2005 Scotch Plains Boys Swimming Preview

When the Scotch Plains Fanwood (SPF) Boys Swimming team faces Westfield this Wednesday at the Westfield YMCA, it will not only be the resumption of a great rivalry but a chance for the Raiders to test themselves against one of the state’s perennial powers that is expected to be strong again this year.

“Our boys are very young. Only six are juniors or seniors. To swim a team like Westfield early in the year is really a big test,” said Coach Jessica Hulnik.

It will give our younger swimmers an early look as to the type of competition they will see later this year. It will also provide a base for the returning swimmers in that they can compare their times from those last year at this point of the season.”

“ It would be great to beat them but it is also important that we swim a good meet against them and give them a good run,” said senior co-captain David Hauptman.



The younger brother of 2003 co-captain Ryan Hauptman, David and fellow senior co-captain Mike Sheffield are two of the biggest reasons that Hulnik is optimistic about this years’ team.

“David and Mike are really strong swimmers and they should both have a wonderful season ,” said Hulnik, starting her third season as both boys and girls coach at SPF.

“We have great leadership in David and Mike. They will set the tone for the season. We have over half the squad returning so they know exactly what is expected of them, and they understand where this team wants to be at the end of the season ,” added Hulnik.

Although they are brothers, the Hauptmans rarely completed against each other because they swam different strokes. Ryan’s best event was the backstroke and David specializes in the freestyle, where he was one of the county’s top sprinters, finishing second to Westfield all-state swimmer Ryan Bartholomew in the 50-yard free style. Hauptman made the Meet of Champions in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.

“He was a bit of an influence on me because we were always around each other but we both did our own things because we did different strokes ,” said Hauptman, whose mother teaches and coaches at the Scotch Plains YMCA.

There will be a good amount of familiarity at this Wednesday’s meet because so many of the swimmers compete against each other at local club meets. The year round dedication of her swimmers’ is what makes Hulnik so optimistic as the season begins.

“The majority of them, even the ones that do not swim year round, have grown up swimming at the local summer swim clubs before joining the high school team. That is also one of the reasons we tend to do so well ,” said Hulnik.

While there is a multitude of experienced swimmers abetted by several talented freshmen, Hulnik is pleased to
have Sheffield and Hauptman to lead the team.

“David is a freestyle sprinter but also can do pretty much any event on the meet sheet. Mike is mostly a butterflier and a breaststroker who had a great season last year and is looking to repeat ,” said Hulnik.

In addition to the co-captains, senior freestyler and breaststroker Alan Neuhauser, Juniors Mike Fragna,(backstroke) and Jason Thompson (Butterfly) and sophomores Mike Miller, Matt Miller, and Dan Nieto. as well as freshmen. Jon Feely and Brian Pesin should also contribute.


Hulnik is impressed at her teams’ work ethic.
“All of our kids work very hard in practice and they are willing to put the team first.” said Hulnik.

“From what I've seen at practice, I think our returning swimmers will be significantly faster than they were at this time last year. Since most of the boys dropped quite a bit a time at the end of last season, the early meets will also serve as a motivational tool the kids can use at practice during he rest of the season. While we may struggle a bit early in the season, I feel when it comes down to counties and states, we will be ready to swim fast.”

The coach is non-committal at making any major predictions only saying “I think we will do well at the counties and states. Sorry so vague, but I never predict a season.”

2005 Scotch Plains Girls Swimming Preview

It is easy for Scotch Plains Fanwood Girls Swimming coach Jessica Hulnik to be optimistic when Amanda Cameron is the cornerstone of her team. As a junior last year Cameron was not only the most improved swimmer in Union County, but also the county’s top all-around swimmer and should be better than ever this year according to Hulnik.

“Amanda is wonderful. She can literally do any event on the meet sheet and do it well. She is the person, in a clutch situation that I want on the end of a relay team. She is also very consistent with her times regardless of how broken down she may be from practices.,” said Hulnik.

Cameron leads a strong and experienced Raider team into an excellent early season test when they make the short ride to Westfield to face the always-talented Blue Devils, Wednesday at the Westfield YMCA. Led by Cameron, the Raiders finished twentieth ranked in the state last year, while Westfield was sixth overall and captured its twelfth consecutive Union County championship

At the Union County Championships, Cameron won the 100 freestyle in 56.10, the 200 freestyle in 2:01.90, and anchored the 200 freestyle relay to victory in 1:46.09, pacing the Raiders to a third place finish , and she also sparked her team to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Public B final, where it lost to the eventual state champion, Montgomery. At the Meet of Champions, Cameron swam a season-best 2:00.77 in the preliminary heats of the 200-yard freestyle. She wound up placing 14th in the final in 2:01.09.

