2005 Scotch Plains Girls Swimming Preview

It is easy for Scotch Plains Fanwood Girls Swimming coach Jessica Hulnik to be optimistic when Amanda Cameron is the cornerstone of her team. As a junior last year Cameron was not only the most improved swimmer in Union County, but also the county’s top all-around swimmer and should be better than ever this year according to Hulnik.

“Amanda is wonderful. She can literally do any event on the meet sheet and do it well. She is the person, in a clutch situation that I want on the end of a relay team. She is also very consistent with her times regardless of how broken down she may be from practices.,” said Hulnik.

Cameron leads a strong and experienced Raider team into an excellent early season test when they make the short ride to Westfield to face the always-talented Blue Devils, Wednesday at the Westfield YMCA. Led by Cameron, the Raiders finished twentieth ranked in the state last year, while Westfield was sixth overall and captured its twelfth consecutive Union County championship

At the Union County Championships, Cameron won the 100 freestyle in 56.10, the 200 freestyle in 2:01.90, and anchored the 200 freestyle relay to victory in 1:46.09, pacing the Raiders to a third place finish , and she also sparked her team to the NJSIAA North Jersey, Section 2, Public B final, where it lost to the eventual state champion, Montgomery. At the Meet of Champions, Cameron swam a season-best 2:00.77 in the preliminary heats of the 200-yard freestyle. She wound up placing 14th in the final in 2:01.09.

“Over the past few years, she has been someone who can always be counted on to turn in a good performance just about every time. I am really looking forward to watching her swim this year. I think she will do some great things in the pool ,” said Hulnik.

As great as Cameron is, Hulnik is counting on a mix of experienced swimmers plus a highly touted group of freshmen
to help the team withstand the loss of such talented graduates as Morgan Larkin., Allyson Salisbury, Meryl Akyuz Judy Brown and Jessica Cavanagh.

“The outlook is very good. We have reloaded our roster quite nicely after last year's large graduating class,” said Hulnik.

In addition to Cameron, senior tri-captains Rachel Dolgin (sprinter) and Jamie Quale (distance) are also four-year varsity swimmers. Other top seniors include Brittany Adisano, Rachel Goor, and Rebecca Koransky. Junior. sprinter Kristen Henkels, backstroker Kate Kosenick and. sophomores Brittany Larkin, Jillian Murphy, and Jen Gaglioti should again play key roles on the team.

Hulnik is excited about the freshmen and realizes they begin their careers with some high expectations.
“Word gets around. I am very excited about this year’s freshman class. They are fast, versatile, and really a nice bunch of girls. They will make an immediate impact on the success of this program.”

Among the freshmen, Hulnik lists Katelyn Cavanagh, Rebecca Fox, Catherine Harley, Melissa Helock, Mary Henkels, Kate Johnson, and Erin Rossi as those ready to make immediate contributions.

“On paper our girls look very strong this year. While we graduated 11 seniors last year, we have 15 freshmen who made the team this year,” said Hulnik.

“ Combined with all of our returning swimmers we have the potential to do even better than we did last year. The meet versus Westfield is a chance to swim a very strong team at the beginning of the season which will better prepare us for the big meets at the end of the season.”

Beating Westfield would be a first for the seniors and a great benchmark of how far the program has progressed according to Dolgin.

“To beat such a good team would be enormous for our team spirit and self esteem ,” said Dolgin.
“It would give us a big push for the rest of the year.”

When asked to name the teams’ strengths, Hulnik says “Our versatility without a doubt, and our depth. We have many girls who are skilled at several strokes and distances. I am looking forward to all of the combinations that we will be able to use this year. “