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Cougar Swimmers Shine at Somerset County Championships

February 2, 2026

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

The Montgomery High School boys’ and girls’ swim teams turned in strong performances at the Somerset County Championships on Saturday, scoring valuable points across relays and individual events against one of the deepest fields in New Jersey.

The Cougar boys finished fifth overall with 82 points, while the girls placed eighth with 62 points, highlighted by a podium finish from Zoe Bitterman and a pair of top-five relays.

Bitterman Leads Cougar Girls with Fly Podium, Relay Finish

On the girls’ side, Zoe Bitterman was the star of the day for Montgomery. Bitterman powered to a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly, stopping the clock in 1:01.35, one of the fastest times in the meet. Earlier, she also claimed 10th in the 200 freestyle in 2:06.27, giving the Cougars a pair of key individual scoring swims.

Montgomery opened the meet with an eighth-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as the quartet of Eden Ristuccia, Nina Tadych, Bitterman and Juliet Boulos combined for a 2:03.44. The Cougars closed just as strongly, with the same core group delivering their best result of the day in the 400 freestyle relay.

Bitterman, Ristuccia, Tadych and Boulos raced to fifth place in 4:03.16, with Bitterman leading off in 59.44 and Boulos anchoring in 1:00.89 to secure the top-five finish.

In the sprints, Boulos continued to be a point-scorer for Montgomery. She placed 11th in the 50 free in 26.36, then returned later to take 10th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:13.13, splitting 34.15 on the way out.

Distance specialist Eden Ristuccia had a solid meet as well, finishing ninth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:44.92, then doubling back for a 16th-place finish in the 100 backstroke at 1:08.59.

Additional scoring swims came from:

  • Nina Tadych, 15th in the 100 freestyle (1:00.97) and 21st in the 100 back;
  • Katerina Kondratyev, 15th in the 500 freestyle (6:10.92);
  • Josephine Chen, 17th in the 500 freestyle (6:20.75);
  • Yarin Zarzhitsky, 15th in the 200 IM (2:49.83) and a leg on the 200 free relay, which finished ninth in 1:57.11 (Wu, Gupta, Alessandro, Zarzhitsky).

Facing perennial powers Pingry, Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan, the Cougar girls’ depth across strokes and distances helped them secure eighth place out of 13 teams.

Boys Place Fifth Behind Relays and Deep Scoring Core

The Montgomery boys’ team leaned on depth and relays to secure a fifth-place team finish in a meet dominated by champion Bridgewater-Raritan and runner-up Hillsborough.

The highlight of the day came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, where the Cougars’ A squad of Eric Qian, Nicholas Paradizov, Liam McWha and Greg Heden raced to a third-place finish in 1:37.52. Qian led off in 24.98, Paradizov followed in 24.01, McWha split 23.94 on the third leg, and Heden brought it home in 24.59 to land Montgomery on the podium.

Montgomery also posted a strong result in the 400 freestyle relay, where Qian, McWha, Paradizov and Kobe Solivan combined for fifth place in 3:30.31. Qian opened in 51.83, McWha followed in 52.72, Paradizov turned in a 57.35 leg, and Solivan anchored in an impressive 48.41 to close out the meet on a high note.

Individually, McWha was one of the Cougars’ busiest and most productive swimmers:

  • 8th in the 100 butterfly in 55.86
  • 10th in the 200 freestyle in 1:52.06

Sprinters Qian and Paradizov provided a steady scoring punch in the 50 and 100 freestyle:

  • Qian: 14th in the 50 free (23.94) and 10th in the 100 free (51.49)
  • Paradizov: 10th in the 50 free (23.57) and 11th in the 100 free (51.69)

In the backstroke and IM events, Kobe Solivan led the way for Montgomery. He finished:

  • 11th in the 100 backstroke in 58.48, and
  • 12th in the 200 IM in 2:14.60

Teammate Siddharth Parambath followed closely in the IM with a 13th-place finish in 2:16.92, then added more points with a 13th-place swim in the 100 back (1:00.80).

Distance specialist Greg Heden chipped in with a 12th-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:22.15), while Lars Harrison (17th, 5:29.19) and Elves Huang (18th, 5:30.24) underscored Montgomery’s depth in the longest event of the meet.

In the medley relay, the boys’ A team of Solivan, Winston Shih, Arhan Kondala and Heden opened Montgomery’s day with a sixth-place finish in 1:48.93, giving the Cougars early points to build on.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com