Green-Fields Swimmers Three-peat at 2012 Peach Bowl

is the last name inscribed at the base of the Peach Bowl.

With a big close in the freestyle relays at GCIT Tuesday night, the Turtles ensured they’d be the first name inscribed on the new second level, winning the Gloucester County club title for the third straight year—and 30th time overall—by edging second-place Wenonah, 547-520.

In a dead heat coming off the individual events with just the 10 relays remaining, Green-Fields made an immediate statement, winning the 8-and-under boys’ and both the 9- and 10-year-old boys’ and girls’ freestyle relays to break things open.

Wenonah would never threaten after that, and the three-peat was assured after the Turtles also took the 13- and 14-year-old boys’ freestyle relay.

“Our free relays are dynamite, and they really put it together and did a great job,” head coach Nancy Pegues said. “Our kids swam out of their minds—so did Brookside’s and Wenonah’s.”

On paper, it looked as though it was going to be a close meet—Pegues said she figured it was going to be a 25-point difference between first and second—and it might have been even closer.

With the relays the Turtles’ strength—they won four medley relays to go with the freestyle wins—a disqualification for the boys’ 15- to 18-year-old medley relay team could’ve spelled disaster for Green-Fields.

“That was our cushion,” Pegues said. “When we lost that, it was tough.”

The good news was that the Turtles got some wins in the individual events, plus plenty of seconds and thirds to help claw back against Wenonah and third-place Brookside of Glassboro.

They got freestyle wins from Nolan LaRocca (8-and-under), Sarah Schollenberger (9- and 10-year-old girls), Garrett Knechtel (9- and 10-year-old boys) and Marissa Heino (11- and 12-year-old girls), an IM win from Nathan Jess (11- and 12-year-old boys), backstroke wins from Alexis Hill (9- and 10-year-old girls) and Peyton Ward (9- and 10-year-old boys) and a record-breaking breaststroke win from Nolan Jess (8-and-under boys), who has made a habit of smashing records this season.

It wasn’t easy for Green-Fields to come in and expect to score a third straight title, Pegues said, given the team's position in Tri-County’s top-tier A Division. Being among the best has meant the swimmers have had to get up for every opponent and fight their hardest, week after week.

After posting a 3-2 record and wrapping up the winning regular season just days ago, Pegues said being in a relentless pressure cooker for more than a month straight definitely had an effect.

“When you come into this after five weeks of doing that…it’s tough on the kids,” she said.

But having survived the pressure of the regular season and having survived the pressure of the one-and-done format of the Peach Bowl—only one swimmer or relay team can compete in each event—Pegues said things should set up nicely for the Tri-County championships in a week and a half, especially given Green-Fields will be able to use the roster from top to bottom.

“We’ve got tremendous depth,” she said. “When we go to Tri-County and we get all these other kids in…that makes a big difference.”