SHP Swimming delivers in NJSIAA Quarters

SHP Swimmers Deliver Oustanding Performance; Top St. Joe’s (Metuchen) 100-70 in NJSIAA Non-Public A Quarterfinal; Richard Poplawski Sets School Record in 100 Butterfly! 

In a thrilling performance that ranks as the fastest meet ever by an SHP team, the Pirates defeated St. Joseph’s of Metuchen in the NJSIAA Non-Public A State Quarterfinal by a score of 100-70 on Tuesday February 15 at NJIT in Newark.   

SHP accumulated 4697 Power Points, greatly exceeding the previous high of 4528 set by the 2015 squad.  Such a performance was needed against a very good St. Joe’s team.  

The SHP 200 Medley Relay Team of Karl Burghardt, Dylan Negron, Richard Poplawski, and Aryan Kapoor swam a Pirates season best 136.44, and the B Medley of Connor Townson, Kyler Alcebar, Patrick Miller, and Jose Rodriguez swam an incredible B time of 138.99, yet St. Joe’s took first and lead 8-6. They would expand the lead to 18-12 with a 1-3-5 finish in the 200 Freestyle. 

The Pirate comeback began with co-captain Connor Townson winning the 200 IM in 156.56, and with Kyler Alcebar and Karl Burghardt grabbing 4-5 the St. Joe lead was cut to 25-21.  The Pirates then tied things up after the 50 Freestyle at 31 as Cormac Rouse won the race in 22.07 and Dom Ancey and Aryan Kapoor grabbed 3^rd and 5^th places respectively. 

The 100 Butterfly turned the meet in the Pirates favor, and in spectacular fashion, as sophomore Richard Poplawski set a new school record in the event in a time of 50.16, breaking the mark of 51.18 set by Kyle Madley in 2010.  Pat Miller and Vince Wong added to a strong 1-2-4 finish for SHP as the Pirates took a 43-35 lead.   

Cormac Rouse then delivered a stunning swim in the 100 freestyle, winning from the outside lane in a time of 48.12, an incredible drop from his previous best of 49.99.  Ancey and Kapoor joined him in a 1-3-4 finish and the Pirates expanded their lead to 54-40.   

Connor Townson won his second event of the contest in the next race, taking the 500 Freestyle in 455.05, and the Pirate depth again came to the fore, as Owen Ripley and Kyle Phillips grabbed 3^rd and 4^th in the race giving SHP a 65-45 lead.  St. Joe’s took first in the 200 Freestyle Relay, but a 2-3 finish from SHP limited the damage, and the Pirates led 71-53 with 3 events to go.   

Another 1-3-4 finish (Richard Poplawski, Karl Burghardt, Francis Jaso) in the 100 Backstroke gave SHP a nearly insurmountable 82-58 lead, and although SJM’s Darien Betances next won the 100 Breaststroke, the Pirates 2-3-5 finish of Dylan Negron, Kyler Alcebar, and Vince Wong split the event, clinching the meet for the Pirates at 90-66.  T

he Prep’s 400 Freestyle Relay Team of Connor Townson, Aryan Kapoor, Cormac Rouse and Richard Poplawski led a 1-3 finish for SHP to yield the final score of 100-70.  

Next up for the 10-0 Pirates is the semifinal match against top seeded St. Augustine Prep on Presidents Day at 10 am at the Neptune Aquatic Center.