As the N.J. boys swimming season moves into its second week, the next five days promise matchups packed with even more significance, as teams look to make a statement and crank out big power point numbers.
Here are some can’t-miss meets for Dec. 8-14.
Monday, Dec. 8
West Windsor-Plainsboro North at Princeton, 4pm
Two of the best teams in the Colonial Valley Conference will both be tested here. Princeton, which spent some time in the Top 20 state rankings last year, graduated several talented seniors who helped them win the CVC title. This meet will be the first look at how they retool their lineup. West Windsor-Plainsboro North has several top swimmers back this season, so they’ll be aiming for their first win over Princeton since 2019.
Tuesday, Dec. 9
Lenape Valley at Kittatinny, 4pm
Last season, Lenape Valley edged out Kittatinny in a tight NJAC Freedom Division battle, clinching the division with an 80-74 win. Both teams lost just a few seniors from that matchup, so this early-season showdown could once again play a big role in deciding who comes out on top in the division.
Tenafly at Demarest, 7:45pm
This Bergen County showdown between two respected programs should be a good one. Tenafly boasts top swimmers such as Kyle and Henry Lee, Matthew Collado and Lucas Malachovsky, giving them a chance to avenge an 86-84 loss to Demarest from last season. Demarest, a dark horse in Group C, lost only one key middle-lane swimmer (Jacob Kim), while swimmers like Timothy Lee, Roy Sung, Andrew Lee and Caleb Kang are all back in the fold.
Bridgewater-Raritan at Ridge, 2:30 p.m.
One of the many compelling matchups in the Skyland Conference this season, Bridgewater-Raritan (No. 1 in NJ.com’s Top 20) hasn’t lost to Ridge in recent memory. Ridge gave Bridgewater-Raritan a bit of a scare last year in a 92-78 defeat, so they’ll enter this meet with confidence that they can keep things competitive. Either way, this should be one of the fastest meets of the season and important for both teams to get as many power points as possible.
Wednesday, Dec. 10
Mendham vs. Kinnelon at Morristown, 7pm
Mendham may have graduated NJ.com Swimmer of the Year Kenny Barnicle and Martin Castro-Salazar, but there’s still plenty of key swimmers back from a team that went to the Group C state final. Mendham can prove just how good they’ll still be this year by going up against a Kinnelon team that is always in contention for sectional & state titles on a yearly basis. Kinnelon graduated 10 seniors last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how this new-look roster fares.
Thursday, Dec. 11
Pingry at Bridgewater, 3pm
No. 1 vs. No. 7 in the state. You couldn’t ask for a much better matchup this early in the season. If Bridgewater-Raritan can get through a pair of state ranked teams in Ridge and Pingry this week, it’ll only further cement their case as the best boys swimming team in the state. Pingry has the talent to make this competitive, but will need to avoid 1-2 finishes and snag more points in the outside lanes than they did last year.
Moorestown at Haddonfield, 6pm
A matchup between two teams who made deep postseason runs in their respective groups, Haddonfield pulled out a hard-fought 91-79 win over Moorestown last year. Both teams lost incredible swimmers like Jake Greenleaf (Moorestown) and Tre Cottrell (Haddonfield) to graduation, but much of the talent these two teams had last year is back and ready to swim fast.
