Despite Fastest Effort, Pirates Fall Short in NJSIAA North Final

 

The Pirates were led by outstanding performances by seniors Richard Poplawski and Cormac Rouse, who each won two individual events.  Poplawski had started the day as the anchor leg of the 200 Medley Relay, where he came from behind in a 20.61 split to join Karl Burghart, Aryan Kapoor, and Pat Miller in winning the event in 1:35.82.  Richard would then go on to win the 200 IM (1:52.82) and the 100 Backstroke (50.27), with the backstroke swim setting a new school record, besting the previous mark of 50.51 set by Jaeden Yburan in 2020.  Poplawski now holds 5 school records out of the 8 individual events, as well as being part of 2 of the 3 school record relays.  Rouse won both of his signature events, the 50 Freestyle (21.61) and the 100 Freestyle (45.87), with the latter time his personal best.  He also won a relay as the anchor leg in come from behind fashion, posting a split of 21.08 to join Owen Ripley, Ryan Pelosi, and Lucas Kopp in winning the 200 Freestyle Relay.  

 

The Prep's meet Power Point total was 4198, the best of this year, and the 4^th fastest meet in school history, behind 3 meets swum by the 2021-22 team.  

 

The Pirates conclude their season at 10-2 and winners of the Essex County and Super Essex Conference Championships.  The last event of the season will be the Individual Event Championships, also known as the Meet of Champions, held on March 2 and 3 at Gloucester County Institute of Technology.