Red Raider Girls Sweep All Events in a Dominant Swimming Tournament Victory

The Ocean City High School girls' swim team took first place in every event on the way to a convincing 109-61 victory over Central Regional on Friday in the opening round of the South Jersey Public B tournament.

The Red Raiders, now 8-5 overall, finished the regular season with a Cape-Atlantic League National Division title. They advance to meet Haddonfield on Monday at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.

Ocean City's winners were as follows:

200 Medley Relay: Noel Styer, Melanie Wilezol, Rachel Chain and Maria Winte, 2:12.79
200 Freestyle: Sam Brady, 2:21.92
200 Individual Medley: Melanie Wilezol, 2:32.95 
50 Freestyle: Noel Styer, 28.14
100 Butterfly: Rachel Chain, 1:12.59
100 Freestyle: Melanie Wilezol, 1:03.28
400 Freestyle: Sam Brady, 1:03.28
200 Freestyle Relay: Maria Winte, Ashlyn Roze, Casey Merrill, Lee Styer
100 Backstroke: Rachel Chain, 1:11.09
100 Breaststroke: Grace Becker, 1:29.16
400 Freestyle Relay: Rachel Chain, Sam Brady, Noel Styer and Melanie Wilezol, 4:16.71

The Red Raiders' dominance showed in a number of 1-2 finishes with sophomore Casey Merrill taking a second in the 100 fly and getting out-touched for second in the 200 individual medley. Junior Lee Styer took second places in the 50 free and 100 backstroke. Senior Nicole Fiscus was second in the 400 free.

Ocean City is seeded No. 3 in the South Jersey Public B tournament, and Haddonfield is seeded No. 2.

Even if the Red Raiders don't pull off an upset on Monday, they're looking forward to improving on a successful season next year. The team includes a strong core of freshmen, sophomore and junior swimmers, and the eighth-graders who will enter as freshmen next year are also expected to contribute.

"It's going to be a great year," sophomore Melanie Wilezol said. "You're going to see the records go."

Even this year, the 400 freestyle relay team is about a second off a 2006 record. Separate records are kept for events swum in meters and yards.

Monday's meet at GCIT will be in yards—as will the individual state championship in early March.