OCEAN CITY – The Egg Harbor Township Eagles easily defeated the defending South Jersey champion Ocean City boys swim team 113-57 in last week’s opener for both teams, but that didn’t surprise Red Raider head coach Shane McGrath.
His team, he notes, is a slow starter.
The core class is back from last year and the team is working through some injuries, but he told his swimmers after Thursday’s meet that they have been through this before.
“It takes us some time to get fast,” McGrath said.
“EHT is a really talented team and they have a good amount of year-round swimmers so when they come into this meet they’re kind of in shape,” he said.
Most of his team is comprised of high school-only swimmers who aren’t as meet-ready when the season begins.
“By January of February, we think we can hit that point where we can compete a little better with those guys,” he said. “I think it’s a different meet at the end of the season than it is now, but my hat is off to them. They swam great today. They have great kids. Mark’s a great coach.”
Mark Jamieson is the head coach for the boys and girls swim teams at EHT. He’s also the operations chief of the Ocean City Beach Patrol.
“I think my kids are humbled by this. They came off a South Jersey championship last year, but then we got beat by Chatham in the state round,” McGrath said. “It’s good. They accept the challenge. I was going to give them off tomorrow morning for a lift, but the guys said, ‘No, we don’t want off.’ That’s a sign they want to keep working.”
After the boys won the South Jersey title last year, a common refrain was talking about the hard work of more than 80 practices and 26 morning weight-lifting sessions to become the first OCH boys swim team to win a South Jersey title since 1962.
“We’re probably going to double that number this year,” McGrath said of the weight-lifting sessions. “Hopefully they don’t sink to the bottom of the pool because they’re too big,” he added with a laugh.
The coach expects his top scorers to include Pat Armstrong, Jackson Agnellini, Matt Woodside, Mike Kelly, Colin Abbott and Gavin Neal.
“Those guys in the medley relay today qualified for the Meet of Champions today and were two-tenths (of a second) off the school record. That set a nice tone,” McGrath said of Armstrong, Agnellini, Neal and Tommy Armstrong.
That tone didn’t last past the first event.
“I think everyone in the pool thought, ‘Man, a one-three (finish), Ocean City’s going to be in this thing,’ but we knew what EHT had after that. The guys didn’t give up. They didn’t put their heads down. They swim as fast as they can no matter who they’re going up against. That’s all you can ask for.”
Pat Armstrong, McGrath said, is a senior who “has taken the team on his shoulders. In that 100 fly, I don’t think anyone thought he was coming back but he did. I think Pat is hard on himself too. He knows he has to get into better shape to be where he wants to be at the end of the season and he’s aware of that. Strengthwise he’s there. We just have to get his cardio back.
Armstrong, 17, of Longport, said his team has high expectations this season.
“I’m hoping we can defend our title as South Jersey champion and really be in the fight for the state championship this year as well,” Armstrong said. “I think we have a very solid team and I think when we all fall together at the end of the season we can be in a really good position to win that state title.”
Jamieson was happy how his Eagles performed in the pool against Ocean City.
“Meet one you’re curious to see what’s going on. Obviously it’s cold and flu season and that has affected us a little bit. All in all I’m happy to see the people have been putting in the time,” he said. “Their performances, going into the first week of the season, and the people new to the sport or returning from fall sports, are putting in work in the short turnover period this year (between seasons.)
“And I’m just happy to see racing again. It’s nice to be at a packed pool here. Ocean City put on a great race. We’re really excited about the potential of our team and satisfied with their efforts today,” he said.
Jamieson added the Eagles have a deep roster.
Leo Smilevski and Michael Wojciechowicz in sprint freestyle are returning. They had a great states for the team last year. Dylan DeWitt and Charles Schreiner have really gotten into their own in middle distance freestyle,” he added. “There are just so many little pieces that will make us a great team this year. We’re excited to see the development and see the time drop.”
EHT 113, OCHS 57
200 medley relay – Ocean City’s Tommy Armstrong, Gavin Neal, Pat Armstrong and Jackson Agnellini won the opening relay in 1:52.67, a time that qualified them for the state meet in their season-opener. Raiders Colin Abbott, Matt Bell, CJ Denn and Mo Levin were third. EHT’s Dylan DeWitt, Charlie Severed, Alex Smilevski and Leo Smilevski were second.
200 freestyle – EHT’s Charles Schreiner (1:56.48) was first with teammates Max Smilevski and Corey Lin third and fourth. Raiders Matt Woodside and Ryan Slaven with second and fifth.
200 individual medley – EHT’s DeWitt (2:19.96), Severed and Aerick Mallari swept the top three spots; Raiders Abbott and Bell were fourth and fifth.
50 freestyle – Leo Smilevski (24.54), Michael Wojciechowicz, and DJ Williams were first, third and fifth, respectively. Raiders Pat Armstrong and Agnellini were second and fourth.
100 butterfly – Raider Pat Armstrong (1:00.85) was first and Denn fourth. EHT’s Alex Smilevski, DeWitt and Willian Nguyen were second, third and fifth.
100 freestyle – Leo Smilevski (54.62) , Wojciechowicz and Max Smilevski were first, second and fourth. Raiders Neal and Tommy Armstrong were third and fifth.
400 freestyle – Charles Schreiner (4:11.20), William Seaman and Adam Schreiner were first, third and fourth. Raiders Woodside and Michelle Zappone were second and fifth.
200 freestyle relay – Wojciechowicz, Max Smilevski, DeWitt and Leo Smilevski (1:43.87) were first and EHT teammates Mallari, David Rojas, Williams and Seaman were third. Ocean City’s Neal, Levin, Agnellini and Woodside were second.
100 backstroke – Seiverd (1:03.11), Lin and Adam Schreiner were first, second and fifth. Raiders Tommy Armstrong and Denn were third and fourth.
100 breaststroke – EHT swept the top three spots with Alex Smilevski (1:14.76), Nguyen and Mallari. Raiders Neal and Bell were fourth and fifth.
400 freestyle relay – Max Smilevski, Wojciechowicz, Lin and Schreiner (3:49.89) were first and EHT teammates Severed, Nguyen, Williams and Seaman were third. Raiders Tommy Armstrong, Denn, Woodside and Pat Armstrong were second.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
