MHS, PHS girls also win semis
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Tommy Galvin is down to his final swims for the Montgomery High School boys teams.
The senior would like to make them memorable, as much for himself as for his classmates, who have helped to key a resurgence by the Cougars in recent years.
”While the swimming is important we have been getting better every single year but what most characterizes the senior class is the great camaraderie we have,” Galvin said. “We all hang out outside of school and trust each other a lot and have really great friendships.
”That’s why a lot of people swim faster in high school than in club, because of that friendship and teamwork part.”
The Cougars have spurred each other on to another appearance in a sectional final. Last year, Montgomery won the Central Jersey Public A Division championship, and they set themselves up for a shot at a repeat of the title with a 123-47 walloping of East Brunswick in the semifinals Tuesday.
”I think we feel really good about where we are,” Galvin said. “We’ve worked really hard to get to the point where we’re at. We have a really tough schedule. Being able to have a win like that to once again go on to the state sectional final adds to our confidence and our excitement.”
The Cougars had the winner in every individual event and swept all three relays in the convincing win. The 200 medley relay of Wesley Chen, Larry Lin, Kevin Liu and Jake Otterbein started the meet off with a win. Eric Jiang won the 200 freestyle, Ryan Fitzpatrick won the 200 individual medley and Otterbein won the 50 free. After the break, the Cougars’ Michael Poirier won the 100 butterfly, Jack Winge won the 100 free and Otterbein won the 500 free. Fitzpatrick, Galvin, Evan O’Mara and Winge took the 200 free relay. Varun Pitta won the 100 backstroke and Liu won the 100 breaststroke before Galvin, Jiang, Poirier and Winge won the 400 free relay to finish off the meet.
”We’re confident,” Galvin said of facing Lenape in the sectional final that was scheduled for Thursday. “We aren’t as confident for (Thursday) facing Lenape who we know is a ranked team. It’ll be closer.”
The Cougars are the only remaining Packet-area boys team. In the North Jersey, Section 2, Public B Division, fourth-seeded Princeton High lost to fifth-seeded Millburn, 95-75, despite a pair of wins apiece from Stephen Kratzer and Alex Petruso. Third-seeded West Windsor-Plainsboro South stopped sixth-seeded WW-P North, 97-73, in the sectional quarterfinals with Michael Zhong winning the 200 free and 500 free, Kurt Von Autenried winning the 200 IM and 100 fly, Richard Deng taking the 50 free and 100 back and Brian Li winning the 100 breast. Abdallah Gendia won the 100 free for North. In the semifinals, second-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwood beat the Pirates, 103-67, though Von Autenried won the 100 fly, Zhong won the 500 free, Deng was first in the 100 back and Li again won the 100 breast.
Both the Princeton High School and Montgomery High School girls will swim today in sectional finals. In the CJ A Division final, top-seeded MHS will swim against second-seeded East Brunswick at 3 p.m. at Neptune. The Cougars defeated fourth-seeded North Brunswick, 110-60. Jenna D’Allegro won the 200 free and 100 breaststroke, Kara Lydzinski won the 200 IM, Katie King took the 50 free, Brigid DiBlasio won the 500 free, Zoey Zimmer took the 100 back, and the Cougars captured all three relays.
In the CJ B final, top-seeded Princeton will swim against second-seeded Manasquan today at 4:30 at Neptune. The Little Tigers beat WW-P North, 108-62, Tuesday. Melinda Tang won the 200 free and 500 free, Madeleine Deardorff won the 200 IM and 100 fly, Abbey Berloco took the 50 free, Brianna Romaine won the 100 free and Maddy Whaley won the 100 breast. Emily Hung won the 100 back for the Knights.
Galvin is hoping that the Cougar boys will get another chance to swim and see how far they can go in the state tournament if they can upend Lenape. Lenape has never won a sectional before while MHS came into the season looking to repeat, but unsure of their chances.
”For a lot of people, we exceeded expectations,” Galvin said. “We had some really fast guys graduate Zach Warner and Phil Tow. It was our first year in a while without them. A lot of people thought we wouldn’t do as well without them. With the addition of Kevin Liu and Eric Tong and everyone getting faster, we’ve been able to exceed our expectations even though we have one more loss at this point in the season than last year.”
Liu and Tong have fit perfectly in for the Cougars. They’ve enabled them to keep standards high, but also the returning swimmers have developed.
”I think it’s more because of individual swimmer improvement,” Galvin said. “Some of us changed teams and got faster on their new teams. Others focused more in the offseason and put in more effort and it’s paying off now.”
Galvin has been happy with his own steps. He also swims on the Princeton Piranhas club team.
”We have a strength trainer for my club team,” Galvin said. “She’s helped us rip the water more and discover new parts of our body and make parts of our body that we never used before, she’s helped us use them more in the pool.
”I’m swimming a little bit faster in 100 and 50 free,” he said. “I would have liked to see more improvement this year over last year. I’ve also been able to swim the 200 IM and been able to contribute in that as well which is an improvement.”
Against East Brunswick, the Cougars recognized their seniors between the girls and boys meets, and they swam some different events from their usual. Thursday, they were expecting to return to their top events. For Galvin, that is often the sprints, though he’s done the 200 IM, and he is usually in the 200 free and 400 free relays. Galvin has the experience of having swum at the Meet of Champions with the 400 free relay two years ago, and last year he helped MHS achieve the state cut time for the 200 free relay.
This year, Galvin has been focusing on enjoying his season. It’s been all that he could ask for so far. Only Pingry and Hillsborough were able to defeat Montgomery in the regular season, and the Cougars have displayed their strength in returning to a sectional final. They would love to go farther and really surprise those that thought they’d be down some after last year.
”I thought that was our year,” Galvin said. “I’m trying to enjoy more my last year of high school swimming.”