The Robbinsville High School varsity swim season came to an end this past month, and the Ravens had a lot to be proud of.
Under the leadership of head coach Erin Devlin and assistant coach Raheel Saleem, the RHS girls’ team qualified for the NJSIAA State Playoffs in Central Jersey Section A, earning the seventh seed in the tournament. The Ravens swam hard against a tough South Brunswick team in the quarterfinals on Feb. 3, but their opponent edged them out, 112-58. The Ravens finished the season at 4-9.
Several individuals turned in strong performances during the Mercer County Championships, Jan. 28-31. Sophomores Annika Trolle and Maria Nitti both qualified for the A finals during preliminaries. Trolle finished fifth in the finals in a highly competitive 100 freestyle field and also came in 9th overall during the B final of the 200 freestyle.
Nitti came in second in the 50 freestyle and fourth in the 100 butterfly, setting new program records in both strokes. She also advanced to the state Meet of Champions.
Nitti and Trolle teamed with seniors Sarah Schmid and Isabella Trolle to turn in the top qualifying time of the competition for the 200 freestyle relay. The quartet then finished fourth in the 14-team field for the 400 freestyle relay. With Schmid and Trolle unavailable for the finals due to a school conflict, freshman Nicole Mardaga and sophomore Colbie Kennedy filled in, joining with Nitti and Trolle to swim their way to a spot on the medal podium.
Many other athletes who formed the core of the Ravens girls’ squad also swam well during the county meet. Junior Kelly Whitlock finished in 13th place in the 100 backstroke, just missing the B finals. Other solid performances came from Eleni Angeles and Morgan Mark in the 200 freestyle, Melanie Cohen and Alex Petschauer in the 50 freestyle, Emma Rauscher and Simone Hrinkova in the 100 freestyle, Sara Gutter in 400 freestyle, Alex Mardaga and Jessica Vodilka in the breaststroke, and Makenna Katz and Julianna Lubbe in the 100 butterfly.
The boys’ finished the season winless, but captains Bobby Furda and Josh Samuels were leaders both in the in the pool and on the deck for the entire program, consistently motivating their teammates. Sophomore Jake Dawes had a solid year and was one of the team’s leading scorers. Joey Goldstein was a strong competitor in the distance events while Rohan Shah and Brandon Luo were versatile fixtures in the lineup. Sophomore Stephen Crane and Freshman Jaden Weiss showed promise as future strong swimmers for the Ravens.
“Coach Saleem and I are very proud of the effort and improvement shown by all of our swimmers throughout the season,” Devlin said. “We had signficiant time drops at the end of the season, and the team really came together and showed enthusiasm and determination. We have a lot of promising swimmers returning next year, and we are excited about the future.”
