Since we’re rolling out the Super Six here on Thursday at the end of the week rather than Monday, we have an opportunity to take into account some of this week’s events. There have been a few notable matchups this week, and there’s been some interesting movement in the Super Six this week on both sides. One school moved up three spots and one school fell three spots on the Boys side. On the Girls side, we have two newcomers to the 2013-2014 Super Six, as Ridgewood and River Dell/Westwood drop out for this week. Let’s get to it!
Boys (Ranking Last Week/Movement)
- Bergen Catholic (1st, no change) BC demolished Teaneck 118-51 last week. Since their meet against Demarest was cancelled, it’s going to take a major decline or rise from one of the other Super Six teams to move them out of the top spot in the league. Bergen Catholic will host 11th-ranked Hunterdon Central Friday at Passaic Tech. A win there would solidify this powerhouse’s position at the top spot even more.
- Demarest (2nd, no change) Demarest has cruised through the start of the season, including a 125-45 drubbing of River Dell/Westwood on December 12. The cancellation of the Demarest-BC meet hurt Demarest more, as they had a chance to jump into the top spot. Their next meet is the Swim Across America meet at Felix Festa on December 21 against Old Tappan.
- Tenafly (6th, three-spot rise) Tenafly roared to a very impressive victory Tuesday, a 108-49 rout of Ramapo. It’s a case of “what have you done for me lately†with Tenafly – seeing as their most recent result was more impressive than both Ridgewood’s and Northern Highlands’, Tenafly jumps to 3rd.
- Ridgewood (4th, no change) Ridgewood rolled to a 111-59 win over Hackensack Tuesday, thanks to an overall team effort. Ridgewood won six individual events at the meet (200 Free, 200 IM, 100 Fly, 100 Free, 500 Free, and 100 Back), but most impressively, a different swimmer won each event. Notably, Kevin Heang’s time of 2:14.34 won the 200 Freestyle, Santiago Rivera won the 200 IM with a time of 2:23.57. Calvin Sheridan won the 100 Fly, John Park won the 100 Free, Eric Bragg won the 500 Free, and Don Zheng won the 100 Backstroke. Ridgewood faces off against Northern Highlands in a huge meet on Friday. That meet should at the very least determine who falls into the fourth and fifth spots in the next Super Six.
- Northern Highlands (5th, no change) Highlands handily defeated both Wayne Hills and Hackensack in the past week. Even though their forte is usually their depth, they haven’t had much trouble since being trounced by Bergen Catholic on December 5. Highlands could be a sleeper to jump all the way up to third in the next few weeks, especially if they can put together a quality win against Ridgewood.
- Ramapo (3rd, three-spot fall) Ramapo sees the biggest decrease of all the schools in the Super Six. Despite a nice victory last week against Paramus (101-69), the margin of their loss to NH drops them to the bottom of the ranks. Jon Links, Will Park, and J.T. Klimko have all starred in multiple events for Ramapo this season. We’ll keep an eye on whether and how Ramapo’s depth can step up as we approach the state and county meets.
Girls
- Immaculate Heart (1st, no movement) Prior to the season IHA lost one of its best swimmers in Michelle Kim, who now only swims club, but they’ve dealt with the void handily. IHA has a huge meet Friday at Passaic County Tech in which they face off against Hunterdon Central. The Flemington school is ranked fourth in the state.
- Kinnelon (2nd, no movement) Kinnelon took care of business against St. Elizabeth’s on Monday, improving their record to 4-0 with the 65-29 victory. Christina Cirillo was a particularly important asset for Kinnelon, winning the 500 Free with a time of 5:38.76, and assisting in the team’s victory in the 200 Medley Relay. Cirillo is in great form; she also finished first in the 100 Free in Kinnelon’s 110-60 victory over Mendham last week.
- Northern Highlands (3rd, no movement) NH’s victory over Wayne Hills was a close one, but good enough to keep them in the Super Six. They recovered from a 114-56 rout at the hands of IHA with a blowout win against Hackensack on Dec. 10, 116-54.
- Pascack Valley (5th, one-spot rise) Pascack Valley was very impressive in a 100-70 defeat in their key rivalry match against River Dell/Westwood, knocking River Dell out of the Super Six for this week. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if River Dell makes its way back in, and soon. Pascack won nine of the 11 events in Tuesday’s home victory, bolstered by a strong performance from their 200 Medley Relay team. Sarah Litvinsky, Kaitlyn Turner, Tori March, and Liza Peressini combined for a time of 2:02.11. Litvinsky also won the 200 Individual Medley and 100 Backstroke.
- Hackensack (unranked, enter at 5th) For the first time in what coach Scott Davis said has been “ten years at least,†the Hackensack girls beat Ridgewood. They have received big contributions from seniors Casey Koenig, Francesca Farrel, and Myrna Yehia in particular. With a win today, they’ll be in third place in the Big North Freedom Division. They get the edge over Wayne Hills because of the quality of their most recent win, even despite their loss to Northern Highlands last week.
- Wayne Hills (unranked, enter at 6th) It’s difficult to choose between Wayne Hills or Ramapo in the girls Super Six, and frankly, they could easily be flip-flopped. Wayne Hills fought valiantly against Northern Highlands, but lost 96-84. They’ve taken care of business in their other two meets, with victories over Passaic and Clifton. We’ll keep an eye on them and see if they can crack the Super Six next week. The only thing holding them out of a higher spot was Hackensack’s huge victory over Ridgewood.