Hightstown coasts past Nottingham to start season strong
HIGHTSTOWN >> Eddie Larkin and Andrew Morgan are pretty sure that swim teams are allowed to finish with a record other than 5-8.
They are hoping to prove that this year.
The Hightstown High boys swimmers got off to a strong start with a 118-52 over Nottingham Tuesday, getting four first-places from Morgan.
The senior freestyler came to Hightstown the same year Larkin started as head coach, and the Rams have recorded the same record in their first three seasons.
“I’m optimistic,” said Larkin, whose father, former Division III All-American swimmer BJ Larkin, may be used as a motivational speaker this year. “We have a really young team, a lot of freshmen. We lost one senior from last year and I’m real excited for what the freshmen can do. I’ve been 5-8 every year as the head coach here, I think we’ve got a chance to get better than that this year.”
“Honestly, if we get a winning season that would be a pretty big deal,” Morgan said. “I think it’s gonna be one of the best seasons we’ve had. Our freshman year it was all new guys who hadn’t really swam before. So now we have all these seniors who have been here for four years, plus all the new freshmen.”
One of the ninth-graders with a strong debut was Jeremy Lopez, who won the 200 and 400 freestyles. Ansh Dalia chipped in with a second in the 200 free and a third in the 100 fly, and was also part of the winning 200 free relay.
“Jeremy Lopez was big, he’ll be a force for us going forward,” Larkin said. “Ansh Dalia was tired today but still got some seconds and thirds so I’m excited for that moving forward.”
Joe Kecskes was a three-time winner for the Rams in the 100 back, 200 medley relay and 200 free relay, while Yoni Livstone won the 100 breast and was part of the 200 MR. Santiago Callegari and Nojus Kubertivicious were also on winning relay teams.
Nottingham got two firsts from sophomore Steve Wilfing in the 200 IM and 100 fly, and the Northstars also won the 400 free relay.
“I was excited about today,” Larkin said. “A couple of my guys had some really good times. A lot of drops from last year and the freshmen came in and stepped up with good times and good places.”
Morgan agreed, saying, “I thought we did pretty good, especially for a first meet with a lot of new freshmen.”
And then there is Morgan, a grizzled veteran. He won the 50 and 100 free and also swam both winning relay races, as Larkin looks for big things from his senior.
“Last year he came in second for most points on the team,” the coach said. “I’m looking for him to take over this year and hoping for more than he had last year. I think he has a good chance in the 50 free in counties this year. His time keeps dropping and he started this year right where he ended last year after having just two weeks of practice. He’ll be a force at the end.”
Morgan isn’t predicting forcedom for himself just yet.
“I just want to improve my 50 and 100 free time,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to (place at counties or qualify for states). Those are very fast times, but if that happens it will definitely be very nice. I’m just always trying to get better.”
Follow Rich Fisher on twitter @fish4scores
Hightstown 118, Nottingham 52
First-place finishers
200 medley relay: Hightstown (Kesckes, Livstone, Callegari, Morgan) 2:12.05
200 free: Lopez (H) 2:26.95
200 IM: Wilfing (N) 2:29.54
50 free: Morgan (H) 27.18
100 fly: Wilfing (N) 1:10.16
100 free: Morgan (H) 1:03.16
500 free: Lopez (H) 5:06.94
200 free relay: Hightstown (Kecskes, Dalia, Kubertivicious, Morgan) 1:55.71
100 back: Kecskes (H) 1:17.49
100 breast: Livstone (H) 1:40.30
400 free relay: Nottingham (Miller, Filipowicz, Tyler, Steven) 4:27.50