Cherry Hill East Girls Storm Back to Claim South Jersey Swim Title

Scores can at times be misleading in competitive swimming. Take, for example, Thursday night’s NJSIAA South Jersey Group A final between No. 1 Cherry Hill East and No. 2 Atlantic City.

For eight events, the Vikings picked up first-place finish after first-place finish to build a lead. The Cougars, meanwhile, scooped up a host of seconds and thirds to hang in just enough to make the match appear competitive.

At least, that’s the way things looked on paper. As it turned out, the Cougars had the Vikings right where they wanted them.

Cherry Hill East won the final three events, including finishing 1-2-3 in
the 100 backstroke to pull away for a 93-77 victory and claim the South Jersey championship for the second-straight season.

“This literally means everything to me,” said Colleen Finias, who won the 100 breaststroke to give the Cougars the lead. “When we were behind, I was so nervous, and then when we caught up, it was the greatest feeling in the entire world.”

Atlantic City led 68-56 heading into the backstroke, one of the last three events in the program. Right from the first 25 meters, it became clear that East was going to at least claim first and second, with Jaimie Lynn Brookover and Natalie Simunek pulling away from the field.

Over the final 25 meters, East’s Allison Stulb joined the party to give the Cougars a clean sweep. The finish was reminiscent of one year ago, when East took first and second in the event to take the lead for good.

“It was awesome,” said Brookover, who won the event in 1:00.3. “Last year we went 1-2 against Mainland when we were down two points, so just to do that again, it’s almost déjà vu. I’m so proud of Allison.”

Brookover admitted to worrying when Atlantic City put its lead into double digits.

“I definitely started to get nervous after they went 1-2 in the 100 free, because we expected to at least get a second in that,” said Brookover. “I’m so proud of the girls for coming back. It was amazing.”

The sweep drew the Cougars to within 71-69 with two events left. Finias and Marta Lawler took first and second in the breaststroke to all but seal the victory. Once the race was, over the East fan base exploded and the Gloucester County Institute of Technology was quickly taken over by a party atmosphere.

“It feels like such an honor,” Finias said. “I am so proud of myself and my team. We brought it together so well at then end, and it just meant so much to me.”

East added a win in the 400 free relay for good measure.

Next up is a trip to the state semifinals. East was eliminated by Cherry Hill West in that stage last season.

“We just need to go even harder than we did today,” Finias said. “Today was absolutely amazing, but I know we can all do so much better with the momentum we have.”

“Obviously, we want to go all the way,” said Brookover. “We will see how we do next week, but this is a huge confidence-booster because of the way we came back at the end.”