Manchester Swimming Has Tough Outing Against Central Regional

Both the Manchester boys and girls swim teams continued their young seasons as they competed with Shore Conference division foe Central Regional in their second match of the year.

Held at Ocean County College in Toms River in front of a standing room-only crowd on Dec. 6, the Manchester Hawks showed no quit as they battled what their coaches called one of the toughest matchups the conference schedule presents to them this season.

The match was a challenge for the Manchester squad, as the Golden Eagle swimmers of Central Regional managed to sweep the top three spots in many events. 

The final results saw the Manchester boys drop the match to Central Regional by a score of 133-32. The girl's squad earned a similar result as Central Regional pulled away with a 122-47 victory. 

Matthew Zabiega provided one of the big highlights for the boy's squad, finishing second place in both the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 yard freestyle, following his first place finish in these events in the season opener.

Despite what the scoreboard said, both Manchester coaches came out of the match with a positive outlook for their teams. 

Girl's coach Lauren Merolla said she was proud with how her squad has "come together as a team. They've really been improving. A lot of new swimmers are eager to participate, very excited to be here." 

Merolla also praised her team's willingness to step up when needed, noting that several swimmers participated in events in which they had not previously competed.

Boy's coach Brianna McKiernan put into perspective what it means to build the swim program, and what their measure of success is at this level. "We try to focus on the things we can control, like getting a little bit faster in our own race," he said following the match. 

As far as areas that need improvement, McKiernan said that, "specialty strokes are a little more difficult for us as a team - the breast stroke and butterfly."

Merolla said that the match presenting the greatest challenge for her girl's squad is against Monmouth Regional on Dec. 9. According to McKiernan, the boy's next challenge is Lacey on Dec. 14. 

Both squads look to improve upon their 0-2 starts and pick up their first wins of the year at these matches.