2007 Westfield Girls Swimming Group A champs

The Westfield Girls Swimming team gave their departing coach Jaime Ruszala a perfect going away present by erasing eight years of frustration with a 96-74 victory over West Windsor-Plainsboro South for its first NJSIAA Public A championship since 1999 last Sunday at The College of New Jersey in Ewing

Ruszala, who is getting married and moving to California later this year, knew her final team had the little extra needed to erase seven defeats in the past eight years by a combined 225 points and give her an elusive first title in her fourth season as head coach.

“This team really wanted it badly and for the first time, they knew that if they all came with their "A" game they would get it,” said Ruszala.

The Blue Devils were paced by double victories from Junior Alexi Kuska and
freshman Suzanne Lemberg and a school-record victory in the 100-yard backstroke from senior Kylie Fraser

Trailing 24-22 after three events, the Blue Devils took control of the meet
when Lemberg won in a personal-best 24.54, the second-fastest time in Westfield history and the fastest since 1979 state champion Dana Zonnevylle clocked a 24.41. Teammate Liz Hawkins was second in 25.14 and Lauren Sullivan was fifth in 26.03, giving Westfield a 33-29 lead it would not relinquish.

After a 2-3-4 finish in the 100 yard Butterfly extended the lead, Lemberg struck again by winning the 100 freestyle in 53.42, lowering her school record of 53.66.

“Suzanne is a really naturally talented athlete who works hard and who hates to lose. This is the ultimate combination of things. She will definitely keep getting better,” said Ruszala
Kuska added a victory in the 500 freestyle in a personal-best 5:05.88, the third-fastest time in school history, to push the lead to 61-49.

“Alexi works extremely hard and she really wanted to win for her teammates,” said Ruszala.
Fraser added the icing on the cake when she pulled away from a tight field In the backstroke to win in 1:00.60, breaking the school record of 1:01.53 that was set in 1989 by Brandeis Wright.
A 2-3-4 finish by Katie Morgan (1:09.38), Catherine Maguire (1:10.97) and Kate Heffernan (1:12.49) in the 100 yard breaststroke numerically clinched the meet for Westfield.
“Swimming WWP-S was good because we really know them well.

We have seen them in the semi-finals before and we also see them at Pirates every year,” added Ruszala.
“They have some really talented kids and a great coach. We knew it was not going to be easy, but they also swam so well on Thursday against Cherry Hill West that we thought they may be a little tired.”

The Blue Devils had a much easier path to the finals, routing Randolph 111-59 in the semi finals after crushing local rival Scotch Plains Fanwood 113-57 in the sectional finals, ending the Raiders’ state championship streak at two.

Against Randolph, Westfield won eight of 11 events, including all three relays.
Stephanie Albright won both distance freestyle events for the Blue Devils, taking the 200 in 2:20.59. Hawkins won the 50 freestyle, Reyes the 100 freestyle, and Lemberg showed her versatility by winning the 100 yard backstroke
Hawkins, Katie Morgan, Reyes and Lemberg won the 200-meter medley relay. Maguire, Morgan, Sullivan and Reyes won the 200 freestyle relay and Julie Cederoth, Kelsey Wilson, Kate Heffernan and Emily Budnick took first in the 400 freestyle relay.

The Blue Devils will undoubtedly wind up ranked second in the state, surpassed only by local rival Mt Saint Marys, who defeated Westfield in a dual meet. While Ruszala was thrilled to finish with such a great victory, she was left to wonder what would happen in a rematch.
“It's hard to say what would happen. The Mount is a great team and they have historically been able to turn it on when necessary. It would be an interesting match-up to say the least”