By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Princeton High swim teams didn’t catch any breaks from the schedule makers this season.
The Little Tigers opened the season with West Windsor-Plainsboro South and Notre Dame in the opening week, with WW-P North to follow next week. It’s not an easy start for a team breaking in a number of new swimmers
“It is a tough start to the season,” Princeton coach Carly Misiewicz said. “But I think in the end it will make us stronger and prepare us for our end result, which is counties and states.
“We have a lot of new kids, especially on the girls side. Guys and girls across the board we graduated 13 or 14 seniors. So it was another big graduation year like the year before. And we graduated a lot of big names.”
The Princeton boys fell to South, 101-69, while the girls dropped a 98-72 decision to the Pirates on Tuesday. In the boys meet, Alex Petruso picked up the lone individual win for the Little Tigers when he captured the 100 backstroke. In the girls meet, Melinda Tang won the 200 free and 100 butterfly, Margaret Hill led a sweep of the 50 free with a win, and Maddie Whaley won the 100 free.
“It was nice to see some of the new kids swim well,” Misiewicz said. “With the club swimmers we can look their times up and have an idea what they are good at. But a high school meet is an entirely different setting and environment in comparison to a club meet. Because we have so many new people it really is good to see what is best for us and what fits best together.
“We have to get the sixth places to be fourth or fifth and the second and thirds to be firsts and seconds.”
The Little Tiger boys have some solid returning swimmers, as do the girls. Both teams will also rely on some newcomers.
“Alex (Petruso) is phenomenal,” Misiewicz said. “Will (Kinney) is coming back and Oliver Hunsbedt is back this year after taking last year off. Oliver Tennant is back. Jeshurun Reyen and Calvin Ristad are new people who can step in for us. It’s all about finding a place for them.
“For the girls, Melinda Tang is back. Maddie Whaley is an important swimmer to have back. Maddie Schwimmer went out and swam club in the off-season and then decided to go full-time high school. She is starting where she ended last year.
“Cameron Davis, who is a freshman, was second in the 50 and second in the 100 backstroke. We knew going into it that she was pretty solid and a great competitor. We’re excited to have her on the team this year.”
At Montgomery High, the boys and girls swim teams are both looking to fill holes in the lineup.
“We lost some very key swimmers last year to graduation and are in a bit of a rebuilding year, especially in the distance events,” Montgomery girls coach Claire Scarpa said. “Our team has a lot of potential and I’m looking forward to another great season.”
The Cougars are solid with a strong returning group that includes Michelle D’Allegro, Kara Lydzinski, Brigid DiBlasio, Rebecca Maslanka, Cathy Yang, Hailey Roberti and Katelyn Chen. They will join newcomers Allison D’Allegro and Serena Sharpless in giving Montgomery a solid base to start from this season.
The Montgomery boys also have some holes to fill in the lineup after heavy graduation losses.
“After losing 11 seniors, we gained nine newcomers and we will grow into a strong team once again,” Montgomery boys coach Noelle Keller said.
The top of the lineup includes John Stauffer, Alec Wilson, Jake Seitter, Michael Poirier and Lee Poirier. The newcomers are led by Colin Liu and Edwin Liang-Gilman.
The Hun School has a deeper roster than it has in years thanks to a huge freshman class. The returning group includes captains Henry Claisse, Maddie Petty, Emily Ryan and Jin Mun.
“We have a huge group of freshmen this year,” Hun coach Joan Nuse said. “They are a talented group and combined with our returning swimmers there is great camaraderie. We are hoping for good things, but we are young.”
The group of newcomers includes junior Alanna Pearson, sophomore Isabella Martinez, and freshmen Grace Davis, Abbie Danko, Andrew Petty, Brendan Pearson, Zoe Wallace, Lily Henry, Emma Caforio and Joshua Nguyen.
