New Jersey Athletic Conference Swimming Teams Dive Into a Great Season

Photo Courtesy: Hayley Good

By Morgan Pestorius, Swimming World College Intern

EWING TOWNSHIP – The New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) swimming and diving season has started out with a splash. The conference includes The College of New Jersey, Montclair State University, Ramapo College, Rowan University and William Paterson University. This conference is full of very competitive teams and there is no way to tell what this season will bring. The teams are training hard and are ready to perform at the highest level.

THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY

Within the NJAC conference, both the men and women’s swimming and diving teams are 2-0, with wins against Montclair and Ramapo. In the season opener against Montclair, there were plenty of impressive swims, including wins from senior Summer Thomas in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:33.18, senior Brennah Ross in the 100 butterfly at 1:00.61 and sophomore Brenna Strollo in the 100-yard backstroke (1:02:06) and 200-yard backstroke (2:13.00). Freshman Marta Lawler made a remarkable debut with wins in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke, along with a second-place finish in the 200-yard IM.

For the men, sophomore Ryan Gajdzisz won the 200 freestyle (1:44.42) and the 200 backstroke (2:02.33), sophomore Andrew Nesbitt won both breaststroke events, as well at the 400-yard freestyle relay. Freshman Logan Barnes set the tone for his first college season with wins in the 200 butterfly, 200 IM and 500 freestyle.

The following week, the Lady Lions won eight events to defeat Montclair. Summer Thomas touched out Montclair swimmer Sydney Stein in an exciting 500 free and also won the 200-yard freestyle. The women swept first through third place in the 100-yard backstroke, with sophomore Brenna Strollo taking first, followed by freshmen, Katie Kilfeather and Jillian Galindo. Freshman diver Hannah Raymond won the 1-meter and 3-meter events, with a combined score of 467 and qualified for NCAA national championships.

The men won all 12 individual events and both relays against Montclair. Senior Aleksander Burzinski won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 54.18, Vince Masciandaro (sophomore) swam a time of 1:01.44 for the 100 breaststroke and senior Joseph Dunn, won the 50 free with a sprint of 21.01. It will be exciting to see what the Lions do next.

MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY

Montclair has only swam in one meet so far in the NJAC conference, and it has a record of 0-1, with a loss against The College of New Jersey, but have had a lot of exciting swims from the freshman class. Senior Christine Werner won the 100 breast by swimming a time of 1:11.30 and the 200 breast with 2:34.33. Katherine LaCava (junior) won both butterfly events with times of 1:02.95 in the 100 and 2:17.66 in the 200.

Freshman divers, Samuel Mitchell and Greg Bauwens were top-scorers in their events. The men took second and third-place in the 100-yard freestyle; freshman Brendan Turner finished the event in 52.28 seconds, followed by classmate Rob Moorehouse (56.36). Freshman Michael Pacheco placed second in the 200-yard butterfly and third in the 100 fly.

For the overall season, the men are 1-5, with a win against Drew University. The women are 2-4 with wins against Adelphi University and Drew University. There is much more in store for the Red Hawks this season!

RAMAPO COLLEGE

Like Montclair, the Ramapo College Roadrunners are 0-1 for the current NJAC season, after swimming against The College of New Jersey. Freshman Margaret Herbert had an incredible meet, with wins in the 200 free (1:59.51), 50 free (25.07), 100 free (55.34) and 200 medley relay (1:54.97). In the 1000-yard freestyle, Kylie Suydam (senior) swam a winning time of 11:51.57. Jamie Ann Stein (senior) won the 200 fly with a time of 2:27.19, and placed third in the 100-yard butterfly at 1:04.52.

Brian Henningsen (junior), of the men’s team, swam second-place finishes in the 1000 freestyle at 10:42.40 and the 500-yard freestyle at 5:12.85. Henningsen’s teammate, RJ Carillo (sophomore), also finished second-place, with a time of 1:02.39 in the 100 breast. Kevin Guo scored second for his team in the 50-yard freestyle, sprinting the event in 22.60 seconds.

