Swimmers Defeat South Plainfield To Go 11-0

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 has once again risen to the surface to outswim their opponent. The Cougars defeated South Plainfield on Thursday, 94-76, extending their record to 11-0.

Cranford dominated the first event in the 200 yard medley relay, finishing in first and second place and starting the team off with a substantial 12-2 lead.  

Nick Kalafatis captured the 200 yard freestyle in 2:01:54 and the 100 yard freestyle in 52:75. Eric Walano won the 100 yard butterfly in 1:01:72, while Christian Woo took first in the 100 yard backstroke in 1:06:64. Kathleen French rounded out the first place finishes for the 100 yard breast stroke in 1:14:73.

The team gained momentum in the 100 yard freestyle finishing in first, second, and fourth, which increased the Cougar lead to 57-37.

However, South Plainfield swept the 500 yard freestyle going first, second and third, and closed the Cougars 20 point lead to just 10 points.

The Cougars rebounded in the 100 yard backstroke and breast stroke events with the added help of Evan Brawley and Ivanna Gomez.

Cranford had faced South Plainfield at the Carnival Relays at the start of the season. The Cougars lost by only two points.

"I knew this was not going to be an easy meet for us, and they had us nervous after the 500 yard freestyle," said head coach Barbara Kolesa. "But I was very confident that our team would turn things around and regain the points we had lost. We finished strong and had a very exciting meet."

Meet Results:
200 Medley Relay
1st (1:58:33)  Christian Woo, Nick Kalafatis, Eric Walano, Connor Harkins
2nd (2:04:48)  Ivanna Gomez, Evan Brawley, Zach Fried, Robert Lento
5th (2:30:02)  Stephanie Bagniewski, Kelsey Fried, Will Bender, Will Allen

200 Yard Freestyle
1st (2:01:54)  Nick Kalafatis
4th (2:21:77)  Dmitry Kotov
6th (2:26:46)  Peter Gallo

200 Yard Individual Medley
2nd (2:28:21)  Kathleen French
4th (2:40:33)  Brian Leu (personal best)
6th (2:52:55)  Juliet Longo

50 Yard Freestyle
2nd (23:43)  Eric Walano
3rd (25:42)  Robert Lento
4th (25:80)  Connor Harkins

100 Yard Butterfly
1st (1:01:72)  Eric Walano
3rd (1:10:42)  Zach Fried
5th (1:14:12)  Megan Byrne

100 Yard Freestyle
1st (52:75)  Nick Kalafatis
2nd (56:30)  Robert Lento (personal best)
4th (57:80)  Connor Harkins

500 Yard Freestyle
4th (6:27:01)  Kelly Miller
5th (6:32:82)  Katie Pijanowski (personal best)
6th (7:17:96)  Maria Guarisco

200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1st (1:39:86)  Nick Kalafatis, Robert Lento, Connor Harkins, Eric Walano
4th (1:54:88)  Kathleen French, Peter Gallo, Zach Fried, Kelly Miller
6th (2:27:30)  Vasyl Nayda, Catherine Burns, Galen Vosseller, Naomi Assaf

100 Yard Backstroke
1st (1:06:64)  Christian Woo
3rd (1:15:23)  Ivanna Gomez
4th (1:15:59)  Gabriel Nino

100 Yard Breast Stroke
1st (1:14:73)  Kathleen French
2nd (1:20:19)  Evan Brawley
5th (1:24:62)  Juliet Longo

400 Yard Freestyle Relay
2nd (4:11:37)  Dmitry Kotov, Peter Gallo, Kathleen French, Christian Woo
4th (4:49:07)  Tom Marra, Megan Byrne, Megan Pijanowski, Brian Leu
5th (4:59:46)  Matt Ghiretti, Lori Joseph, Danielle Weinstein, Dan Couto