ABBEY ROAD: Princeton High girls’ swimmer Abbey Berloco displays her butterfly form in a recent meet. Last Saturday, freshman star Berloco won both the 50 and 100 freestyle races at the Mercer County Swimming Championships to help PHS win its third straight county crown. Berloco set a meet record in both races and was named the meet’s Most Valuable Swimmer on the girls’ side. PHS will now go after more titles as it was seeded first in the Public B Central Jersey sectional. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

After rolling through a 12-0 regular season with one lopsided win after another, the Princeton High girls’ swimming team was determined to make a statement at the Mercer County Swimming Championships last week.

“Since we made such an impression in our dual meets, we were looking to try to win the meet and really do something great,” said PHS junior star Brianna Romaine, reflecting on a season which started with a 145-25 rout of Hopewell Valley and has seen no meet closer than a 107-63 win over WW/P-N in mid-December.

Romaine and her teammates achieved that goal with aplomb at the county competition held at WW/P-N, piling up 266.5 points to win the title and nearly double runner-up Pennington’s score, who finished with 140.

In earning its third straight county crown, PHS won six of eight individual events and two of the three relays. Capping the day in style, the Little Tigers produced a meet record in winning the 400-meter freestyle relay, breaking the 4:00 barrier with a time of 3:58.61.

Romaine won the 200 free and 100 backstroke while classmate Madeleine Deardorff prevailed in the 200 individual medley, sophomore Melinda Tang was victorious in the 100 butterfly, and freshman Abbey Berloco won both the 50 and 100 free. The precocious Berloco set a meet record in both races and was named the meet’s Most Valuable Swimmer on the girls’ side.

In reflecting on her win in the 200 free, Romaine said the cheers of her teammates spurred her to victory as she had trailed early in the race.

“I did realize I was behind, I was just trying to swim my own race,” said Romaine. “I saw her but the atmosphere of our team was so motivating, I wanted to do it for them.”

The Little Tigers were motivated to set a new county standard in the 400 free relay.

“After we hit 4:00 in the prelims, trying to go sub 4 was definitely on our minds,” said Romaine, who combined with Deardorff, Tang, and Berloco in the record-breaking effort. “It was great to finally do it.”

The addition of freshman star Berloco has been a great plus for PHS. “It is amazing, Abbey takes it to a whole other level,” said Romaine. “She really completes the team.”

Berloco, for her part, came into the county meet simply looking to enjoy the experience.

“I have heard that counties is a really fun meet,” said Berloco. “I was trying to have a great time with everyone else on the team.”

In the 50 free, Berloco was inspired by the example of former Lawrence swim star Katie O’Rourke.

“I knew that Katie O’Rourke had the record; I wasn’t really sure what it was,” said Berloco, who clocked a time of 26.37 to break O’Rourke’s record of 26.46. “She is just such a phenomenal swimmer. I just wanted to maybe come close to what she did last year.”

As for the 100 free, dueling with a buddy helped Berloco produce another record.

“I was really happy with that; I felt pretty good,” added Berloco, who posted a time of 57.20 to break the mark of 57.62 that she set on Friday in the county preliminaries.

“It was really great because I was right next to my best friend Maddie Horner (of Steinert). I am on the same club team (Hamilton Aquatic Club) with her so we practice together.”

For Berloco, the relay record was icing on the cake. “That was really fun,” added Berloco. “I knew we could do it. We have such a strong team. It was really great to break it with them.”

Berloco got a surprise when she was singled out as the meet’s top girl swimmer.

“I didn’t even know that there was a MVS, everyone said we have to go up for awards,” recalled Berloco. “I was like OK. I was really shocked when I heard my name called.”

While Berloco was thrilled to earn the individual award, she was more excited about the team’s superb performance.

“Everyone did such an amazing job,” said Berloco. “It is great to be part of that; it was really fun to win counties.”

PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz liked how her girl swimmers took care of business on Saturday.

“They stepped it up and put their all into it,” said Misiewicz. “We had better times than we did yesterday pretty much across the board. They were super psyched, the energy level was up.”

In Misiewicz’s view, Berloco’s propensity to go all out sets her apart. “She is a stellar athlete without a doubt,” said Misiewicz.

“She gets in there and swims her heart out no matter what. If she is a body length ahead or a lap ahead of everybody, she puts her heart and soul into it. That is all you can ask for and that is what makes her the kind of swimmer that she is. She puts 200 percent effort all of the time.”

The trio of Romaine, Deardorff, and Tang has been giving PHS great efforts all winter long.

“Brianna, Maddie, and Melinda are so consistent and so constant,” said Misiewicz. “They are all into the next one. Their goal as a team was to go under 4, that was awesome. It was a great way to end the meet, crushing 4 minutes is huge because we were well under.”

With PHS seeded first in Public B Central Jersey sectional, Misiewicz believes her squad is primed for a happy ending this winter.

“We told them the other day that we are seeded first for states and I think that fired them up,” said Misiewicz.

“They were super excited. They knew there were a lot of expectations coming into counties. They all rose to the occasion, every single person.”

Romaine, for her part, is fired up about PHS’s chances to make a deep run in state competition.

“I am pretty confident going into states; I think this is the most we have had talent-wise,” said Romaine. “We are seeded first in the sectionals, we’ll see what happens.”