Northern Highlands wins Big North Patriot titles by Sean Farrell of The Record
The order is always the same for Tom Viscardi.
“Double cheeseburger with a large vanilla shake,” Viscardi said. “It’s a tradition.”
Every year, the Northern Highlands swimming coach takes his team to The Fireplace in Paramus after the divisional meet. Once again, the annual ritual turned into a victory celebration.
Northern Highlands won the Big North Patriot title in both boys and girls swimming on Thursday at Hackensack High School. The team from Allendale continued its reign as a public school dynasty.
“Our team is known for being really close and having a good sense of camaraderie and team spirit,” Jeremy Silverman said. “That attracts a ton of kids into our program. That’s what helps us with our depth.”
A senior class led by Silverman and Dan Mecca has been part of a tremendous legacy for Northern Highlands. The seniors have earned at least nine wins in every season, and are on track to do so again this year. They helped the Highlanders extend their Big North meet win streak to five.
“They’re big-meet swimmers,” Viscardi said of the veteran duo. “When you get those kids totally invested and they are, it rubs off on the rest of the swimmers. They really go after it. They were our highest place scorers and they’ve been tremendous for the last few years.”
The Highlanders’ Big North winning streak in boys swimming looked to be in jeopardy when the season started. They had to quickly find a new core after graduating so many key swimmers.
“From where we were at the start of the season, we’ve had to improve,” Mecca said. “That’s what happened. Everybody stepped it up and filled in for the people who left last year.”
Mecca still knew that Thursday’s meet would be a challenging one. His team recently lost a head-to-head battle with Indian Hills, whose top level talent is better than almost everyone’s in the region. Brian Coughlin and Nolan Kuscan won two individual titles for the Braves, while Matt Smits came in first in the backstroke.
The Highlanders’ lone victory on either side came from Clair Shin in the butterfly.
“When you don’t get first place, you need so many things to go right to catch up in a meet,” Viscardi said. “It’s exciting to have it happen that way. You feel like everyone matters, which is cool. But it is stressful.”
Jamie Yadoff took home one last Big North title in the 50-yard freestyle for Indian Hills and allowed her team to win two relays. Gabby Baratta picked up two victories for a growing NV/Old Tappan squad.
The Highlanders, meanwhile, depended on their balanced lineup and their strong secondary swimmers – a staple for Viscardi’s teams. None of his top relays finished lower than third. Silverman and the 400-yard freestyle relay team took second to hang on for a 14-point win over the Braves and get some redemption over their rivals.
“Having a close meet like that makes it a lot more fun,” Mecca said. “It’s always nice when you have someone to go against to give you a challenge.”
For one more year, the tradition continued.
The Highlanders left Hackensack on a northbound bus to celebrate – and eat.
Now Mecca and the rest of his senior class can leave Northern Highlands knowing that they kept the streak intact.
“I’m just happy that I don’t have any regrets,” Mecca said. “I know that I always gave Viscardi everything I had. That’s what will stick with me – knowing that I tried my best and that we as a team, grew together and succeeded.”