Ridgewood boys, girls sweep Big North Freedom by Sean Farrell of The Record
HACKENSACK – Nick Gagan had never felt as much pressure before.
Not too many races demand that much out of a B relay swimmer. But there he was, the anchor in the outermost lane about to determine whether or not Ridgewood would become champions.
“It all kind of fell on me so I just was in the moment,” Gagan said. “I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to swim as fast as I could.”
The junior swam just fast enough for the math to add up in his school’s favor. Ridgewood’s boys swimming team became Big North Freedom champions with a four-point victory over Wayne Valley on Wednesday at Hackensack High School. The Maroons’ girls swimming team racked up 568 points to earn its own division title in dominant fashion.
“Getting to bring this back to Ridgewood feels great,” freshman Alex Gifford said. “Especially since both the boys and girls won it. We brought it back together.”
Ridgewood came into the championship as underdogs and Gagan was candid about his outlook. He wasn’t expecting to beat Wayne Valley.
“I honestly didn’t think so,” Gagan said. “They have some pretty good times.”
This wasn’t supposed to be Ridgewood’s year. Not with this team. Not against Wayne Valley. The Maroons had only a few seniors left after losing so much speed to graduation. A division championship seemed to be a longshot going into the season.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Gagan said. “But we have some great freshmen and underclassmen. It’s pretty amazing. We have four or five great freshmen guys. We have the Afromsky twins for the girls. That adds so much of the depth that we lost.”
Ashleigh Afromsky was part of two winning relays. She was joined by her sister, Jordan, on Ridgewood’s winning 200 medley relay. And, Ashleigh Afromsky and sister Sarah led the Maroons to victory in the final relay, the 400 free. The Maroons earned a pair of victories from sophomore Faith Cortright in the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. Jessica Chau took the 200-yard IM and the Maroons set three school relay records on the girls side.
“We all care about each other,” Cortright said. “We all want to see each other do well. That’s really important. You’re only as strong as your weakest link as a team. If we support everyone, you’ll do better.”
Wayne Valley’s combo of Zach Valenzuela and Evan Custance continued their winning ways. Custance won the 200- and 500-yard freestyles. Valenzuela finished first in another two individual events and anchored the final relay to victory.
“On the bus a few weeks ago, we were looking up Wayne Valley times because we knew we had this coming up,” Gifford said. “We saw some of the times, and I think some of us were a little intimidated.”
The boys championship came down to whose second relay would come out on top.
“My heart was pounding at the end right before I stepped up on the block,” Gifford said.
Had Gagan gone a few seconds slower, the meet could have ended in a tie. But he held off a close challenge in a nearby lane. After the final results were tabulated, the Maroons had their second reason to celebrate.
“I was really happy with the team effort,” Gifford said. “Everyone did their best and we had some personal best times.”