“Over the past few years, she has been someone who can always be counted on to turn in a good performance just about every time. I am really looking forward to watching her swim this year. I think she will do some great things in the pool ,” said Hulnik.

As great as Cameron is, Hulnik is counting on a mix of experienced swimmers plus a highly touted group of freshmen
to help the team withstand the loss of such talented graduates as Morgan Larkin., Allyson Salisbury, Meryl Akyuz Judy Brown and Jessica Cavanagh.

“The outlook is very good. We have reloaded our roster quite nicely after last year's large graduating class,” said Hulnik.

In addition to Cameron, senior tri-captains Rachel Dolgin (sprinter) and Jamie Quale (distance) are also four-year varsity swimmers. Other top seniors include Brittany Adisano, Rachel Goor, and Rebecca Koransky. Junior. sprinter Kristen Henkels, backstroker Kate Kosenick and. sophomores Brittany Larkin, Jillian Murphy, and Jen Gaglioti should again play key roles on the team.

Hulnik is excited about the freshmen and realizes they begin their careers with some high expectations.
“Word gets around. I am very excited about this year’s freshman class. They are fast, versatile, and really a nice bunch of girls. They will make an immediate impact on the success of this program.”

Among the freshmen, Hulnik lists Katelyn Cavanagh, Rebecca Fox, Catherine Harley, Melissa Helock, Mary Henkels, Kate Johnson, and Erin Rossi as those ready to make immediate contributions.

“On paper our girls look very strong this year. While we graduated 11 seniors last year, we have 15 freshmen who made the team this year,” said Hulnik.

“ Combined with all of our returning swimmers we have the potential to do even better than we did last year. The meet versus Westfield is a chance to swim a very strong team at the beginning of the season which will better prepare us for the big meets at the end of the season.”

Beating Westfield would be a first for the seniors and a great benchmark of how far the program has progressed according to Dolgin.

“To beat such a good team would be enormous for our team spirit and self esteem ,” said Dolgin.
“It would give us a big push for the rest of the year.”

When asked to name the teams’ strengths, Hulnik says “Our versatility without a doubt, and our depth. We have many girls who are skilled at several strokes and distances. I am looking forward to all of the combinations that we will be able to use this year. “

Westfield Girls Swim 2004-5 Preview

As anybody who swims competitively knows, swimming is as close to a 365 day a year sport as there is. Even the swimmers who play other sports in the spring and fall don’t stop their grueling workouts at their clubs and competitions go on almost the entire year.

For the Westfield Girls, the regular season will begin Tuesday at Kearny, followed by Plainfield on December 14 and the annual neighborhood rivalry with Scotch Plains Fanwood on December 15 at Westfield.

Westfield coach Jaime Ruszala is ready for a tough neighborhood battle with the Raiders.

“Scotch Plains is a natural rival for Westfield in all sports so we always look
forward to that meet; a lot of the girls know one another and swim on clubs
with each other so they always get psyched up ,” said Ruszala.

In her first season as coach last year, Ruszala led the Blue Devils to a 12-3 season, which included its 12th consecutive Union County championship, the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Public A title, and advanced to the Public A state semifinal, where it lost to eventual state runner-up West Windsor-Plainsboro South. Westfield suffered its only other losses against top-ranked Immaculate Heart and third-ranked Mount St. Mary.

The Mount St. Mary's meet was part of a double dual with the Westfield and St. Joseph's of Metuchen boys, and drew 750 fans, the largest crowd ever to see a meet at the YMCA of Westfield. Over one hundred fans were turned away, and almost one hundred more lined the hallway outside the pool, getting word-of-mouth updates on the meet.

“Last year was a great year overall; the swimmers are quite possibly the best
group of athletes to work with--they worked hard all year and even harder after
losses,” said Ruszala

The schedule will be challenging again with Mt. St. Mary's again this year, as well as Immaculate Heart. and another Saturday night meet (boys and girls) against Bishop
Eustace as well as improving Scotch Plains.

Ruszala believes she has the talent to compete with such a challenging schedule.
“The team looks great this year. We finished our first week and the girls are
really excited for the season. We have a huge sophomore class and six incoming
freshmen.”

Among the twelve graduated seniors were backstroker Becky Fallon ,
freestyler and butterfly specialist Suzanna Fowler and freestyler Danielle Heffernan.

The top returning swimmer is Amanda Dickson, one of Westfield’s senior quad-captains. along with Liz Trimble, Lauren Winchester and Kirsten Selert. Dickson is an all around swimmer.

“All of her strokes are strong. There isn’t much she can’t do ,” said Ruszala.

