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PHS Girls' Swim Team's Dream Ride Ends Two Yards Short of State Title
By Bill Alden
Four seasons ago, the Princeton High girls' swimming team failed to qualify for the state tournament.
Last Sunday, the Little Tigers capped one of the more remarkable turnarounds in recent years as they came within two yards of winning the NJSIAA Public B championship.
Although the Little Tigers fell 87-83 to Montgomery as the Cougars clinched the title by taking second and third in the 400 freestyle relay. The throng packing the balcony at the College of New Jersey pool roared the swimmers home in the meet's final race and PHS head coach Greg Hand believed his team had truly saved its best for last.
"Everybody stepped up," said Hand as he sat in a corner on the deck at the pool. "Comparing our meet in the water last Thursday to theirs and assuming no line-up changes they would've won by 30 points. We made some adjustments. We swam very good times, it was very close."
Indeed, the Little Tigers fell two yards short of taking third on that final relay as the Cougars split their top relay teams in an effort to hold off PHS.
"We needed a one-three and we considered the lineups," recalled Hand. "We felt we had a good chance of getting one and three regardless of what they did. I think we came pretty darn close. We were there all the way and put a whole lot more on the scoreboard than I was thinking we could at the beginning of the tournament."
Hand acknowledged that even he had been taken aback by what his team had accomplished. "I didn't think we had quite enough to do that," said Hand, referring to the team's dream run to the championship meet. "It was a terrific team with a lot of character. I'm very impressed by how the girls made themselves into a force. They kept improving, they kept supporting each other. Each time we met success, we wanted to see what we could do the next time."
While senior co-captain Kristin Gray was disappointed that the team didn't taste success in the finale, she was happy with the effort. "It was a well-swum meet," said Gray quietly. "I'm very proud of my team, it was a wonderful season."
Gray turned in some wonderful performances Sunday as she won the 100-yard butterfly and swam the third leg on the first place 400 free relay team.
The two standouts for PHS were sophomore superstar Nina Rossi and determined junior Maddy Carroll. Rossi won the 200 free, the 500 free, and anchored the wins in the 200 free and 400 free relays. Carroll won the 100 free, the 200 individual medley and swam the opening legs on the 200 free and 400 free relays.
Hand knows that he has something special in his one-two punch of Rossi and Carroll. "Nina did a marvelous job," said Hand. "She always gives us two great individual efforts and two great relay efforts. When she's not in the pool, she's cheering the whole time. Likewise Maddy was terrific. She attacks her races, she brings them in as hard as she starts them."
In Gray's view, it was a team-wide work ethic that sparked the program's startling reversal of fortune.
"It's been a great ride," said Gray, who plans to swim at Bates College next season. "I think my senior experience has been wonderful. I'm proud we got this far. We did a lot more hard work than we had done in the past, everybody worked hard."
Although PHS fell yards short of its ultimate goal last Sunday, there can be no doubt that its hard work yielded a special dividend.
