By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Miranda Ford thought last year’s Montgomery High School girls swimming team had a chance to do something special, but it is this year’s Cougars that are going to the sectional finals.
”It feels really good,” said Ford, a junior. “Last year we were undefeated and we thought we would go to the finals. To have it be this year was really exciting.”
To reach the finals, the Cougars have to reverse an 86-84 regular-season loss to Bridgewater-Raritan. Third-seeded MHS did Tuesday when they flipped the score with an 86-84 win of their own over the No. 2 seed in the North Jersey, Section 2 Division A semifinals.
”It feels amazing and the girls are so excited,” said MHS head coach Claire Scarpa after her team improved to 7-4. “I was getting texts from former swimmers. They saw it up on Facebook. We haven’t been to a sectional final since we moved up to North 2. In 2007 was the year we swam West Windsor South in the sectional final, and we haven’t been back there since then. It’s exciting and new.
”I don’t know if we all expected to be here because it’s such a tough division to be in. It’s probably the most difficult in the state when you look at how many top 20 teams there are in North 2 A.”
The Cougars will see another of those top teams when they square off against top-seeded Hunterdon Central 6 p.m. tonight at the Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy.
”We know this is going to be a really hard rematch,” said Ford, who won both distance freestyle events. “They did beat us pretty easily in the regular season. Bridgewater, they beat us by two points. We knew we had a chance. Hunterdon Central is more of a long shot. We’re going to go for it. We’re going to put everything we can into the meet and try.”
The third-seeded Montgomery boys lost to second-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood, 99-71, Wednesday. Zack Warner won the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Jake Otterbein, Tommy Galvin, Evan O’Mara and Warner won the 400 free relay as the Cougars ended their season with a 5-5 record.
After a rocky trip for the girls to the semifinal meet — the MHS bus broke down on its way to Bridgewater — it was smooth sailing from the outset. The Cougars’ medley relay of Hannah Matheson, Katie King, Jessie Feng and Cassidy Bergeron opened the meet by touching out Bridgewater. In the regular season, it was Bridgewater that had won the opening relay by three-hundredths of a second.
”That was definitely important,” Ford said of the medley. “This time, in the medley we did get a touch out. We knew it was going to be an important race. It gave us a lot of confidence going in.
”We won first and second in the 2 free and 2 IM. We were excited we were doing so well and were so far ahead. And that gave us energy to push through to the end of the meet as well.”
Scarpa made a couple of lineup changes that paid big dividends. Jenna D’Allegro swam the 200 freestyle while King did the 200 individual medley. Ford won the 200 free and D’Allegro took second, and King won the 200 IM with Feng taking second to open a sizeable lead.
”After the 200 IM, when we went 1-2, I felt really good,” Scarpa said. “I knew they had other areas, the sprints, where they went 1-2 in the 50 and 100. I was hoping Brianna (McKenna) could break up the 1-2, but it’s such a short race it’s hard to do.”
The meet tightened as the teams went back and forth dominating different events. Matheson won and Feng was second in the fly. Ford and Lily Stauffer — whose return from injury has been a bonus for the Cougars — went 1-2 in the 500 free, but Bridgewater took first and third in the 200 free relay.
”If we won the 2 free relay, would have had a bigger cushion,” Scarpa said. “Miranda swam an incredible leg.”
Ford had the fastest split in the Cougars’ 2 free relay but MHS was edged by two-tenths of a second. A club swimmer with the Princeton Piranhas, Ford has always been a distance swimmer, but in the relays she has come up big through the years. Last year in the regular season, she helped MHS edge Hillsborough by anchoring the B relay to a third-place finish to decide the meet.
”It’s a team effort,” Ford said. “I trust the rest of my team. All four girls, we feed off each other. The ones I swim with are sprinters and they’re capable of getting me a lead. And I know if it’s up to me, I can still hang with them. To be a good distance swimmer, you still have to be able to hold a fast pace.
”When it’s such an intense meet, like Bridgewater, you’re feeding off each other. It makes it easier to go out and sprint. I think I’ve gotten better at sprinting because I have to do it every meet.”
Bridgewater’s depth kept it around as MHS went 1-2 in the breaststroke with King and D’Allegro after Matheson won the backstroke. That left the meet tied, 78-78, going into the final 400 free relay.
”I knew Emma Sommers had already swum. She’s their top sprinter,” Scarpa said. “I knew she was done and Brooke Sharkey was done. Two of their big guns were done after they swam in the first two relays. Looking at who we had, I was confident. I told our team to win this race, but have safe starts.”
McKenna led off with a solid first leg before Ford opened up a body-length lead that the Cougars would never lose.
”When we lost Megan Lydzinksi, who was an extremely good sprinter, I knew I had to step up this year and be one of the better ones on the relay,” Ford said. “I think I’ve stepped up and done that pretty well.”
King stretched the lead further and Matheson cruised to the win that secured the team victory. It was a way that the Cougars could verify for themselves just how good a team they have this season.
”This is definitely a big win,” Ford said. “We did get beat by Bridgewater in the regular season. This was a bit of revenge. And it was exciting to know this is part of the history of Montgomery. It’s the first time we’ve been to the final since 2007. That’s big.”
