Buoyed by its Depth, Pingry Swims Past Mount

MARTINSVILLE—While the Mount St. Dominic swim team wasn't all that familiar with its Non-Public B state semifinal opponent Tuesday, the Lions knew the meet would be determined less by individual performances and more by their ability to counter Pingry's depth.

"I knew that they had a lot of depth," Mount sophomore Lauren Buckworth said. "We were confident and we had to do our best."

So the meet turned into a game of chess with Mount coach Andrea Jordan trying to match her counterpart, Judy Lee's every move.

Jordan made a few changes and opted to put her best backup relay teams in the 200 medley relay.

But even with more first-place finishes, led by Buckworth and Megan Wujciak who each won two individual events and were part of a pair of winning relays, the Mount still couldn't overcome Pingry's depth in an 89-81 defeat.

"She [Lee] had a creative lineup and it was a chess match," Jordan said of maneuvering her best swimmers into different races.

Jordan admitted that she might have moved her best backup relay team to the 500 freestyle instead of the 200 medley; but in the same breath, she thought that might not have made the difference.

While disappointed in the defeat, Jordan was pleased with her team's season.

"It was a great meet and I had a phenomenal team this year," said Jordan, who coached her 13th season at the Caldwell school. "This was the best team that I ever had."

While the Lions won seven races to the Big Blue's five, Pingry rolled up the points with second- and third-place finishes.

"I think we left everything in the pool," said Buckworth, who finished first in the 200 individual medley and the 100 freestyle.

The Mount got off to a good start and was still leading after the 50 freestyle, which was won by Wujciak with a time of 28.80 seconds that gave the Lions a 32-30 heading into the 100 butterfly.

While Julie Takagi came in second with a time of 1:06.92 in the 100 butterfly, Pingry's depth pushed the Big Blue ahead in the team score, 41-37, heading into the 100 freestyle.

Buckworth won the event, but the Big Blue finished second, third and fourth in the race to maintain a 50-44 advantage.

The deficit grew larger a couple of races later following the 200 freestyle relay where the Mount team of Maggie Coleman, Ali Borrelli, Emily Campbell and Takagi finished second with a time of 2:00.42. Pingry, though, grabbed first and third to extend the lead to 68-56 with only three races remaining.

With the Mount able to creep within 83-73 heading into the final race, the Lions needed to sweep the top two spots in the 400 freestyle relay to tie the Big Blue.

While the Mount's team of Bunce, Wujciak, Takagi and Buckworth won the event in a time of  4:10.67, the Lions were unable to get the second-place spot to tie the meet.

With a wealth of underclassmen this season, the future appears bright for the Lions, who will graduate seniors Bunce, Colleen Dalrymple, Molly Lelinho, Rita McNeil and Julie Takagi.

Pingry 89, Mount St. Dominic 81

200 Medley Relay

1. Megan Wujciak, Ali Borrelli, Lauren Buckworth and Christina Bunce, 2:08.14

200 Freestyle

1. Megan Wujciak, 2:13.89

200 Individual Medley

1. Lauren Buckworth, 2:25.64

4. Ali Borrelli, 2:37.24

50 Freestyle

1. Megan Wujciak, 28:80

4. Christina Bunce, :29.73

200 Freestyle

4. Maggie Coleman, 2:23.58

100 Butterfly

2. Julie Takagi, 1:06.92

100 Freestyle

1. Lauren Buckworth, 1:00.13

500 Freestyle

1. Blair Frantz, 4:45.75

4. Farrell Patterson, 5:05.35

200 Freestyle Relay

2. Maggie Coleman, Ali Borrelli, Emily Campbell and Julie Takagi, 2:00.42

100 Backstroke

2. Blair Frantz, 1:12.35

3. Christina Bunce, 1:14.66

4. Maggie Coleman, 1:14.96

100 Breaststroke

2. Julie Takagi, 1:18.72

3. Ali Borrelli, 1:22.66

400 Freestyle Relay

1. Christina Bunce, Megan Wujciak, Julie Takagi and Lauren Buckworth, 4:10.67