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Swimming: Midseason rankings, Bergen and Passaic county championship previews

Sean Farrell, NorthJersey.com
·4 min read

The high school swimming season heats up this weekend with a championship double-header.

The Passaic County Swimming Championships get started at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Passaic Tech. Bergen County will hold its Meet of Champions at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Felix Festa Middle School in West Nyack, N.Y.

Here's what you need to know for this year's championships, followed by the midseason North Jersey team rankings.

Bergen County championship

RETURNING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

Girls: Ridgewood's Isabel Lee (50 freestyle), Indian Hills' Katie Lawrence (butterfly and backstroke) and IHA's Kayla Rodriguez (breaststroke).

Boys: Bergen Catholic's Doyee Kim (individual medley) and Raymond Stelmark (500 freestyle), Ridgewood's Michael Granin (50 freestyle).

Dec 12, 2023; Wayne, NJ, USA; Bergen Catholic/IHA swimming at Passaic Tech. Raymond Stelmark, of Bergen Catholic, in the 500 Free.
Dec 12, 2023; Wayne, NJ, USA; Bergen Catholic/IHA swimming at Passaic Tech. Raymond Stelmark, of Bergen Catholic, in the 500 Free.

DEFENDING TEAM CHAMPIONS

Bergen Catholic won two relays and another two individual events last year on the way to beating defending-champion Tenafly, 256-241. It was the first county title for the Crusaders in six seasons.

Immaculate Heart held onto its title as the only champion in tournament history by winning for the 24th straight time. Northern Highlands and Ridgewood tied for second on the girls side.

GIRLS TEAM PREVIEW

Immaculate Heart will be uncatchable with the chance to place top-five in every event.

The next best team could be Leonia/Palisades Park with Iris Kim and Rebekah Jung loading up on points. Ridgewood, Indian Hills, Northern Highlands and Pascack Regional also have the speed to hang around the top.

BOYS TEAM PREVIEW

Bergen Catholic heads across the border with a big advantage on paper. Stelmark and Kim are one of the top 1-2 punches in the sport while Dimitri Melnikov adds some versatility behind them.

Northern Highlands, Leonia/Palisades Park and Ridgewood all have what it takes to secure a high finish.

BEST RACE

Keep an eye on the girls 200 freestyle, where Northern Highlands' Grace Lee and Leonia/Palisades Park's Iris Kim have both clocked times under the meet record.

Dec 12, 2023; Wayne, NJ, USA; Bergen Catholic/IHA swimming at Passaic Tech. Julia Lo, of Passaic Tech, in the 100 Fly.
Dec 12, 2023; Wayne, NJ, USA; Bergen Catholic/IHA swimming at Passaic Tech. Julia Lo, of Passaic Tech, in the 100 Fly.

Passaic County championship

RETURNING INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

Girls: Lakeland/West Milford's Emily Kebrdle (200 and 500 freestyle), Wayne Valley's Sarah Rodrigues (individual medley and butterfly) and Passaic Tech's Julia Lo (100 freestyle) and Francesca Cordero (breaststroke).

Boys: Passaic Tech's Tyler Roer (200 freestyle and butterfly), Adam Kiss (individual medley and 500 freestyle), Oliver Kiss (50 freestyle and breaststroke) and Zachary McKatten (backstroke), Wayne Valley's Matthew Piacentini (100 freestyle).

DEFENDING TEAM CHAMPIONS

Passaic Tech added another chapter to its swimming dynasty by sweeping the title race last winter.

The Bulldogs won their eighth straight county title on the boys side (465 points) after speeding past Wayne Valley (280) and Wayne Hills (251).

The girls race was much closer, but Passaic Tech (400) still pulled it off in the end while holding off Wayne Hills (344) in second. The Bulldogs became the first girls team to win five straight Passaic County titles and broke the record previously set by Wayne Hills.

GIRLS TEAM PREVIEW

Passaic Tech will be the team to beat with its home-pool advantage and impressive sophomore group. That class is led by a pair of individual champions in Lo and Cordero and three more silver medalists in Ashaly Dominguez, Danna Tapia and Leah Ciabattoni.

The Bulldogs have not a lost a dual to a Passaic County opponent since December 2017 and it will take a herculean effort for someone to overtake them.

Wayne Hills always puts up a good fight and has some star power in its senior class with the likes of Callie Ng and Alexis Gentile.

BOYS TEAM RACE

Passaic Tech is the clear-cut favorite with elite speed in the middle lane.

The Bulldogs bring back a Core Four of swimmers that combined to win seven of the eight individual events last winter. Senior Adam Kiss will look to make one last splash as a two-time champ in the 500 and current record-holder.

BEST RACE

One of the most dramatic moments last year came in the 200 freestyle relay when the Wayne Valley boys broke the meet record with a split-second win over Passaic Tech. Both teams return three-quarters of their relay and have the potential for fast times.

Boys Top 10 rankings

  1. Bergen Catholic 5-1

  2. Tenafly 5-0

  3. Passaic Tech 5-1

  4. Ridgewood 4-0

  5. Northern Highlands 4-1

  6. Rutherford 6-0

  7. Leonia/Palisades Park 4-2

  8. Don Bosco 4-1

  9. Ramsey 5-1

  10. Wayne Valley 5-1

Girls Top 10 rankings

  1. Immaculate Heart 5-0

  2. Ridgewood 4-0

  3. Pascack Valley 6-0

  4. Passaic Tech 4-2

  5. Leonia/Palisades Park 5-1

  6. Northern Highlands 3-2

  7. Old Tappan 4-1

  8. Wayne Hills 5-1

  9. Tenafly 5-0

  10. Indian Hills 5-0

(Records through Tuesday.)

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ swimming: Midseason rankings, Bergen, Passaic county previews