WHS Swim Teams Split Meet vs. Bridgewater-Raritan

Senior captain Suzanne Lemberg set a new record in the 200-meter individual medley (IM) as the Westfield High School girls swim team defeated the Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers 89-81 on Thursday afternoon at the YMCA. The boys lost by the same score in a contest that went down to the final race.

Lemberg finished the 200 IM in two minutes and 10.4 seconds, shattering former Blue Devil Janney Zonneyville's time of 2:11.87 back in 1981.

"I knew that their girls were all really fast, and I would have to go my best time in order to beat them," Lemberg said. "In my head I was thinking I was probably going fast, but I didn't think I would break the record. When I first saw the time, I didn't realize it, but my friend was on the side and yelled 'you broke the record.'"

"At first I was just really focused on the race and how well (Lemberg) was doing," girls head coach Brooke Smith said. "When she hit after the 100 her split was really fast. In the last lap coming back, I looked at the clock and saw that she was going to kill the record. She proved why she's one of the captains of this team."

The Lady Blue Devils also took first place in the 200 and 500 freestyle, as well as the 200 freestyle relay.

Senior Meredith Smith won the 200 freestyle at 1:59.97, classmate Kyle Higgins the 500 at 5:28.14, and Smith, Lemberg, senior Emily Budnick, and junior Becky DeLaFuente paced the relay with a time of 1:42.72.

Those top finishes put Westfield ahead of the Panthers 69-55 with three events left (100 back and breaststroke, and 400 freestyle relay).

Bridgewater-Raritan made an impressive turnaround, capturing first place in all three. However, it proved too little too late to combat Westfield. Despite the Panthers strong finish, the Lady Blue Devils remained competitive as they got second and third place in both the 100 backstroke and 400 freestyle relay.

"This was a big meet, and we knew this was probably going to be our hardest meet for a while," Smith said. "Bridgewater always shows up and swims fantastic. Our girls were nervous coming into it, but they came in and did what they needed to do."

Smith's team held the lead through all but two events. The boys team on the other hand grabbed an early lead but it dwindled down until the Panthers overtook the Blue Devils in the final event to get the win.

"We knew it would be an even meet in many regards," head coach Jeffrey Knight said. "You just have to pick your spots and they got more spots than we did."

Knight's squad began the day by winning the 200 medley relay. Senior captains Matt Meserole and Mike Oster, and juniors Larry Zhang and Nick Boyle finished that race in 1:41.19. Meserole also won the 100 freestyle (48.64) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:31.33) along with Boyle, junior Jack Lorentzen and senior John Taylor.

"(Meserole) is a big time swimmer," Knight said. "He always wants to win and is very competitive. I am proud of everything he does for this team. He puts everything he can into our success."

The Blue Devils led 68-56 after eight events, but then Bridgewater-Raritan made it 79-77 by winning consecutive races.

Needing do to very well in the 400 freestyle relay, the Panthers answered the call. They scored 12 points and held Westfield to just two by winning first and second place with respective times of 3:25.10 and 3:30.90. Westfield's third place group came in at 3:34.19.

"I've got a confident group," Knight said. "They knew it was going to be close, and they just wanted to give their best. That's all I can ask of them."

Both Westfield swim teams are back in action on Saturday when they face rival Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School at 7 p.m. at the YMCA.

"It's is going to be a big meet," Knight said. "We've just got to continue to work, and hopefully our guys will be pumped up for it."

"Scotch Plains has a lot of fast girls who can probably match our girls," Smith said. "It's just going to come down to who gets a point here or there."