Swim Team Undefeated With Win Over Rahway

This update provided by assistant coach Colleen Donnelly. If you see a game we were unable to cover, please feel free to send over the score and photos.

The Cranford High School Swim Team took on Rahway High School today and extended their winning streak to 4-0. Remaining undefeated, the Cougars took down the Indians 119-51.

"This meet is a great meet for the new members to our team as well as our second and third string swimmers," said head coach Barbara Kolesa. "Many of them were able to swim two or three events today, as well as individual events. It was great to get times on some our swimmers in events they have never had the opportunity to swim this season. Our experienced swimmers went for personal records as well as cheering on the newer members of the team to help them achieve their personal goals."

The Cougars were able to capture first place in every event except the 100-yard freestyle. They swept the 100-yard butterfly with speed of Nick Kalafatis, Jennifer Heine, and Zach Fried. The 500-yard freestyle also saw the same results with Kathleen French, Maria Guarisco, and Lori Joseph finishing in first, second, and third, respectively. Guarisco and Joseph both swam their best time ever in the event, shaving off critical seconds from their previous best times at the end of last season.  

The final sweep came in the 100-yard backstroke consisting of Christian Woo, Gabriel Nino, and Stephanie Bagniewski who managed to just out-touch her opponent on the finish.

"These meets are important as we get to try out different swimmers on events we believe they are strong at in practice," said assistant coach Colleen Donnelly. "This opens up the door for us to develop these swimmers more effectively in their strongest stroke.  A prime example would be Gabriel Nino. His backstroke has been looking nice in practice so we decided to see what he could do with the 100-yard backstroke event today. He finished second in his race and finished with a great time of 1:15:58.  To swim that time the first time you ever swim this
event is wonderful."

The Cougars take on Roselle Catholic this Thursday at the Cranford Fitness Center's indoor pool. Next Tuesday the team takes on their rival Union Catholic in what looks to be an exciting and tough meet.

Results from the Cranford-Rahway meet:

200 Yard Medley Relay
1st (2:10:33):  Christian Woo, Kelly Miller, Kathleen French, Gabriel Nino
3rd (2:30:60):  Stephanie Bagniewski, Kelsey Fried, William Bender, Megan Pijanowski

200 Yard Freestyle
1st (2:26:46):  Peter Gallo
2nd (2:52:42):  William Allen
4th (3:16:46):  Vasyl Nayda

200 Yard Individual Medley
1st (2:31:78):  Connor Harkins
3rd (2:48:92):  Megan Byrne

50 Yard Freestyle
1st (24:07):  Eric Walano
4th (31:25):  Tom Marra
5th (32:77):  Galen Vosseller

100 Yard Butterfly
1st (1:03:33):  Nick Kalafatis
2nd (1:13:98):  Jennifer Heine
3rd (1:20:55):  Zach Fried

100 Yard Freestyle
2nd (1:02:04):  Ivanna Gomez
4th (1:04:54):  Katie Pijanowski
5th (1:22:77):  Dan Couto

500 Yard Freestyle
1st (6:21:78):  Kathleen French
2nd (7:26:81):  Maria Guarisco
3rd (7:50:20):  Lori Joseph

200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1st (1:48:95):  Nick Kalafatis, Kelly Miller, Connor Harkins, Kathleen French
2nd (2:04:98):  Megan Byrne, William Allen, Ivanna Gomez, Brian Leu
4th (2:30:67):  Naomi Assaf, Catherine Burns, William Bender, Megan Kozlowski

100 Yard Backstroke
1st (1:09:19):  Christian Woo
2nd (1:15:58):  Gabriel Nino
3rd (1:25:64):  Stephanie Bagniewski

100 Yard Breast Stroke
1st (1:19:35):  Evan Brawley
3rd (1:26:96):  Juliet Longo
4th (1:28:05):  Kaitlin Hipkin

400 Yard Freestyle Relay
1st (4:08:79):  Katie Pijanowski, Peter Gallo, Zach Fried, Eric Walano
3rd (5:00:87):  Maria Guarisco, Lori Joseph, Megan Pijanowski, Galen Vosseller
4th (5:13:12):  Matt Ghiretti, Dmitry Kotov, Megan Kozlowski, Dan Couto