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 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) caption:
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Boasting Depth, Winning Experience, PHS Girls' Swim Team Ready to Roll
By Bill Alden
The seniors on the Princeton High girls' swimming team appear poised to make their last season one to remember.
Last winter, PHS's Class of 2005 helped fuel a stunning late-season run that saw the Little Tigers end up in the state Public B championship meet where they narrowly lost to Montgomery High.
The core of the senior class, which includes Maddy Carroll, Hannah Gursky, Caroline Sholl, Emma Impink, Melissa Carduner, Brittany Fiorello, and Emily Frantzen, is on track to reach its considerable potential.
"I think on the girls' side that we have a large, spirited senior class," said PHS head coach Greg Hand. "These guys are doing exactly what I imagined they would be doing when they first came to the program four years ago."
The Little Tigers gave a glimpse of their depth and strength on December 14 when they christened their new pool at John Witherspoon School by romping to an easy 130-39 win over Steinert.
Standout veterans for PHS in the victory included junior Nina Rossi, who won the 200-yard individual medley and the 500 freestyle, Carroll, the first place finisher in the 100 free and the second-place finisher in the 200 free, sophomore Ali Mercuro, the winner of the 50 free, and junior Carson Johnson, the winner of 100 butterfly and the third-place finisher in the 200 IM.
Freshman Kathleen Morrison made a superb debut as she won the 200 free and the 100 backstroke. Classmate Paige Johnson took second in the 100 fly and third in the 50 free while fellow freshman Elizabeth Cava placed third in the 500 free.
Hand thought his team accomplished what it set out to do in the opener. "This early in the season, given that Steinert is in a bit of a down year, I was just hoping that the kids would take ownership of the meet," said Hand, whose team made it 2-0 on the season when they cruised past Notre Dame 117-53 last weekend. "I think they raced the kind of races that set a great tone. They showed the kind of support for each other that we will need."
In Hand's view, the team has the blend of new talent and experience to accomplish some special things this season.
"We have some new kids who are really helping us," said Hand referring to freshmen Kathleen Morrison, Elizabeth Cava, and Paige Johnson. "The veterans have improved and they have some sense of what it takes to be successful."
While Hand and his swimmers don't dwell on what the team achieved last season, that experience does serve as a subconscious motivation.
"We remember last year but there is no sense of surpassing it; there is no sense of getting back at anybody," explained Hand, whose team went 9-4 last season. "We just want to see if we can experience it again. It will take some terrific races to get there."
Hand knows he will get plenty of terrific races from junior superstar Rossi, who won the 100 fly and took second in the 200 IM at the Meet of Champions last season and has been the top female performer at the Mercer County Championships in her first two seasons.
"Nina is swimming on a couple of different tracks at the same time," said Hand, whose swimmers will next be in action when they face Hopewell Valley on January 4 at the Pennington School pool.
"She's going to start getting heavily recruited for college. She's training hard in a club environment. She's continued to be a team swimmer. Nina really brings leadership and excitement to the team."
Rossi and her teammates should be producing a lot of excitement this winter.