Both teams have an overall record of 2-1, with wins against FDU-Florham and the College of Staten Island. The rest of Ramapo’s season should be exhilarating.

ROWAN UNIVERSITY

Rowan University has an overall record of 5-0, and they had their first NJAC meet this past weekend against William Paterson. So far, the team has defeated Salisbury University, Cabrini College, Misericordia University, William Paterson University and St. Francis College. Distance swimmer, Julia DelNero (junior) won the 400-meter and 800-meter freestyle against Salisbury, and also won the 200 and 100 free. Junior Rikki Berk swam a first-place finish in the 1000 yard-freestyle with a time of 12:00.54. Freshman Polina Dineva won the 50 free (25.68) and 100 free (56.04). The Profs swept first through third-place in the 500 freestyle with finishes from Victoria Grimsgaard (junior), Nicole Vick (senior) and Leanne Zaug (senior).

Against Salisbury, some of these wins include sophomore Brad Updegraff in the 200-yard butterfly (2:15.19), sophomore Jesse Novak in the 100 free (52.35) and sophomore Luke Wister in the 200-yard backstroke (2:16.68). Junior Connor Buck won the 200 IM at 2:01.75 in the meet against Cabrini. At the same meet, freshmen, Brian Suatengco and Matt Dieterle finished second and third in the 1000 freestyle. In the first conference meet against William Paterson, the men won all 11 individual events. Senior Zac Wister won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:16.15. Freshman Colin Fisher swam first-place finishes in the 200 IM (2:02.10) and the 100-yard backstroke (55.90). In the three-meter diving event, John Morris won with 243.83 points. Killian O’Gorman scored second (193.35) and Gennaro Sirianni placed third (173.03)

WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY

William Paterson just had their NJAC debut and they have started off their season strong with an overall record of 3-1. So far, the Pioneers have defeated Baruch, FDU-Florham and Maritime Academy. Winners for the meet against Maritime included senior Sheri Brino in the 1000 free and 100 back, sophomore Vera Blazevska in the 100 breast and 200 IM, and junior Brittany English in the 100 and 200 free. These ladies were also top scorers at their other meets. Against Rowan, sophomore Courtney Lawler won the one and three-meter dives. The Pioneers won the 100 fly with a time of 1:05.79 from sophomore Christine Gustafson.

In the season opener, the men’s team showed that they are well prepared for the upcoming season. Jeremy Oiler (sophomore) won the 800-meter freestyle in 10:06.45 minutes and junior Eric Tracey won the 100 free with a time of 58.27. Against Rowan, freshman Anthony Taboadela placed second in the 100 yard-backstroke and third in the 200 yard-IM. Eric Tracey swam a time of 52.34 in the 100 free, placing fourth.

COMING UP

This season looks to be an exciting one, with much to look forward to. Currently number one in the conference, The College of New Jersey has been picked to be the NJAC champions this season. All of the teams in this conference have brought in some great talent in the form of their rookies. So far, rookies of the week for the men have been: Devon D’Agosta (Montclair), Logan Barnes (TCNJ) and Kyle Risley (William Paterson). For the women: Erin Cannon (Montclair), Marta Lawler (TCNJ), Katie Kilfeather (TCNJ) and Amanda Burke (Rowan), Polina Dineva (Rowan). There are plenty of strong upperclassmen who will be sure to swim fast times as well.

On November 13, William Paterson will swim against SUNY Cobleskill. Coming up this Saturday (November 15), Ramapo will be swimming against the University of Scranton, Rowan swims Swarthmore College and TCNJ faces New York University.

Morgan Pestorius is in her second year at TCNJ. After swimming as a freshman, Pestorius is redshirting this year to recover from an injury and has volunteered as the manager of the team. Previously, Pestorius trained with the Bridgewater JCC Tide and Juniper Lane Swim Team in New Jersey.

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