MONTCLAIR, NJ – On Wednesday night, Montclair High School swim teams faced off against Glen Ridge, picking up their fourth victory of the season. The girls, scoring 112-58, took first in all but two events, including the 200 free and 500 free, which Glen Ridge’s Schuyler Ross won. Montclair’s Sol Jordan won the 200 IM and 100 fly; Maya Crawford won the 50 and 100 free; and Devon Muldoon won the 100 back. These girls, along with Lily Foung, Kathrynna Demetillo, Julianne Eckert, Millie Steffe, Gaea Caro and Morgan Crawford, combined to take all three relays. Also earning points for the team were Olivia Moore (200 free), Skyler Edinburg (200 IM, 100 free), Carly Fazedin (500 free), Louisa Skerry (100 back) and Elena Frank (100 back).
The girls head into 2019 hopeful as this win marks the last of four in 2018, including two against Essex County powerhouses Columbia and West Orange. These teams beat the Montclair girls last year, but fell this year 97-73 and 98-72, respectively. Mid-month, Montclair also surged past Caldwell, scoring 104-66, a team which, last year, appeared its equal during the dual meet season. Montclair hopes to continue to improve, in part, by relying on the talent of Muldoon, last year’s Cullen Jones Award winner and a club swimmer who, while recently swimming in that capacity, qualified for state championships in the 200 IM and 100 back.
The boys, scoring 115-49, took firsts in the 200 free (Mizell McEachin), 100 fly (Sumner Smith), 100 free (Tommy White) and 100 breast (Jarrett Driever), but it was primarily the first-year swimmers who carried the meet. Brenden Goldman (200 free, 100 free), Leo Powers (200 IM, 100 fly), Lucas Young (50 free, 100 breast), Raphael Allusson (50 free), Liam Crawford (50 free, 500 free) and Marcos Gutierrez (100 back) earned many points individually and collectively, in relays. Veterans Henry Roberts (200 free, 100 back), Caleb Foung (200 IM, 500 free) and Samson Flanagan (100 fly) also had notable performances. The highlight of the meet occurred when Montclair’s White, leading off in the 200 free relay, swam a state championship qualifying 50 free time of 22.66. The rest of the relay, including Gutierrez, Driever and McEachin followed suit, swimming a state championship qualifying 200 free relay time of 1:32.03.
Glen Ridge’s Liam Hood also swam a state qualifying 200 IM time, taking first in that event. His teammates, Mert Erden and Enzo Wood, won the 50 free and 500 free, respectively.