Undefeated Swim Team Wins Eighth Meet

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 Varsity Swim Team has improved to 8-0, remaining undefeated for the first half of their season following their victory over Arthur L. Johson on Tuesday, 92-78.  

The Cougars defeated their biggest rival, Union Catholic 112-58, right before the holiday break. On Tuesday the Cougars were put to the test again with a meet against Johnson.  

"Going into this meet, we knew it was going to be very, very close," said head coach Barbara Kolesa. "Johnson defeated Union Catholic earlier this seaon and last season we tied Johnson. Every point was going to count today and every swimmer really had to be swimming their best."

The meet opened up in favor of Johnson. The rival team was able to capture first place in two of the first three events and were in the lead by four points when the fourth event started. However, the powerhouse trio of Eric Walano, Connor Harkins, and Robert Lento were once again able to turn things around for the team taking first, second, and fourth respectively in the 50 yard freestyle event, which put the Cougars ahead by two points.

"The 50 yard freestyle has consistently been a turning point for us at meets," said Kolesa. "We are fortunate to have a talented bunch of sprinters on our team who are able to carry the team over to take the lead or to lead us further into a future victory.  Eric Walano, Connor Harkins, Robert Lento and Nick Kalafatis have been able to do this in the 50 yard freestyle and 100 yard freestyle time and time again. Nick really pushed it today by capturing not only first place in the 100 yard freestyle but also swimming a personal best time of 54:45."

Other strong finishes were had by Kathleen French, who captured second place in the 200 yard individual medley, the 100 yard breaststroke, and helped lead her relay team to second place. Christian Woo also had a second place finish in the 100 yard backstroke while Katie Pijanowski followed suit in the 500 yard freestyle. Kelly Miller was also able to help maintain the lead over Johnson with her first place finish in the 500 yard freestyle.

The Cougars continued to gain points over Johnson for the remainder of the meet until they earned their eighth victory of the season.  

They host Linden this Thursday at Centennial Pool. Next week will be challenging as the undefeated Cougars take on Dayton-Brearley, South Plainfield, and John F. Kennedy Memorial as they continue their quest for the conference championship.

200 Yard Medley Relay
2nd place (1:56:16)  Eric Walano, Kathleen French, Connor Harkins, Robert Lento
3rd place (2:04:66)  Christian Woo, Evan Brawley, Zach Fried, Katie Pijanowski
6th place (2:34:05)  Stephanie Bagniewski, Kelsey Fried, Juliet Longo, William Allen

200 Yard Freestyle
1st place (1:58:89) Nick Kalafatis
5th place (2:27:83)  Peter Gallo

200 Yard Individual Medley
2nd place (2:28:89)  Kathleen French
4th place (2:36:47)  Jennifer Heine
5th place (2:37:87)  Ivanna Gomez

50 Yard Freestyle
1st place (23:75)  Eric Walano
2nd place (25:21)  Connor Harkins
4th place (26:04)  Robert Lento

100 Yard Butterfly
1st place (1:01:76)  Eric Walano
4th place (1:12:65)  Zach Fried
5th place (1:14:41)  Megan Byrne

100 Yard Freestyle
1st place (54:45)  Nick Kalafatis
2nd place (56:69)  Connor Harkins
5th place (1:01:68)  Robert Lento

500 Yard Freestyle
1st place (6:31:45)  Kelly Miller
2nd place (6:36:69)  Katie Pijanowski
6th place (7:15:12)  Maria Guarisco

200 Yard Freestyle Relay
1st place (1:45:07)  Connor Harkins, Robert Lento, Nick Kalafatis, Eric Walano
3rd place (1:54:72)  Peter Gallo, Brian Leu, Zach Fried, Ivanna Gomez
5th place (2:15:42)  Danielle Weinstein, Catherine Burns, Dan Couto, Galen Vosseller

100 Yard Backstroke
2nd place (1:07:15)  Christian Woo
4th place (1:12:11)  Jennifer Heine
5th place (1:16:19)  Ivanna Gomez

100 Yard Breast Stroke
2nd place (1:15:45)  Kathleen French
3rd place (1:20:86)  Evan Brawley
4th place (1:26:72)  Kaitlin Hipkin

400 Yard Freestyle Relay
2nd place (4:03:60)  Nick Kalafatis, Jennifer Heine, Christian Woo, Kathleen French
4th place (4:35:33)  Kelly Miller, Katie Pijanowski, Dmitry Kotov, Megan Byrne
5th place (5:01:78)  Megan Pijanowski, Vasyl Nayda, Tom Marra, Lori Joseph