Other key returnees include seniors Jackie DeLaFuente, who was county champion in the breastroke and also qualified for the Meet of champions, junior breaststroker Callie Meserole and sophomores--Julia Cederroth, Kylie Fraser, Katie Morgan, Brittany Reyes, and DarrellAnn Smith

Dickson shares her coach’s enthusiasm.
“The team is going to be great this year. We have some amazing girls that
will help us get where we want to go. Our goals are to win counties, sectionals, and to make it to state finals, which is our ultimate goal, “ said Dickson.

In addition to the veteran talent, Ruszala has worked six freshmen into the rotation.
“All are extremely hardworking. Elizabeth Hawkins and Alexi Kuska should help us out a lot.”

Dickson is also enthused by the talented freshmen class..
“The newcomers will definitely contribute. We have a great freshman class and
they will be a big part of our team, especially in relays ,” added Dickson.

Ruszala feels fortunate to coach such dedicated athletes.
“Many of them know they're talented, but are really humble. They help each other out and they are nothing short of classy when it comes to their interactions with other teams,” said Ruszala.

“ They are motivating toward one another, and they also cheer for other teams. Most of
the girls bide their time between club teams and the High School team; however, their
loyalty to the High School team is phenomenal. Most of them swim 2-3 times a day while maintaining excellent grades and positive attitudes.”

Westfield Boys Swim 2004-5 Preview

When hearing long time Westfield boys swimming coach Bruce Johnson discuss his team’s prospects, one can almost deduce a touch of arrogance until you examine his record and realize his teams almost always back up their coach’s confidence.

Johnson will start his eleventh year with a 134-32 record, the most wins for
Any Westfield swim coach, and nine Union County titles, nine sectional titles and six state titles, including the last three years and four of the last five. The
last two Westfield teams were ranked second in the state, behind St. Joseph of Metuchen.

“The last two years we were pretty stacked. Two years ago was the strongest
team I've coached, but last year came very close,” said Johnson.

Westfield graduated four state finalist swimmers, Ryan Bartholomew, Chris
Heinen, Josh Schoenfeld, Sam Gurdus, from last year’s state Public A champions, but the cupboard is far from bare.

“We took major hits the last two years at graduation, but all our main
competition except Hillsborough was hard hit, too. Cherry Hill
East, Vernon and Bridgewater all lost really, really good kids ,” said
Johnson.

Key returnees include seniors Dan Chabanov, Andrew Prunesti, juniors Brandon Cuba, Pat Daurio, and Kyle Murray, and sophomores Luke Baran and P.J. Harley.

“We don't have the kind of depth we've had recently, but you never know when kids will step up and be the next guy to surprise and provide that depth,” Johnson said.

“We have five or six known quantities; a couple of solid
newcomers and maybe a half-dozen veterans who could step up and give us that depth.”

Johnson is also looking for some of his newcomers to duplicate Harley’s
surprise performance last year.

“Last year P.J. was a huge surprise for us, dropping time that was amazing. We have a new sophomore, Colin Sullivan, who will help, and freshmen Matt Blutfield and Matt Green have been looking good,” Johnson said.

“And there's some new guys who definitely are green, but have potential.”

Several veterans who could be ready to step up include seniors Jeff Dresely and Jamie Hanas, juniors Mike Burns, Tom Fringer, Dan McGrory and Evan Vanarelli, and sophomores Phil Anton, Greg Blanton, Brian Corea and Brian Lee.

Johnson backs up his confidence by scheduling the toughest possible teams.
The Blue Devils have a brutal out-of-league schedule that includes Bridgewater Raritan, East Brunswick, St. Joseph Metuchen, Christian Brothers Academy, the Lawrenceville School, Bishop Eustace and Bergen Catholic. Bishop Eustace will be a Saturday night (Jan. 22) double-dual home meet, a concept that produced a turnaway crowd last year against St. Joseph Metuchen and Mount St. Mary.

“We'll lose some of them, maybe even a lot of them, but they definitely get
the kids prepared for the tough meets in the state tournament,” Johnson
said..

“We've always gone for a loaded schedule. Our goals remain the same, county champions, sectional champions, state champions, one at a time.”

The season begins Tuesday, Dec. 7, with an away meet at Kearny. Then comes a string of three straight home meets, Dec. 14 (Plainfield), 15 (Scotch
Plains-Fanwood) and 16 (Union). The archrival Raiders are the only team to have interrupted an incredible domination that the Blue Devils have enjoyed in the Union County championships when they stopped a run of 42 straight titles with a first place in 1999. The Blue Devils have regained the title the past five years to make the record 47 titles in 48 years.

Johnson extends a simple philosophy to his team, which is time tested.

“We just want to outwork every other team, both at high school and club
workouts, and be ready to defend all our titles in February,” he said.
“Everything goes through Westfield. They have to take it from us, which could happen, but we'll try to not let it happen.”