LINWOOD – It was a back-and-forth battle between the Mainland Regional and Shawnee High School boys swim teams Monday afternoon. The meet wasn’t decided until the final event.
The Mustangs (9-2) came into the 400-meter relay trailing Shawnee 79-77 after the two teams traded leads throughout the South Jersey Group B sectional semifinals.
Fortunately for the No. 2 seed Mustangs, Brian Falk, Alex Savov, Robert Nirenberg and Liam Kennedy owned that relay, finishing first in 3 minutes 52.24 seconds with teammates Parker Sherwood, Nigel Davidov, Sam Smith and Tristan Meyers taking third. Shawnee’s relay team finished second, 15 seconds behind the winners.
That surge propelled Mainland to an 87-83 victory and gave the Mustangs the chance to defend their 2023-24 South Jersey title Thursday against rival Ocean City, the No. 1 seed, in the sectional finals at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.
Mainland head coach Brian Booth said he expected a close race.
“We knew it was going to be tough — Shawnee’s a good team. I tried to explain that to my boys all week that this isn’t an easy one for us and we had to swim fast.
“I’m glad to see we fought. It was a nice meet all around, a lot of good swims, but we were lucky to be on top,” Booth said.
Shawnee jumped out to an early lead by taking first and third in the opening 200 medley relay. Matthew Elberson, Paul Romano, Jack McKenna and Ian Rotberg won in 1:51.62, a half-second ahead of Mainland’s Savov, Justin Yon, Kennedy and Dan Tracey.
The Mustangs evened the meet at 15-15 when Falk (2:01.54) won the 200 freestyle and teammates Meyers and Smith were third and fourth. Shawnee’s Rothberg was second.
Shawnee regained the lead when Jack McKenna (2:18.34) and Brady Arbittier went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley. Mustangs Yon, Nirenberg and Sherwood were third, fourth and fifth.
The lead flipped again as Kennedy and Tracey went 1-2 in the 50 freestyle and teammate David Simpson finished fifth. Kennedy’s winning time was 24.54 seconds. Shawnee’s William Christianson and Luke Grabowski were third and fourth.
At that point it was Mainland ahead 32-30, but that lead only lasted until the next event when Shawnee’s McKenna (58.99 seconds), Romano and Pearson went 1-3-4 in the 100 butterfly. Savov was second for Mainland and Marek Meyers fifth.
The Mustangs closed the gap to 48-46 with Kennedy winning the 100 freestyle in 54.54 seconds and fellow Mustangs Tracey and Simpson fourth and fifth. Shawnee’s Rothberg and Grabowski were second and third.
Shawnee then took a lead that would hold up until the final event.
The visitors won the 400 freestyle behind Elberson (4:15.37) with teammates Arbittier and Derek Andryca third and fifth. Mustangs Falk and Tristan Meyers were second and fourth.
Shawnee took the 200 freestyle in 1:45.62 with McKenna, Pearson, Arbittier and Rothberg. Mainland’s Tracey, Yon, Simpson and Falk were second and Davidov, Marek Meyers, Sam Smith and Tristan Meyers third.
Savov won the 100 backstroke in 1:01.12 with Sherwood third. Shawnee’s Elberson, Andryca and Pearson were second, fourth and fifth.
Nirenberg (1:10.09), Yon and Marek Meyers finished 1-3-5 in the 100 breaststroke. Romano and Christianson were second and fourth for Shawnee, setting up the race to decide the meet in the final relay. Shawnee finished the season with a 6-5 record.
Title meet ahead
Mainland fell to Ocean City 89-81 back in mid-December in a regular season meet, but both teams have progressed since then.
The two teams have squared off regularly not just in the regular season, but also during playoffs over the years.
The Mustangs beat Ocean City 100-70 in the semifinals of the sectional meet last year en route to an upset, 95-75 win over No. 1 seed Shawnee in the championship meet.
In the 2022-23 season, Mainland beat Ocean City 87-83 in the sectional final in an unusual meet during which two Red Raider relay teams were disqualified, changing the trajectory of the meet.
Ocean City won the South Jersey Public B championship in the 2021-22 season, beating Moorestown 90-80 for the title. Mainland has also won multiple state titles over the years so both teams are well versed in championship meets.
The sectional championship is at 5 p.m. Feb. 13 at GCIT.
– STORY by DAVID NAHAN and CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
