2005 Union county Girls Swimming Preview

Although there will be over a dozen teams at the Union County Girls Swimming Championships Saturday at Dunn Center Elizabeth, the focus will clearly be on rivals Westfield and Scotch Plains which have separated themselves from the other county teams and currently rank in the top ten teams in the state. The Blue Devils seeking their thirteenth straight championship have won two close head to head battles with the Raiders this year and Westfield Coach Jaime Ruszala, while wary of the other county teams knows how the Raiders have closed the gap.

“Scotch Plains is a really awesome team as they have shown at both the Pirate and our dual meet. We need to be 100 percent,” said Ruszala.

In December Westfield prevailed 87-83 and two weeks ago at the prestigious Pirate Invitational at West Windsor, Westfield used its superior depth to outscore the Raiders 204-177 for second place.

Scotch Plains Coach Jessica Hulnik is convinced her team is peaking at the right time and just wants them to focus on swimming well and not about their neighbors to the north.

“It’s not so much about trying to beat any one team in particular It’s about swimming well during the post season. Like all of the other teams at this meet, we are trying to win it,” said Hulnik.

Senior Amanda Cameron, the defending champion in the 100 and 200-yard freestyle shares her coach’s attitude.

“It is not so important for Scotch Plains to beat Westfield as so much it is
important for our team to do our best. We have proved to ourselves and other teams that we are strong and we are one of the top teams this year. We are a very strong and young team and we are going to do our best whether it be beating Westfield or each of the swimmers doing our best,” said Cameron.

By any measure this has been a groundbreaking season for the Raiders.
Their finish at the Pirate Invitational was the school’s highest ever and was augmented by two first place efforts, including a triumph by freshman Melissa Helock in the 200-yard freestyle, the first individual Pirate championship since Dana Berkowitz in 2001. Helock also joined fellow freshman Mary Henkels, sophomore Jillian Murphy and Cameron to win the 400-yard freestyle relay and was second in the 100-yard butterfly.

“All of our freshmen have done extremely well so far this year. Melissa,
and Mary have had great seasons,” said Hulnik.

Hulnik is also counting on the versatility of Murphy. “I've really been pleased with the way Jillian has been swimming this year. She is swimming with a lot of confidence and focus this year. She has been very versatile and I love the way that she has been attacking her races this season ,” said Hulnik.

Hulnik is hoping that the big four of Murphy, Cameron, Helock and Henkels can win or place high in enough events to counteract Westfield’s phalanx of swimmers which is led by free style specialist Amanda Dickson, breaststroke favorite Jackie Delafuente, and butterfly specialists Brittany Reyes and Kylie Fraser. Like Cameron, Delafuente is the defending champion in her best event, the 100-yard breaststroke.

Ruszala thinks the meet may come to the short freestyle races and the relays where the teams should dominate but must also be wary of other teams.

“There are many talented swimmers in Union County who could very well challenge both our swimmers for places. In this meet every point we can get will be necessary.”