BAY WATCH: Princeton High boys’ swimmer Dan Baytin displays his freestyle form in recent action. The addition of freshman star Baytin to the team in January helped PHS go on a stirring run in the state Public B Central Jersey sectional. The third-seeded Tigers advanced to the sectional final where they fell 100-70 to top-seeded and undefeated WW/P-North last Friday to end the winter with a 12-2-1 record. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

When the Princeton High boys’ swimming team suffered a one-sided 106-64 loss to WW/P-North in the season opener in December, it could have been a big hit to the squad’s confidence.

Instead, PHS responded by winning 11 straight regular season meets. Moving on to the state Public B Central Jersey sectional, third-seeded PHS topped sixth-seeded Red Bank Regional 95-75 in the quarterfinals and then tied 85-85 with second-seeded WW/P-South in the semis, advancing on power points to earn a rematch with top-seeded and undefeated North in the sectional final last Friday at the Neptune Aquatic Center.

As PHS head coach Carly Misiewicz looked ahead to round two against the Northern Knights, she planned to mix and match with her swimmers.

“We tried to spice things up a little bit; the luxury is that we have a lot of flexibility with our lineup,” said Misiewicz.

“We saw them in the first meet and a lot of things change. People are injured who are no longer injured. People who weren’t feeling so well, now are feeling well. We have Dan [Baytin] now, so that was a little different than we had in the first meet.”

In the early going, it looked like things could turn out differently for PHS as it won the 200 medley relay and got a first place tie in the 50 freestyle with Jeshurun Reyen and Will Murray both hitting the wall at 22.660.

“The 200 medley relay out-touching them for first, they went 2-3, it was OK, this is good,” said Misiewicz.

“In the 50 free, Jeshurun and Will got 10 points combined and Alex Shaw got fifth. Going into that, we were down 14 points so for us to only be down seven or eight at that point was a really good moment.”

But there were not too many good moments after that for the Tigers as powerhouse North pulled away to a 100-70 win.

“We had known going into the meet that they were the deeper and the stronger team,” said Misiewicz.

“We were looking to capitalize on certain events that they weren’t as deep in. They were missing one of their top sprinters and we were trying to capitalize on that, but they were going to move other swimmers around.”

Moving Owen Tennant around helped PHS get its other individual victory of the meet as he won the 100 backstroke.

“I originally had Owen in the 100 breast; we are watching this meet unfolds and Owen is saying coach, what if you throw me in the 100 back,” recalled Misiewicz.

“He was saying I don’t know if I can beat him [Ethan Yuen] in the breast but I can win the 100 back and get the points. We swapped win for win essentially at the end of the day, it does even out.”

While PHS didn’t get the win, Misiewicz had no qualms with how her swimmer competed.

“It was not the score or the overall outcome that we wanted it to be, but at the end of the day, I was very happy with how they swam,” said Misiewicz.

“It stings to lose to the same team twice for your only losses of the season, but you know that, as an entire team, you gave it your all. We came back stronger than we were in the beginning of the season. We cut that deficit.”

Misiewicz was very happy with the way senior Jason Kratzer gave his all to the end.

“Somebody who performed how and the way we needed him to perform was Jason Kratzer,” said Misiewicz of Kratzer, who placed fourth in the 200 free and in the 100 butterfly against North.

“He went 1:59 in the 200 free when we swam against Red Bank and it was, wow, that was his best time of the entire year. When we swam against South, he went 1:55 in the 200 free. Talk about stepping up and then he swam against North and did 1:54 so he took another step. Even though he is somebody who has flown under the radar, Jason has come in day in, day out and worked his butt off every single day. He has been waiting for this moment. He is one of those kids who gets in and races his hardest and does whatever he needs to do for the entire team.”

In the view of Misiewicz, her boys team has what it takes to keep flying high.

“I think what we have in the foundation that we are setting for next year and the years to come could be something really great,” said Misiewicz.