Montclair High School girls swimmers take 2nd straight title; boys lose to Passaic Tech
The Montclair High School girls swimmers registered their second straight state sectional title last week, while the boys swimmers could not keep up with a deep Passaic Tech squad.
The girls again showed their domination in the North 1 Group A state section this season as they pulled away from Ridgewood, 100-70, on Feb. 16 at Passaic Tech. It was the second year in a row that the Mounties girls defeated Ridgewood for the sectional championship. Last year they won, 124-66.
Montclair head coach Ed Koenigsfest said it has been quite a run for the girls.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime," Koenigsfest said of the last two seasons. "You wish you could have this every year."
The next afternoon, Feb. 17, also at Passaic Tech, the Mounties boys could not stay with Passaic Tech and fell, 110-60.
The Montclair girls would take the first event in the finals, the 200 medley relay, with the foursome of senior Ela Habjan, sophomore Reagan Gilligan, and juniors Carly Frank and Lily Miklaszewski (1:49.92), and would never look back. In all they would win eight of the 11 events.
Habjan continued her stellar final run for the Mounties, as she won both the 100 freestyle (51.81) and 100 backstroke (1:00.07) while being part of the first-place showings in the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
"Last year's meant a lot because it had not been done in a while," Habjan said. "Winning it twice in a row feels great."
Another senior, Sara Miller, who was part of the 200 free relay team that finished second, said the goal was not only to win this season, but to demonstrate to the underclassmen for years to come.
"We wanted to keep it going today," Miller said. "We wanted to win and show the younger swimmers to keep it going next season."
The other senior on the team, Caitlin Foung, who was on the 200 free relay team with Miller, said, "I wanted to keep the legacy going." Foung’s sister, Lily, was a senior last season and a member of that state champion swim team.
Frank and Gilligan, in addition to being on the winning 200 medley team with Habjan, picked up individual honors. Frank took home first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:09.84 and in the 100 butterfly (59.31), while Gilligan sped away to win the 500 freestyle at 5:16.47.
The combination of Habjan, Gilligan, Frank and Miklaszewski in the 200 medley relay was better by more than five seconds than the top Ridgewood relay team. The foursome also brought home a first place in the 400 relay event to end the night, with a time of 3:43.29, more than nine seconds better than the top Ridgewood team.
In the boys finals, senior Kal Sobier was the lone Mounties swimmer to win an event, as he took both the 50 freestyle (23.36) and 100 freestyle (23.36).
The 200 medley relay for the boys was a precursor for the rest of the meet. The Montclair foursome of sophomore Lucas Foung, freshman Ari Glasman, Sobier and junior Eli Muldoon (1:42.02) finished second. After that race, the boys were down 10-4 and could not catch up.
The boys team had been battling a numbers issue all season because of injuries and other issues, Koenigsfest said, making it impressive that the Mounties were able to make it to the state sectional finals.
"These boys have been fighting all season, and I'm very proud of them," the coach said. "We had a lot of best times today."
Montclair girls swimming results v Ridgewood North 1 Group A
200 Medley Relay
1. Ela Habjan, Reagan Gilligan, Carly Frank, Lily Miklaszewski, 1:49.92
200 Freestyle
1. Avery Dollard, 1:58.44
3. Keira Gilligan, 2:03.40
6. Lauren Wall, 2:13.06
200 Individual Medley
1. Carly Frank, 2:09.84
4. Madeline Young, 2:20.10
5. Sarah Miller, 2:22.54
50 Freestyle
2. Lily Miklaszewski, 25.17
4. Caitlin Foung, 25.79
5. Sefina Morrison, 27.02
100 Butterfly
1. Carly Frank, 59.31
2. Avery Dollard, 59.54
5. Madison Daynes, 1:08.15
100 Freestyle
1. Ela Habjan, 51.81
3. Lily Miklaszewski, :55.13
4. Caitlin Foung, :55.48
500 Freestyle
1. Reagan Gilligan, 5:16.47
4. Sophie Merrifield-Zuluaga, 5:37.62
5. Sefina Morrison, 5:53.20
200 Freestyle Relay
2. Sarah Miller, Madeline Young, Caitlin Foung, Avery Dollar, 1:45.61
100 Backstroke
1. Ela Habjan, 1:00.07
3. Sarah Miller, 1:05.51
4. Sophie Merrifield-Zuluaga, 1:05.57
100 Breaststroke
2. Reagan Gilligan, 1:09.48
3. Keira Gilligan, 1:13.04
6. Madison Daynes, 1:21.88
400 Freestyle Relay
1. Lily Miklaszewski, Reagan Gilligan, Carly Frank, Ela Habjan, 3:43.29
Montclair boys swimming v Passaic Tech North 1 Group A
200 Medley Relay
2. Lucas Foung, Ari Glasman, Kal Sobier, Eli Muldoon, 1:42.02
4. Max Pearson, Harris Conk, Eric Pittman, Finn Tobin, 1:50.08
200 Freestyle
2. Logan Driever, 1:51.75
3. Troy Dibble, 1:54.75
200 Individual Medley
2. Lucas Foung, 2:04.53
4. Harris Conk, 2:11.35
5. Ari Glasman, 2:12.23
50 Freestyle
1. Kal Sobier, 23.36
4. Eric Pittman, 24.22
6. Finn Tobin, 25.05
100 Butterfly
2. Eli Muldoon, 54.04
5. Eric Pittman, 1:00.80
100 Freestyle
1. Kal Sobier, 50.25
3. Troy Dibble, 51.43
6. Sam Safirstein, 1:00.85
500 Freestyle
2. Logan Driever, 5:16.44
4. Harris Conk, 5:20.33
6. Max Pearson, 5:36.93
200 Freestyle Relay
3. Finn Tobin, Harris Conk, Logan Driever, Troy Dibble, 1:36.89
100 Backstroke
3. Lucas Foung, 56.69
5. Max Pearson, 1:01.57
6. Finn Tobin, 1:03.08
100 Breaststroke
3. Eli Muldoon, 1:06.45
4. Ari Glasman, 1:06.65
6. Sam Safirstein, 1:26.80
400 Freestyle Relay
3. Kal Sobier, Logan Driever, Eli Muldoon, Troy Dibble, 3:34.62
4. Eric Pittman, Max Pearson, Ari Glasman, Lucas Foung, 3:43.22