Raiders win five of six to overcome 1-4 start
OCEAN CITY — The Ocean City High School boys swim team ended its regular season on fire, blowing the Cedar Creek Pirates out of the water with a 133-37 victory Jan. 24.
The Red Raiders had a first-place finisher in each of the 11 races held in the meet for their most convincing win of the season.
The closest race of the day was in the 50-meter freestyle. Raiders Matthew Bell (25.48) and Tommy Armstrong (25.71) finished within two tenths of a second of each other to claim first and second place. Armstrong narrowly beat out Matt Winterbottom (25.97) of Cedar Creek by nearly three tenths of a second.
The win against Cedar Creek capped off an impressive late-season push by the Raiders. After starting the year 1-4, Ocean City won five of its last six meets to reach the playoffs. The Raiders’ only loss in the back half of the season was against 7-2 Haddonfield Memorial High School 110-60.
During the winning streak, Ocean City had only one meet in which the final score was within 30 points. The Raiders defeated Lenape High School by a narrow margin of 89-81.
They held on to beat Lenape thanks to strong performances in the individual events. Even if a Raider did not get first place in a race, he would claim second and third and kept the score close.
Bell (26.01) won the 50-meter freestyle against Lenape and then improved his time by a half-second for the meet against Cedar Creek a week later.
Ocean City head coach Shane McGrath made some changes against Cedar Creek as he looks to construct the optimal lineup for the playoffs.
“Last meet of the regular season and I was looking for opportunities for kids who haven’t swam in events,” McGrath said. “We are still trying to fill some holes in our lineup. The guys responded well and swam really well.”
The Raiders finished the year 6-5 and must wait until February for the start of the playoffs. The NJSIAA South Jersey Group B playoff bracket will start Feb 5. Ocean City most likely will host one school to start and if victorious, would move on to compete against Mainland Regional High School on the road.
Ocean City lost their matchup against the Mustangs earlier in the season by a score of 111-59. However, McGrath was looking forward to the possibility of competing against the cross-bay rival again.
“We like going to Mainland because they are our rival, and they are close to home. We will be a little different team when we see them in the playoffs than we did in the regular season,” McGrath said.
A defining trait of this Raider team is its youth. Before the meet against Cedar Creek, Ocean City held a ceremony for the departing seniors. Thorne Swift, Dustin Laricks, Mike Carr and Jake Reardon were celebrated as leaders of the team before they graduate in the spring. All four seniors swam competitively for the first time in high school and improved every year at Ocean City.
A bright spot for the Raiders is they are the only four seniors and a majority of the team is returning in 2024.
Laricks was a part of the first-place relay team in the 200-meter freestyle race against Cedar Creek. He was joined by Colin Schweim, Keenan Neuman and Jack Scherbin to finish with a time of 1:51.32. They narrowly edged out the Pirate team by two seconds (1:53.26).
Freshman Neuman had a great showing as the next generation of Raider swimmers came into focus. He won the 200-meter IM with a time of 2:31.57 in an event in which the Raiders swept the top three spots. Neuman (1:16.93) also finished a second ahead of teammate Mihail Mosendz (1:17.84) to win the 100-meter breaststroke.
The Raiders will enter the South Jersey tournament on fire and, unlike last year, they will not be the top overall seed. They might even get a chance to get revenge on Mainland for their defeat last year in the final round.
By WILLIAM TRUITT/For the Sentinel
