Haddonfield swimmers fall in state final

Tears in their eyes, the Haddonfield girls were visibly upset. But no one felt the team didn't work hard enough.

Though second-seeded Haddonfield conceded the NJSIAA Public C swimming final to top-seeded Mountain Lakes (13-2), 93-77, on Saturday, Sophie Fontaine had a positive takeaway for her side: It defied expectations. No one, not even the swimmers themselves, figured the team would make it as far as it did.

"I don't think anyone is going to look back on this meet and say they wish they had done something different. I think there's nothing that we shouldn't be proud of," Fontaine said. "Win or lose, we knew today was going to be really, really close and a tough meet. I think everyone swam out of their minds."

That they did.

The Bulldawgs made their presence known in the pools at the College of New Jersey, winning eight of the 11 events. Fontaine, a Yale recruit, had first-place finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke with times of 2:07.90 and 57.96.

Her teammates Abby Neveling and Sophia Kurtz each added two victories. Neveling took the 50 (24.21) and 100 (53.19) freestyles, and Kurtz the 200 (1:56.85) and 500 (5:16.67) freestyles.

"I'm very happy with how I swam and how my teammates swam," Neveling said. "By coming in and getting as many points as we did, I just think it's amazing."

Depth proved to be the deciding factor in the meet, and stacked next to the Mountain Lakes team, Haddonfield (8-5) did not have enough.

For every six points the Bulldogs earned in an event win, the Lakers stacked points through second-, third- and fourth-place finishes.

"We knew the depth was going to be their key," Bulldawgs coach Bob Querubin said. "Not only did we need to win as many events as possible, but the idea was to try to sneak in a third or try to sneak in another event some place. They were just too deep."

It was the second consecutive season that Haddonfield lost in the state final. Despite coming up short again, Querubin wasn't going to write off the progress his team has made, and the chance to experience the atmosphere of a state final.

"Year after year they continue to improve. These girls have historically done well from Haddonfield and it's no different with this group of people," Querubin said. "We couldn't be happier to represent South Jersey in a state final."

MOUNTAIN LAKES 93, HADDONFIELD 77

200 medley relay: Sophie Fontaine, Abbey Neveling, Kim D'Angelo, Caroline Conte (Haddonfield) - 1:49.94

200 freestyle: Sophia Kurtz (Haddonfield) - 1:56.85

200 IM: Fontaine (Haddonfield) - 2:07.90

50 freestyle: Neveling (Haddonfield) - 24.21

100 butterfly: Katie Kiely (Mountain Lakes) - 59.74

100 freestyle: Neveling (Haddonfield) - 53.19

500 freestyle: Kurtz (Haddonfield) - 5:16.67

200 freestyle relay: Fontaine, Elizabeth Kolaski, Kurtz, Neveling (Haddonfield) - 1:40.35

100 backstroke: Fontaine (Haddonfield) - 57.96

100 breaststroke: Kara Zimmerman (Mountain Lakes) - 1:14.05

400 freestyle relay: Elise Fraser, Kelly Shi, Heili Truumees, Mia Tarantola (Mountain Lakes) - 3:45.23