COURTING SUCCESS: Princeton High girls’ swimmer Courtney Weber does the breaststroke leg in an individual medley relay race earlier this season. Last Thursday, senior star Weber placed first in the 200-yard IM and the 100 breast to help top-seeded PHS defeat second-seeded Manasquan 96-69 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Group B sectional final at The College of New Jersey. The Tigers, now 13-0, will face Shawnee in the group semis on February 21 at Passaic Tech with the victor advancing to the final on February 25 at Rutgers University. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

While Courtney Weber is determined to compete hard this winter in her final campaign for the Princeton High girls’ swimming team, she has another major goal.

“It is my senior year, so I have been trying to focus on just having fun and keeping the fun in the swimming,” said Weber.

Last Thursday Weber had a lot of fun, placing first in both the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 breaststroke to help top-seeded PHS defeat second-seeded Manasquan 96-69 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Central Group B sectional final at The College of New Jersey.

The Tigers, the defending Group B state champion, will face Shawnee in the group semis on February 21 at Passaic Tech with the victor advancing to the final on February 25 at Rutgers University.

“I was really happy with my times — I haven’t swam that fast in high school yet this year,” said Weber, reflecting on her performance which also saw her swim legs on the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay as PHS won both of those events and improved to 13-0. “I feel like it was really good energy — we all swam faster at this meet.”

Having dealt with injury and illness last season, Weber focused on dryland conditioning this winter and that has paid dividends.

“I have been getting way stronger, I backed off just a little on the swimming,” said Weber, who has committed to attend Boston College and compete for its Division I women’s swimming program. “I have really been upping my lifting. Me and my club coach at X-Cel have really been focusing on the lifting. I have built my base all of these years, now I just need to get stronger. It is not about thousands and thousands of yards in the pool but really the strength in the gym.”

PHS has displayed a sharp focus collectively this winter in its run to another state semifinal.

“We are so excited, especially because we know we had some really strong seniors last year so we were a little nervous that we couldn’t do it without them,” said Weber, who had a lot of fun between races against Manasquan, taking selfies with her teammates as the Tigers pulled away to the win. “But throughout the season, we have been seeing that we are just as strong.”

The strong bonds between Weber and fellow seniors Nora Chen, Kyleigh Tangen, Lauren Girouard, Jesse Wang, and Suri Skomra have helped spark the Tigers.

“A lot of us swim on the same club team or have swam on the same club team, every single senior except Suri,” said Weber. “I feel like we are all super close, even if we are moving around teams. That has brought up the whole team. We are so happy with the group.”

PHS head coach Carly (Misiewicz) Fackler was happy to see her girls’ squad produce a dominant performance in their win over the Big Blue Warriors.

“Manasquan is always a good team; we saw them last year, we see them a lot at this time of the year,” said Fackler. “They did everything and deserved to be here as much as we did. I am proud and impressed across the board with our swims. This was our first meet with very minimal rest as well. I think having this set us up for the next two rounds, fingers crossed. It was good.”

Fackler got some very good efforts in addition to Weber’s wins as other individual victors for the Tigers in the meet included Wang in the 200 free, Tangen in both the 50 and 100 free, Girouard in the 100 butterfly, and Annie Flanagan in the 100 backstroke. Sabine Ristad took second in the 100 back and third in the 100 free while Rachel McInerney finished third in both the 200 and 500 free races.

“Courtney had two great swims in the IM and the 100 breast,” said Fackler. “Jesse had a great 200 free and her best time in the 500. She came in second, they pushed each other and she had a great race. Kyleigh, Sabine, and Annie; I feel like the list goes on. Rachel McInerney is somebody who has really, really grown from the beginning of the season to now and is really coming up huge for us in those clutch situations.”

While Fackler was excited to see her team earn another sectional title, she knows that Tigers have room to grow as they head into the Group B final four.

“It is that next step, that next goal,” said Fackler. “The job is not done yet, we are not finished. We are happy but we are not satisfied.”

In Fackler’s view, PHS can finish with a second straight state title.

“I think we have got what it takes, we have the heart, the passion and the determination on top of the skill and athleticism,” said Fackler, whose girls’ squad topped Chatham 91-79 in the Group B state final last year to culminate a 14-0 campaign. “We are hungry, one is nice but two is better. I told them that every race, every meet from here on out is only going to get harder. We can’t walk in and just expect victories. We have to earn them, we have to work for them. Every team that is where they are is good and talented and capable of winning it all. At the end of the day, it comes down to who wants it more.”

Weber, for her part, believes that the Tigers will give their all when it counts the most.

“We know that Chatham is probably going to make it to the final,” said Weber. “We are confident that we can make it, and we think that we can take them down again this year with the right lineup. It is figuring out where we need to put the girls, even if it might not be their best event just to match their girls and see what we can take. We are making the most out of this. I think we are ready to kill it, honestly.”