Times of Trenton swimming notebook: Skyland champs and power-point updates

Zaccharie Ouzilou of Montgomery, pictured in 2020, won two events at the Skyland Conference meet last Saturday.
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Less than two weeks remain for NJSIAA swimming programs to turn in times that will affect seeding for the state tournament, with the deadline set for Jan. 31.

On the boys side, five area teams hold top-four seeds in their sections in the latest NJ.com power-point tabulation. Princeton presently holds the top seed in Central Jersey, Group B with 3,717.5 points, ahead of West Windsor-Plainsboro North in second at 3,313 points and Northern Burlington fourth with 2,143 points. Manasquan is third at 2,509 points.

Montgomery’s boys are second in power points in North Jersey Section 2, Group B at 3,715 points, just behind Chatham’s 3,831. In Central Jersey, Group A, WW-P South stands third at 2,520 points, behind Hillsborough’s 3,848 and East Brunswick’s 3,312.

Five area girls teams also hold top-four seeds on the NJ.com power-point lists, all in third or fourth in their sections. In Central Jersey, Group B, Lawrence stands third at 1,787 points, behind Manasquan (3,058) and Colts Neck (2,153.5). Robbinsville is third in Central Jersey, Group C at 2,001 points, behind Rumson-Fair Haven (2,970.5) and Gov. Livingston (2,541.5). WW-P South is fourth in Central Jersey, Group A at 2,152.5 points, behind Hunterdon Central (3,300.5), Hillsborough (3,216) and Old Bridge (3,165.5). Princeton is fourth in North Jersey Section 2, Group B at 3,604, behind Summit (3,917), Scotch Plains-Fanwood (3,825.5) and Chatham (3,768).

The county- and conference-meet season has already begun, with the Skyland Conference meet held on Saturday. Montgomery senior Zaccharie Ouzilou was a two-time winner, taking the 50-yard free (21.25) and the fly (50.67), and classmate Andrew Lim won the IM (1:57.17). Montgomery finished third as a team with 155.5 points as winner Bridgewater-Raritan had 241 and runner-up Ridge finished with 194. Montgomery’s girls finished eighth with 73 points as Mount St. Mary won with 213, clearing runner-up Bridgewater-Raritan (194) by 19. Two fourth-place finishes were the Cougars’ highest in events, coming from sophomore Jessica Heden in the 500 free (5:17.79), with Mount St. Mary’s Catherine Meisner winning in 4:55.54, and from junior Louise De Cokere in the breaststroke (1:07.51), with Pingry’s Daniela Karnaugh winning in 1:02.78.

Montgomery will host the Somerset County meet on Saturday with the girls set for an 8 a.m. start and the boys at 2 p.m. Bridgewater-Raritan is the reigning girls champ from 2020, with the Panthers leading Mount St. Mary, Hillsborough, Pingry and Montgomery in the top five. Montgomery finished third on the boys side in 2020, behind Pingry and Bridgewater-Raritan.

The Mercer County meet is set for its usual three-day run beginning Thursday, Jan. 27 and continuing through Saturday, Jan. 29, all at WW-P North. The boys prelims will be held that Thursday with the girls prelims the following day, and the finals on Saturday. Just a few days after, on Feb. 3, the NJSIAA team tournament brackets will be announced.

The area’s prep programs will have the NJISAA boys state meet on Feb. 1 and the girls meet on Feb. 2, both at Lawrenceville. The Mid-Atlantic Prep League meet will be held at Peddie on Feb. 5.

Before the end of the month, area teams still have dual meets to work on continuing to taper times and pick up wins. Among those remaining duals are a pair of rivalry meets on Saturday, with WW-P South hosting WW-P North in a 10 a.m. start and Pennington hosting Hopewell Valley in a noon start.

Also at stake over the course of the rest of the dual-meet regular season is Princeton’s bid for a second straight perfect run through the CVC season. Just two meets stand between Princeton and that accomplishment, with the Tigers visiting Lawrence on Thursday and swimming against Steinert on Tuesday, with the location for the Steinert meet still to be determined.

Princeton is in both NJ.com Top 20 statewide team rankings this week, with the girls at No. 7 and the boys at No. 12. WW-P South is among the teams also considered in both, and the Montgomery boys are in that group as well. Montgomery’s girls have a top-10 opponent coming up, hosting No. 8 Mount St. Mary on Jan. 27.

Swimmers of the Week

Montgomery senior Zaccharie Ouzilou was a two-time Skyland Conference champion over the weekend, winning the 50-yard free in 21.25 seconds, edging out Phillipsburg’s Jack Drake by .41 seconds in a field of 27 swimmers, and winning the fly in 50.67 seconds, .79 seconds in front of Ridge’s Garrett Gould in a field of 27.

Montgomery junior Louise De Cokere had two top-five finishes individually at the Skyland Conference meet, taking fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.51 in a field of 30 that Pingry’s Daniela Karnaugh bested in 1:02.78, and taking fifth in the 50 free in 25.00 seconds with Watchung Hills’ Anna Moesch winning in 22.50 seconds in a 32-swimmer field.

Times Top 8

Boys

1. Lawrenceville

2. Princeton

3. Montgomery

4. WW-P North

5. Pennington

6. WW-P South

7. Notre Dame

8. Northern Burlington

Girls

1. Pennington

2. Princeton

3. Montgomery

4. WW-P South

5. Lawrenceville

6. Lawrence

7. Robbinsville

8. Hopewell Valley

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