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.”