The High School North and South girls’ swim teams faced off against each other just a few weeks ago while trying to earn a spot in the state playoffs. South took the win, 93-77, over North on January 22.
The two teams met again in the second round of the NJSIAA Central Group B Championship. South, which finished with a 7-6-1 record, waited for its opponent — the Pirates had a first-round bye — while the Knights defeated Ocean Township 126-48 to advance. On February 5 the Knights and Pirates swam against each other one last time, but this time the Knights left with a 91-79 victory, advancing to the CJ Group B semifinals.
But North’s season didn’t last much longer, as the girls dropped the meet to Princeton High School, the eventual champion. The Knights finished with a 5-7 record.
North’s Becca Adlai-Gail’s best 200 individual medley was a 2:50.79, while Larissa Wojtenko swam a 1:31.59 in the 100 breaststroke. For South, Rabia Syed was the best Pirate swimmer, leading the team with top times in the 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 50 freestyle and 500 freestyle.
For the South boys, several different swimmers led the team. Richard Deng had a team-high 56.25 in the 100 backstroke, and a 2.03.06 in the 200 IM.
Just like the girls’ teams, the South boys had a bye in the first round of the North Jersey Section II Group B Championship. North defeated Hopewell Valley in the first round, leading to a second-round matchup between the Pirates and Knights. The Pirates won, 97-73, but fell to Scotch Plains-Fanwood in the semifinals on February 9.
“Our goal was to do well at Mercer Country Tournament which we did,” head coach Anthony Bartolone said. “And our other goal was to go as far into the state tournament as possible and both boys and girls made it into states. The girls went to the first round, the boys made it to the second round. So we accomplished our goals that we had set and for the boys even went a little farther than we had expected.”
South finished with a 14-2 record, including two wins and a season sweep over the Knights, who finished 7-6. North had a wide variety of swimmers who saw success in different events, but Mike Liu led the team with a 1:19.21 in the 100 breaststroke and a 2:17.65 in the 200 IM.
Boys’ Swimming
South defeated North 96-73 on February 5. 200 freestyle: Michael Zhong (South). 200 IM: Kurt Von Autenried (South). 50 freestyle: Richard Deng (South). 100 butterfly: Von Autenried. 100 freestyle: Abdallah Gendia (North). 500 freestyle: Zhong. 100 backstroke: Deng. 100 breaststroke: Brian Li (South).
South (14-2): A 103-67 loss to Scotch Plains-Fanwood on February 9. 100 butterfly: Von Autenried. 500 freestyle: Zhong. 100 backstroke: Deng. 100 breaststroke: Li.
