-3 at the end. The first day of practice, it didn’t look like we’d be 9-3.
   ”Throughout the season, we all improved. We all got faster and stronger. We swam as a team. We emphasized teamwork a lot this year.”
   It helped the Ravens bond with swimmers from Allentown, who joined Robbinsville for the chance to swim and compete as an official team.
   ”The first couple practices, we had dry land at two different schools,” Owens said. “When we got to the pool, and it took a while to mix into the lanes. As soon as we overcame that we were two different schools, it was like we were one school, one team. I consider us a huge family.”
   It is a family for Owens. At the head of the Robbinsville swim family is Owens’ own mother, Pam. She’s been coaching Taylor since she was 4 years old. She’s harder on her daughter than any other swimmer in the program, but Taylor can appreciate her passion for the sport.
   ”I honestly think we couldn’t get a better coach,” Taylor said. “I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom.”
   Pam Owens has helped raise the status of swimming in Robbinsville. More swimmers have come out each year, enough that they could split the co-ed program this year. They invited Allentown, and have spent the year sporting a motto that “Two is better than one.”
   ”We showed everyone we can do this,” Taylor Owens said. “Last year, when we were talking about putting Allentown together with us, people said it wouldn’t work.”
   She has helped to make it work. Even though she’s just a junior, Taylor is one of the captains for the team.
   ”I enjoy being a captain this year, being able to work with everyone and putting corresponding things together,” she said. “I think the six of us did a good job of making sure everyone was comfortable on the team and felt OK. If anyone had any questions, we helped them with the new strokes.”
   Owens should feel comfortable when she returns in that role next year. She will be a critical piece of the leadership for a Ravens team that this year is graduating five seniors apiece from the boys and the girls teams. She is hoping that they will be able to sustain the level of success that helped to make it such an exciting first season for the Robbinsville girls swimming team.