Cranford Swimmers Improve to 14-0

The Cranford varsity swim team is closing in on their main goal, as they look to capture the school's first-ever conference championship. If they keep performing like they did on Thursday, their goal is well within reach.

The Cougars were led not only by their usual stars, but others who stepped into the limelight and didn't disappoint.

Chris Woo came through with a solid effort in the 500 meter freestyle finishing in 6:12.24. He was also a part of the 200 medley relay team (with Jennifer Heine, Zach Fried and Katie Pijanowski) that kicked off the meet with a winning time of 2:12.96.

"We all pushed ourselves today," said Woo. "We all gave it our heart. 14-0 season, I gotta tell you, we're really killing it. The other teams, they're really giving it to us. We're having our up and our down meets, but we're really doing it."

"Today we had a meet where we let our other swimmers step up and some of our fastest swimmers sit back and everybody had a shot to see what they could do in the water," said Cranford head coach Barbara Kolesa. "Today we thought we had some flexibility and we took advantage of that. Some of them are amazed at themselves at what they can do in the water."

Senior Connor Harkins captured the 100 backstroke in 1:09.83, with Jennifer Heine placing second in a personal best of 1:11.80.

"I did my worst stroke today," said Harkins. "The guys who usually do the core events swam their worst stroke, while the people who don't get a chance to swim a lot, they got their chance as well."

Junior standout Eric Walano sat out the 50 freestyle, which he has dominated all season, and instead swam to a first-place finish in the 100 breaststroke where he finished in 1:13.04, with Kaitlin Hipkin second.

Other winners included Kathleen French, who crushed in the 200 freestyle in an impressive 2:14.09.

In the 200 individual medley, Kelly Miller, Brian Leu and Peter Gallo finished in first, second and third. Nick Kalafatis and Katie Pijanowski placed first and second respectively in the 50 freestyle, with Kalafatis recording a personal best time of 23.64 for the event.

"It was fun, because most of us swam in events that we don't swim in normally," said Gallo. "We switched it up. We had a great time. We have a couple of big meets coming up, hopefully we'll come out undefeated."

It was Zach Fried who netted a 100 meter butterfly win in 1:10.78, beating teammate Megan Byrne who was the runner-up.

Junior Rob Lento and freshman Dmitriy Kotov finished first and second in the 100 freestyle, with Lento stopping the timer in 58.70.

A team consisting of French, Lento, Kalafatis and Miller rolled to victory in the 200 free relay, stretching the Cougars' lead to 90-34.

The day was rounded out with another score in the 400 free relay, where Harkins, Gallo, Kotov and Walano took the win by 52 seconds.

"We had a couple of big challenges but we ended up pulling through," said Gallo. "Against Arthur. L. Johnson, Dayton, Brearley, everybody's been showing a great effort. It would be great to win the conference. Hopefully everyone will give it their best and we'll come out victorious."

"The higher we go, the more pressure we get," said Woo. "A lot of teams out there can really give us a hard time. For the most part, it's just extreme practice and a lot of spirit, cheering for each other and hoping for the best."

"During pre-season, our coach said we had a chance to be the first co-ed conference champions," Harkins said. "So far it's going well and we hope to do it."

Area swim fans have already circled February 2 on their calendars. That's when Cranford will face ALJ, whose only loss came at the hands of the Cougars earlier this season. The conference crown could very well come down to that match.

"We have three more dual meets to go," said Coach Kolesa. "We have two more conference meets left, Union Catholic and Johnson. They are formidable opponents, we take them seriously. I'm sure Johnson wants revenge."

Other finishes of note: 

200 meter relay – (2^nd) Brian Leu, Juliet Longo, M. Byrnes, Tom Marra – 2:19.40

200 freestyle – (4^th) Galen Vosseller, (6^th) Matt Ghiretti

50 freestyle – (4^th) Tom Marra

100 butterfly – (4^th) Juliet Longo

100 freestyle – (5^th) Will Allen

500 freestyle – (3^rd) Matt Guarisco, (4^th) Lori Joseph

200 free relay – (3^rd) B. Leu, K. Hipkin, J. Longo, J. Sterling, (4^th) C. Burns, N. Assat, V. Tresbosch, D. Weinstein

100 breaststroke – (4^th) Dan Couto

400 free relay – (2^nd) Gabe Nino, Will Allen, Kelsey Fried, M. Pijanowski, (4^th) N. Assat, C. Burns, D. Couto, S. Bagniewski