The Montville Township High School swim team had its work cut out for Tuesday's meet against Mountain Lakes.
The Mustangs were going against one of New Jersey's top swim teams.
That didn't stop Montville from putting in a good effort.
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The Lakers won both the girls and boys meets, 142-38 and 128-42, respectively, at Lakeland Hills Family Y in Mountain Lakes.
The Mustangs won just two events. Ryan Wyer swam a 2:41.54 to take first place in the boys 200 individual medley while Dorothy Chen won the girls 100 breast.
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"We know Mountain Lakes is one of the best teams in the state," Chen said, "so we didn't worry about winning and losing. This was all about putting up a strong team effort and trying to improve our individual times.
"This meet also boosted our team spirit," Chen added.
The Mustangs fell behind early and trailed 70-24 at the break between the 50 free and 100 butterfly events.
Lindsay Hill also put in a good performance for Montville, swimming to two second-place finishes. Hill took second in the 200 IM and 50 free. Hill also swam to third in the 100 fly.
Hill and Chen also combined with Katrina Leung and Bella Durand to take third in the opening event, the 200 medley relay.
"This was a very important meet for us," Chen said. "We learned from the best. There is always room for improvement."
Meanwhile, Wyer and teammate Richard Bokman were pacing the Mustang boys.
In addition to his win in the 200 IM, Wyer finished third in the 100 fly. Bokman had a third-place finish in the 100 free and together the pair, along with Stephen Danko and James Lee, took third in the 200 medley relay.
"It's exciting to go against some of the better teams like Mountain Lakes," Wyer said. "We just wanted to focus on our self-improvement and try to better our times.
"It was fun out there tonight," Wyer added.
Bokman agreed.
"You try to do better against the tough teams," Bokman said. "I felt good out there and I think we competed hard. Hopefully, we can use this as a tuneup for Thursday and get a victory."
The Mustangs take on Parsippany on Thursday at Morristown High School. The meet begins at 5:30 p.m.
