Bitterman Leads the Way as Montgomery Girls Battle in Loss to Pingry

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

The Montgomery girls’ swim team ran into a deep and polished Pingry squad on Thursday, falling 123–47 in a dual meet but posting several strong individual and relay performances along the way.

Montgomery dropped to 1–2 on the season with the loss, while Pingry improved to 1–2.

Bitterman claims Cougars’ lone individual win
Montgomery’s standout of the day was Zoe Bitterman, who delivered the Cougars’ only individual victory with a sharp swim in the 100-yard butterfly.

Bitterman touched first in 1:04.75, pulling away over the final 25 yards to hold off a trio of Pingry swimmers and secure six key points for Montgomery. Teammate Vedika Gupta added a fifth-place finish in 1:10.99, and Yarin Zarzhitsky took sixth in 1:16.85, giving the Cougars a solid showing in one of the meet’s marquee events.

Bitterman was also a major factor in the backstroke. In the 100 back, she placed third in 1:08.89, with Zarzhitsky fifth (1:17.19) and Katherine Karam sixth (1:20.85), as Montgomery picked up additional points against a strong Pingry backstroke group.

Boulos and Ristuccia pace mid-distance, sprint frees
In the 200-yard freestyle, Juliet Boulos led the Cougars with a third-place finish in 2:10.83, closing strongly on the final lap to secure the podium spot. Eden Ristuccia followed in fourth (2:15.06), while Josephine Chen took sixth (2:25.76).

Boulos returned later in the meet to anchor Montgomery’s sprint efforts. In the 100 freestyle, she clocked 58.34 to finish third, while Angela Liu touched fifth in 1:02.31 and Catherine Morris placed sixth (1:10.73).

Liu also starred in the splash-and-dash 50 freestyle, finishing second in 27.04, Montgomery’s top sprint placement of the day. Leah Zong added a fifth-place finish (30.52), with Karam seventh (31.10) as the Cougars showed depth in the short free.

IM and distance crew stack points
In the 200 individual medley, Nina Tadych led Montgomery with a third-place swim of 2:26.58, closing with a strong freestyle leg. Averie Wu was close behind in fifth (2:34.57), and Rashi Gandhi took sixth (2:57.14).

Tadych then turned in one of the meet’s grittiest performances in the 500 freestyle, finishing fourth in 5:53.93 after holding steady splits throughout the 20-lap race. Ristuccia was right on her heels, placing fifth in 5:58.16, while Chen completed the distance trio in sixth (6:24.61). Although Pingry swept the top three, Montgomery’s pack of Tadych, Ristuccia and Chen made the event one of the Cougars’ strongest from a depth perspective.

Breaststroke and medley relay show promise
Montgomery picked up key points in the 100 breaststroke, where Wu surged to a second-place finish in 1:13.87. Zong followed in third (1:22.62), and Jessica Wang took sixth (1:28.72) to round out a productive event for the Cougars.

The meet opened with the 200 medley relay, where the quartet of Ristuccia, Wu (listed as Tadych on the sheet but box score has Tadych in IM; we’ll stick to transcript: Tadych), Bitterman and Liu combined for a third-place time of 2:05.51. Montgomery’s B relay of Zarzhitsky, Zong, Gupta and Wang placed fourth (2:16.00), and the C group of Catherine Morris, Gandhi, Karam and Samidha Parambath finished sixth (2:32.47).

Relays close the meet on competitive note
Montgomery’s best relay finish came late in the meet in the 400 freestyle relay, where the A team of Boulos, Tadych, Liu and Bitterman took second place in 4:07.48, pushing Pingry’s A squad through the final leg. The B relay of Chen, Gupta, Zarzhitsky and Wu finished fourth (4:32.24), with the C relay of Gandhi, Karam, Wang and Zong in fifth (5:00.13).

In the 200 freestyle relay, Montgomery’s top team of Wu, Chen, Ristuccia and Boulos placed third in 1:54.52, just behind two Pingry quartets. Montgomery’s B relay of Gandhi, Gupta, Parambath and Morris finished fourth (2:09.26).

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com