Swimming
By: Jim Green
The Lawrence High School swimming team might not have won any titles at the Mercer County Championships last week, but the Cardinals achieved the goals they set out for.
The Cardinal girls used their depth to finish second with 182 points despite failing to place first any individual event while the Lawrence boys posted 179 points to take third on the strength of two wins by Josh Rosenbluth. West Windsor-Plainsboro South (284 points) won the girls team championship, while Princeton (231 points) claimed the boys team title Saturday at LHS.
"We realistically thought our boys could take third and our girls could take second, and that’s what they did," Lawrence coach Dean Mason said. "Our kids swam hard."
Rosenbluth, who already held Lawrence school records in the 100-meter butterfly and the 100 backstroke, won individual titles in both events at the first county meet of his high school career. The junior, in his first year swimming with the Cardinals, won the butterfly in 1:00.57 and captured the backstroke in 1:00.25.
"Josh Rosenbluth had a great meet," Mason said. "There were a lot of tough swimmers he was going against, and he lowered both his school records."
The Cardinal boys also received several outstanding performances in the freestyle events. J.P. Kelly and Ben Lookner went 6-7 in both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle, while Eric Hoover took sixth in the 50 freestyle and seventh in the 100 freestyle.
"J.P. Kelly and Ben Lookner had great meets," Mason said. "I also thought Eric Hoover did a nice job. He’s come on late in the season."
Will Brehm placed ninth in the 100 freestyle, and Jordan Hawthorne took 10th in the 100 backstroke, while Steve Goldberg and Eric Einstein placed seventh and ninth, respectively, in the 100 breaststroke. The deep Cardinals came in second in the 200 freestyle relay and placed third in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.
Freshman Chris Thiel, who has made tremendous strides throughout his rookie year, took ninth in the 200 individual medley and 10th in the 100 butterfly.
"Chris Thiel made it back (to the finals Sunday) in the IM and the fly," Mason said. "That was really good for him."
The Cardinal girls also received strong contributions from up and down their lineup.
Freshman Jillian Franc led the way, placing fourth in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle. Emily Steiner placed third in the 200 individual medley and sixth in the 100 backstroke, while Kim Greenfield took sixth in the 200 freestyle and ninth in the 500 freestyle.
"Kim Greenfield had a great meet," Mason said. "Jillian (Franc) also had a great meet. For a freshman, she’s made a huge impact on our team. She’s a huge competitor.
"Emily Steiner had a real nice meet. She lowered her time in the breaststroke."
The Cardinal girls racked up points with their depth in the sprint freestyle events. Julia Wrobel claimed fifth in the 100 freestyle and ninth in the 50 freestyle, Jaime Petrone took sixth in the 100 freestyle and 10th in the 50 freestyle, Kelli Hawthorne placed sixth in the 50 freestyle and ninth in the 100 freestyle, and Casey Hooker took ninth in the 50 freestyle and 12th in the 100 freestyle.
"We brought back four swimmers in the 50 and the 100," Mason said. "Even though a lot of them weren’t top six, they were in there scoring points for us and doing the best they could do for us."
Emily Bomba placed ninth in the 100 butterfly, Katelyn Fecak took 12th in the 200 individual medley and 11th in the 100 breaststroke, Maddie Emde placed 10th in the 100 butterfly, and Julia Senerth placed 11th in the 500 freestyle.
"Emily Bomba’s been consistent for us for four years, and Katelyn Fecak did a nice job in the IM and the breaststroke," Mason said. "Julia Senerth went to the finals in the 500. She’s had a really strong year for us. We made her swim the backstroke because we needed help there, and that was a sacrifice. That’s what we needed her to do, and she just goes in there and does it. She’s a team player."
The Cardinals realized heading into the tournament that they would have a difficult time keeping pace with West Windsor-Plainsboro South, which beat Lawrence 109-61 Jan. 29 in a dual meet. The Cardinals’ primary goal, therefore, was to hold off Pennington, which eventually finished third at 148 points.
"They (the Red Raiders) are a team you don’t know a whole lot about," Mason said. "They’ve gotten a lot of coverage lately, so I thought we might have gotten more of a fight from them. They have a lot of talented young swimmers, but we came at them with everything we had, and I think that’s what secured second place for us."
The Cardinals now begin preparing for the state team tournament. The Cardinal girls, seeded second in Central Jersey Public A, will take on seventh-seeded East Brunswick on Wednesday.
The Cardinal boys, meanwhile, are seeded second in Central Jersey Public B and will face seventh-seeded Ocean Township on Tuesday.
If the Lawrence girls win, they would face the Hunterdon Central/Hillsborough winner Feb. 20 in the semifinals. If they make it to finals, the Cardinals likely would run into WW-P South, which has handed the Lawrence girls their only three losses over the last two years.
If the Lawrence boys win in the first round, they would face the Rumson-Hopewell Valley winner Feb. 19 in the semifinals. In the finals, the Cardinals probably would face Princeton, which knocked off Lawrence 98-72 Dec. 22 in a dual meet.
"I think Group B fits our boys better than Group A fits our girls," Mason said. "I think our boys have a very good chance of making it to the finals. Some of those big schools in Group A are tough."
NOTE: The Cardinals’ Christie Icenhower placed second in girls diving at the Mercer County Championships on Feb. 4 at The College of New Jersey. Icenhower’s mark of 155.50 broke her own school record.