Mustang boys comfortably atop Power Points; Mustang girls second
LINWOOD — The Mainland Regional High School girls and boys teams won Group B titles at the South Jersey Swim Coaches Association Invitational on Saturday at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.
For the girls, two of the highlights of the meet were winning the 200-meter medley relay and sweeping the top three places in the 100 backstroke.
The Mustang girls repeated as champions with 295 points, 15 ahead of second-place Haddonfield. Ocean City was third with 233.
The MRHS medley relay team featured Ella Mokienko, Avari Thoensen, Reese McEvoy and Taylor Funk. Their winning time was 1 minute, 51.6 seconds. Bishop Eustace was second and Ocean City’s relay was third.
McEvoy won the 100 backstroke in 59.11 seconds followed by Mokienko in second and Ella Wainwright in third.
McEvoy took second in the 100 butterfly in 59.41 seconds behind Haddonfield’s Audrey Derivaux, who won in 53.16 seconds.
Ryann Lowry earned a third-place finish in the 200 individual medley with her time of 2:14.24. Gloucester Catholic’s Riley Fitzpatrick won in 2:07.98.
The Mustangs took second in the 400 freestyle relay and third in the 200 freestyle relay to help claim their title.
The Mainland girls (6-2) are second in Power Points behind Shawnee (9-0) and are the defending South Jersey champions, having beaten Shawnee 89-81 for last season’s title.
Boys win title
The Mainland boys won their title with 314 points. Haddonfield was second with 288, Delran third with 200.50 and Ocean City fourth with 167.
Like the girls, the boys won the 200 medley relay. Sam Smith, Justin Yon, Liam Kennedy and Robert Nirenberg won in 1:40.47.
The Mustangs also won the 400 freestyle relay. Brian Falk, Tristan Meyers, Sam Smith and Kennedy combined for a winning time of 3:18.27.
Kennedy, a senior, also won the 100 freestyle in 47.16 seconds.
Kennedy placed second in the 50 freestyle with his time of 21.53 seconds. Ocean City’s Wilson Stauffer was third in 22.41 seconds. Haddon Township’s Ryan Quinn won the event with a time of 20.78 seconds, which tied the meet record.
Smith, Yon and Falk also are seniors. Nirenberg is a junior and Meyers is a sophomore.
The Mustang boys (7-1) are comfortably atop the Power Points in South Jersey Group B and should earn the top seed in the sectional playoffs.
Mainland has won three straight boys South Jersey titles and will be going for their fourth in a row.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
