Rams capture swim crown
But Gloucester Catholic didn't clinch its title until the final race.
The Gloucester Catholic girls' swim team took things down to the wire in earning its second overall and first outright Tri-County Conference title. The Rams clinched the championship with Tuesday's 93-92 win over Clearview at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology.
Even though the Rams won 11 of the 12 events, this one came down to the final race, in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Gloucester Catholic needed a first-place finish to clinch the meet and captured it in 3 minutes, 54.45 seconds.
Leading off the relay was sophomore Amanda Pegues followed by senior Alyssa McCourt, junior MaryKate McBride and freshman Erin Malone.
"I couldn't sleep afterward," said Kevin Nolan, who coaches the boys' and girls' swim teams at Gloucester Catholic. "I was just so pumped and felt so good for the girls."
Malone not only helped win that final relay, but she also won two individual events and qualified for states. She captured the 100 butterfly (1:01.07) and the 100 backstroke (1:02.23). Both times, according to Nolan were personal bests.
The Rams won every swimming event, but Clearview was the winner in diving.
The win provided some extra satisfaction since it was Clearview that won the conference title with a three-point win over the Rams a year ago.
"Last year the meet came down to the 400 free relay, and we needed to finish 1-2 and finished 1-3," said Nolan, in his 22d year as head coach. "The conference was also up for grabs."
Updating Bill Cregar.
A former three-time state champion from Washington Township, Cregar is a key member of the University of Georgia swim team. Now a sophomore, Cregar finished first in the 400-yard individual medley at the UGA Fall Invitational in 3 minutes, 45.82 seconds.
This season he has eight second-place finishes.
Cregar holds the third-fastest 400 IM time (3:45.56) in Georgia history. He has the sixth-fastest 500 free time (4:21.92) and the seventh-fastest 1,650 free time (15:08.19) in school history.
Last season as a freshman he earned two honorable mention all-American certificates in the 400 individual medley and the 1,640 freestyle at the 2008 NCAA championships.
Key meets.
Shawnee meets Haddonfield 4 p.m. today at Burlington County College in a meet between teams ranked in The Inquirer's Super Six boys' swimming poll. Shawnee (8-1) is ranked No. 4, and Haddonfield (6-1) is No. 5.
Shawnee's loss came to No. 5 Cherry Hill West earlier this season. Haddonfield lost last week to No. 2 Cherry Hill East.
"Facing Haddonfield will be a good measuring stick for us," Shawnee coach Jeff DeNick said.
The Renegades, led by J.D. Flanagan in the butterfly and sprinter Paul Maneri, also have a big meet Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Burlington County College against Rancocas Valley. These are annually two of the top programs in Burlington County.