The Montclair High School boys swimming team has joined the girls team in the state sectional finals this season.
Last year, the girls squad came home with a North 1 Group A state title, while the boys fell in the quarterfinals.
But this season, a more experienced and deeper Mounties boys team that was seeded second in the state section outraced a strong, third-seeded Ridgewood squad, 95-75, in the North 1 Group A semifinals on Monday night, Feb. 13, at Montclair State University.
And the Montclair girls showed why they are the top seed in North 1 Group A by easily taking care of Morristown, 112-58, in the girls semifinals.
The Mounties girls are undefeated at 10-0, while the boys are 9-1.
With the semis win, the girls move on to the sectional finals on Thursday, Feb 16, at Passaic Tech against second-seeded Ridgewood.
On the boys side, the swimmers will take on the winner of top-seeded Passaic Tech on Friday, Feb. 17, at Passaic Tech.
Montclair head coach Ed Koenigsfest said about the state finals: “We just have to put our best lineups out there.”
Montclair senior Logan Driever won the 500 freestyle as well as being part of two first-place relay teams, in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, against Ridgewood.
“I thought when we won the first relay that we could do it,” Driever said about the 200 medley relay with sophomore Lucas Foung, junior Eli Muldoon and senior Kai Sobier (1:43.19).
He added that he is looking forward to the shot at winning the state sectional title. He was a freshman when the Montclair boys last were in the sectional championship, a loss to River Dell in 2019.
“I’m excited for us to just get to sectional final,” Driever said. “Even if we don’t win, it will have the young kids just get the experience of the sectional final.”
Overall, the Mounties boys were bolstered by winning eight of the 11 events.
Along with winning the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and 400 freestyle relay, the boys showed they have very good individual swimmers, with five different boys winning five individual races.
In addition to Driever, junior Eli Muldoon (100 butterfly, 54.21), freshman Ari Glassman (100 breaststroke, 1:05.49), sophomore Troy Dibble (200 free, 1:54.88) and sophomore Lucas Foung (200 IM, 2:05.91) won their races.
On the girls side, Montclair kept its run over the past two seasons going. Along with winning the state sectional title last season, the Mounties girls have won back-to-back Essex County titles.
“We knew that it was a good challenge, and I’m proud of how we did,” senior Ela Habjan said.
Habjan won the 50 freestyle (24.64) and 100 backstroke (1:00.70) and was a part of the winning 200 medley relay team (1:53.36) and the 400 freestyle relay team (3:53.41) against Morristown.
Like the boys squad, the girls have a deep top shelf of swimmers. Five different girls registered a win in an individual event, led by Habjan and Reagan Gilligan (200 IM, 2:15.57, and 500 freestyle, 5:44.10). In addition, Avery Dollard (200 freestyle, 2:04.02), Carly Frank (100 butterfly, 1:01.12) and Lily Miklaszewski (100 freestyle, 57.29) won their races.