LINWOOD — The third-place finish in the final event of the meet was just enough for the Mainland Mustang girls swim team to get past Ocean City 86-84, handing the Red Raiders their first loss of the season. To add to Ocean City’s disappointment, the differential was the result of a disqualification.
“It was a close meet the entire time. It went down to the wire,” Ocean City coach Ian Keyser said. “We were up by 10 points then Mainland fought their way back. We were tied after the 100 backstroke then went up in the 100 breaststroke.”
That left the 400 freestyle relay, the final event of the meet.
“In the 400 free relay we actually went 2-3 to score 6 points. We thought we were going to win the meet but then they disqualified one of our relays, so that bumped Mainland up and they went 1-3, which gave them the 84-86 win,” Keyser said.
The DQ was due to a false start on the part of a relay swimmer.
“It was an unfortunate way to end it, but we swam so well and it was such a great meet. It’s a shame it came down to something like that, but it really was a great back-and-forth meet,” the coach said.
The team was disappointed, but Keyser wants them to use the loss as motivation.
“Of course you’re going to be upset with a result like that, but as I told them after, let’s keep our heads held high. I was so proud of the way they swam and the way they fought throughout the meet. We swam incredibly fast. It was our best performance so far this season, so it was hard to get down on,” he said.
“I understand why they were so upset after, and I was too. I told them to use this as motivation,” Keyser said. “We will most likely be seeing Mainland again in the South Jersey playoffs in Group B, so let’s use this as a launching point for motivation for the rest of the season, and we’re hoping to get a rematch come playoff time.”
Mainland and Ocean City had 3-1 records after the meet.
MRHS 86, OCHS 84
Ocean City won the opening 200-meter medley relay in 2:06.15 with Rachel Stauffer, Abby Hays, Holly Aiken and Ryan Cooke. Mainland’s Alivia Wainwright, Ella Mokienko, Reese McEvoy and Aixell Perez-Mercedes were second and teammates Shayne Connolly, Megan Pruitt, Ryann Lowry and Taylor Funk were third.
Ambar Perez-Mercedes won the next event, the 200 freestyle, in 2:12.52 with Mustang teammate Shannon Sharkey third. Ocean City’s Kate Elder, Hope Robbins and Addie Robbins were second, fourth and fifth.
Abby Hays (2:29.35) and Aiken went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley with Grace Hays fifth. Mainland’s Lowry and Mokienko were third and fourth.
Cooke added another win for the Raiders in the 50 freestyle with a time of 27.99 seconds. Brynn Gallagher and Mia Buonadonna were fourth and fifth for Ocean City while Nirenberg and Aixell Perez-Mercedes were second and third.
Wainwright (1:05.77) and McEvoy were first and third for Mainland in the 100 butterfly. Ocean City’s Stauffer, Aiken and Grace Bridgeford were second, fourth and fifth.
Cooke and Gallagher went 1-2 in the 100 freestyle. Cooke’s winning time was 1:03.39. Mainland’s Nirenberg, Aixell Perez-Mercedes and Sharkey were third, fourth and fifth.
Ambar Perez-Mercedes took the 400 freestyle in 4:40.13 with teammate Lowry adding a second place. Ocean City’s Elder, Grace Hays and Addie Robbins were third, fourth and fifth.
Aixell Perez-Mercedes, Mokiekno, Ambar Perez-Mercedes and Nirenberg won the 200 freestyle relay in 1:55.69. Ocean City’s Abby Hays, Gallagher, Elder and Cooke were second with teammates Hope Robbins, Carina Mattern, Coryn Driscoll and Katie Pierce third.
Wainwright (1:07.85), McEvoy and Connolly were first, third and fifth in the 100 backstroke for the Mustangs. Stauffer and Buonadonna were second and fourth.
Abby Hays came back to win the 100 breaststroke in 1:17.68 with Hope Robbins third and Marina Zappone fifth. Mustangs Mokienko and Megan Pruitt were second and fourth.
With such a tight meet, the race came down to the final 400 freestyle relay.
Mainland won in 4:21.81 behind Nirenberg, Sharkey, Lowry and Wainwright and teammates Connolly, Madelyn Slattery, Sasha Rimska and Ambar Perez-Mercedes were third.
Ocean City’s Elder, Mattern, Buonadonna and Gallagher were second.
The Raiders rebounded Dec. 19 with a 133-34 win over Absegami to improve their record to 4-1.
Mainland also is 4-1 after defeating Kingsway 106-63 on Dec. 19.
– By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
