Transfer adds to depth
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
When Julia Bland moved to Montgomery, she had no idea how perfectly it would work out in the pool.
The junior transfer from Rumson-Fair Haven has slid neatly into the Montgomery High School girls swim lineup as the Cougars’ top 500 freestyler to replace the graduated Miranda Ford, and she can help in any number of other events. She helps with a huge freshman class that gives the Cougars versatility in their lineup.
”I think the possibilities are endless,” Bland said. “I know we have high aspirations.”
Last Tuesday, Bland won the 500 and the 100 butterfly and swam a leg of the winning 400 free relay as MHS remained unbeaten in the early season with a hard-fought 90-80 win over Bridgewater-Raritan, another strong team in the state.
”It was sort of an eye-opener,” Bland said. “The way we went into the meet was not necessarily as focused as we could have been. We knew Bridgewater was a good team. To know how close it was, it was an eye-opener.
”I don’t really know who’s really good yet. We were saying, we can get this meet, we should be good. We found out they were going to be a tough team, but didn’t know how tough.”
Bridgewater showed its competitiveness early when it won the opening medley relay by one-hundredth of a second. They later won the 200 freestyle relay by one-hundredth of a second.
”It was really close,” said MHS head coach Claire Scarpa. “We were not winning for most of the meet. The medley lost by .01 and the same thing in the 200 free relay. We thought we would have a solid 1-3, but it was 2-3. Then their girl in the 200 free came from behind to win it and we went 2-3. Little things like that, they got us a lot. I can’t believe the number of close races where they touched us out by not even a second for sixth place.”
Despite not scoring points in every lane in every race, the Cougars had enough firepower to hold off Bridgewater. Bland won her two individual events, Brigid DiBlasio won the 100 backstroke and Kara Lydzinksi won the 100 breaststroke.
”There were a couple event we went 1-2 — the fly, 500 and breast,” Scarpa said. “Getting those big points and outscoring them made up for the times they got the one point for fifth.”
Bland was a part of two of the 1-2 finishes. Bland was followed by Jenna D’Allegro in the 500 free. Lydzinski led in Michelle D’Allegro in the breaststroke. Bland also made sure the Cougars closed the meet well. They needed a win or a 2-3 finish in the 400 free relay to clinch the meet, and after seeing Bridgewater eek out the first two relay wins, MHS wasn’t taking a chance.
”The first relay, everyone is screaming and yelling and it’s intense,” Bland recalled. “You want to be the relay that wins by .01 and to be the relay that loses by .01, I’ve never seen it happen once before and it happened twice. I think we let it get to us a bit too much, but we finished.
”After we saw the 2 free relay, I turned the girls in my relay, and I said, not again. We were all really pumped.”
Brianna McKenna, Bland, Lydzinski, and Katie King finished in 3:39.96 to make sure there was no doubt.
”That’s fast in a dual meet,” Scarpa said. “They were not happy about losing the other two relays. They knew they needed to go 2-3 or win it. We went 1-3.”
The MHS boys won as well, 99-71, to remain unbeaten. Scarpa is still in the midst of figuring out what will be her best girls team lineup.
”I have 14 returning swimmers and 13 new,” said Scarpa, who has Bland, a sophomore transfer and a sophomore that didn’t swim last year in addition to 10 freshmen. “I’m definitely still figuring stuff out. There’s a lot of versatility in the lineup. I’m trying to figure out what events are best for people to swim. Even returning swimmers, I’m moving them around.”
Bland is happy that she can jump right in the lineup. A club swimmer for Red Bank YMCA last year, her club team did not allow her to swim in the Meet of Champions although she posted qualifying times. She has moved to the Somerset Valley YMCA club team and has the chance to fit right in for the Cougars.
”I’m thrilled I can be their 500 swimmer now,” Bland said. “In the fly, I’ve improved it a lot over the course of the season. Me and Kara, we went 1-2 today. We can go 1-2 or 1-3. It’s a really nice feeling to know I can help immediately.”
At Rumson-Fair Haven, she swam in the first round of the state tournament. In moving to Montgomery, she joins a team that reached the state Public A semifinals. Adjusting to her new team has only helped her competitive drive.
”Montgomery as a whole is a much better team,” Bland said. “The depth is incredible. All the freshmen, there’s so much potential. It’s so inspiring. It’s one thing to be the fastest person on the team, but to be on a team where there’s such a large group of fast girls, we all want to go so far, I want to do my best for them. We know we’re fast together, our collective speed can get us so far.
”We have to kick it into gear more,” she said. “To be able to beat them at the end, it was such a good feeling. Moving forward, I think we’ll be able to go into the Hillsborough meet and Hunterdon Central meet knowing where we need to swim as fast as possible.”
Bland will be able to help almost anywhere except backstroke, which is her weakest stroke. She played plenty of other sports growing up, but focused on swimming after qualifying for nationals in eighth grade. She’s a welcome addition to a team with big goals.
”She’s pretty much good everywhere,” Scarpa said. “The fly is pretty fast with her and Kara and third is Katherine Doo. The fly was great today. She’s a really good distance swimmer. It wasn’t even close to her fastest time.”
Bland is open to swimming any event that the Cougars need from her. She has adjusted well to her new school, and been a strong addition to the girls swim team.
”I love Montgomery,” Bland said. “The whole atmosphere of high school swimming, it’s so much fun overall. The whole team gets into every single meet. The team I was on before, Montgomery adds more excitement. Last year they were so good and there was so much hype coming into the season, I love it.”