Three HHS relays teams also place at states
By: Rudy Brandl
SEWELL Jason Kay came about as close as you can get to winning a state swimming championship in Sunday’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions at Gloucester Institute of Technology.
The best swimmer in Hillsborough High School history completed a spectacular scholastic career with a pair of second-place finishes, including one in the 50-yard freestyle where he fell just eight-hundredths of a second short of Bergen Catholic’s Gary Grant. Kay was also less than one second behind Grant in the 100-yard freestyle.
"I knew I was going to have to swim great today and I knew Grant was the guy to beat," Kay said. "I was seeded sixth in the 50 so I was the underdog, but I didn’t let that intimidate me. I was totally focused on winning."
Kay knew that he’d need a mistake-free performance to capture the gold. He nearly pulled off the upset, but recalled one short stroke as his downfall. One little thing makes all the difference in the 50.
"When I came off my wall, I didn’t reach all the way out," explained Kay, who finished in a personal-best time of 21.49 seconds. "My stroke splashed and it was too short. I wonder what would have happened if I didn’t do that. But I still swam a great race and I swam my best time."
Kay took a short break and returned to challenge Grant again in the 100. This time, Grant took a larger lead and won in 46.88 seconds. Kay, who set the school record with a 47.79 time in Saturday’s qualifying race, finished right in that neighborhood with a 47.80.
"I just died in the 100," Kay said. "Me and Gary were talking about it after the race. We could still feel the 50."
Despite the presence of many talented swimmers, Kay was confident that the freestyle sprints would be decided between him and Grant. Pittman’s Bill Jenkins finished just behind Kay in both races, but the HHS star blew the rest of the competition out of the water.
"I knew it was going to be between me and (Grant)," Kay said. "He’s an amazing swimmer. He’s crazy. He just bulled through the water."
Kay also helped two Raider relay teams place in the top eight. Both the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams qualified for Sunday’s finals and wound up finishing in the top six.
The 200 medley relay team of Mark Green (back), Pete Trabilsy (breast), Kay (fly) and Jamie Schnatter (free) placed sixth in 1:41.88, while the 200 free relay team of Nick Giacopelli, Rich Bencivenga, Schnatter and Kay took fifth in 1:31.89.
"All the guys were really excited," Kay said. "A lot of those guys are going to be back. It takes a lot of nerves to swim in the states and those guys did a great job."
The Raiders opened the meet with the 200 medley, where Green and Schnatter joined seniors Trabilsy and Kay. After Kay competed hard in his two sprints, he returned to rally the troops for his final scholastic event.
"As the two seniors, Rich and I got everybody together before the race," Kay said. "We just told them this was our last race. This is it and we’re going out with a great race. They all stepped it up and did great."
Senior Kelly McIsaac made some noise in her final scholastic event. The Northeastern-bound star sprinted to eighth in the 50 free and ninth in the 100 free while anchoring the 200 free relay team to a seventh-place finish.
McIsaac showed her great versatility by placing in the sprints at the state level after dominating Central Jersey competition in the 500 throughout the season. McIsaac, who won a Somerset County title in the 50 as a freshman but didn’t enjoy the event as much in recent years, changed gears to compete in the states.
"When Todd (HHS head coach Sudol) and I were looking at my season, we decided I should do something different," McIsaac said. "I started training for sprints and it was a good change."
McIsaac made the finals with a 25.0 that ranked her seventh in the field of eight. She swam a little slower (25.33) and finished eighth in Sunday’s final heat. McIsaac also finished Sunday’s consolation heat in the 100 free in 54.33 to place ninth. That time would have been good enough for seventh in the championship heat.
"You never know how the 50’s going to go and I just missed making it back in the 100," she said. "You have to have a perfect start and a perfect turn (in the 50). I wanted to place in the top three but it was still a lot of fun."
As usual, McIsaac was more pumped up about the relays. She and fellow seniors Lauren Smith and Courtney Giacopelli joined sophomore Kristen Mendez to swim their fastest time (1:44.49).
"The relays were amazing. I don’t even know how it happened," said McIsaac, whose 24.3 split led the charge. "All the girls did their best times. The three seniors were so psyched for it. Everyone’s starts were on and everyone did perfect turns. We all just clicked today."
McIsaac felt just as much pride as last year when she anchored the 400 free relay team to the state title. She was the only returning swimmer from that dominant quartet, but she experienced a special day with three new relay mates.
"Those three girls have never been on the podium before and it was so cool being up there with them," McIsaac said. "I feel the same way I felt last year when we won."
EXTRA LAPS Trabilsy also competed in the 100 breast and set a school record in Saturday’s prelims with a 1:03.00 while taking 23rd in the 200 individual medley (2:09.12) … the Raider senior came back and finished 15th overall in 1:03.98 the next day … the HHS girls’ 200 medley relay team of McIsaac, Devon Trabilsy, Mendez and Smith placed 14th overall in 1:57.61.