Bridgewater-Raritan Sweeps Montgomery in Dual Swim Meet, Cougars Turn in Strong Individual Efforts

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

Bridgewater-Raritan’s depth proved decisive as the Panthers swept both ends of a dual meet with Montgomery, winning the boys’ contest 129–41 and the girls’ meet 105–65. Despite the final margins, the Cougars produced a series of competitive swims and event wins that underscored ongoing progress in the early part of the season.

Boys: McWha, Solivan, Heden Lead the Way in Tough Matchup

On the boys’ side, Bridgewater-Raritan set the tone early by sweeping the top three spots in the opening 200-yard medley relay. Montgomery’s A quartet of Kobe Solivan, Winston Shih, Monit Jain, and Ryan La finished fourth in 1:55.11, with the B and C relays also scoring valuable experience against one of the state’s deeper lineups.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Montgomery’s Liam McWha delivered one of the Cougars’ best swims of the afternoon. McWha took second in 1:53.81, hanging close to Bridgewater’s front-runner and fending off a strong field. Teammates Lars Harrison (2:03.90) and Allen Qin (2:07.75) followed with fifth- and sixth-place finishes.

The 200-yard individual medley brought more Cougar scoring as Siddharth Parambath swam to third place in 2:17.70, just behind a pair of Panthers, while Shih placed fifth in 2:27.50 and Saksham Prasad sixth in 2:28.98.

Bridgewater’s sprint strength was on full display in the 50 free, where the Panthers swept the podium. La led Montgomery with a fourth-place finish in 25.04, followed closely by Greg Heden (25.44) and Jerry Qiu (25.66).

McWha returned in the 100-yard butterfly and again pushed the Panthers at the front of the field, claiming second in 56.21, less than a second off the winning time. Jain and Jason Lu rounded out Montgomery’s scoring in the event.

In the 100-yard freestyle, Solivan put together a strong back-half to take fourth in 53.84, followed by Qiu in fifth (57.29) and La in sixth (1:00.70).

Distance points came in the 500-yard freestyle, where Heden battled to a second-place finish in 5:44.92. Harrison (6:03.14) and Cole Kemen (6:30.63) added fourth and sixth, respectively, in a physically demanding event dominated by Bridgewater’s front-runner.

The Cougars’ relays continued to compete hard against top-tier opposition. McWha, Qiu, La, and Jain combined for fourth in the 200 free relay (1:45.19), while the 400 free relay of Harrison, Qiu, Solivan, and McWha closed the meet with a third-place finish in 3:48.45.

In the backstroke and breaststroke, Montgomery stacked points in the middle of the field. Solivan took third in the 100 back (1:01.99) with Parambath close behind in fourth (1:03.03), and Qin placed sixth (1:09.93). Shih (1:13.12) and Yusuf Shaikh (1:13.76) went fourth and fifth in the 100 breast, with Prasad sixth (1:18.04).

While Bridgewater-Raritan controlled the team scoring through depth and multiple podium sweeps, Montgomery’s boys continued to show balance across strokes and distances, led by McWha, Solivan, Heden, Parambath, and the relays.

Girls: Cougar Core Stands Out in Competitive Effort

The girls’ meet was more tightly contested, with Montgomery’s front line matching Bridgewater-Raritan race-for-race in several events before the Panthers ultimately pulled away on depth.

Montgomery opened with a strong performance in the 200-yard medley relay, where the A team of Eden Ristuccia, Nina Tadych, Zoe Bitterman, and Angela Liu finished second in 2:04.43, just behind Bridgewater’s B squad. The B and C relays also added to the overall effort with solid swims in the middle of the field.

In the 200-yard freestyle, Bitterman led the way with a runner-up finish in 2:09.56, challenging Bridgewater’s winner and separating herself from the rest of the heat. Josephine Chen (2:30.67) and Jessica Wang (2:41.68) completed the Cougar scoring.

The 200-yard individual medley again highlighted Montgomery’s strength in all-around swimmers. Tadych placed second in 2:26.30 after a strong closing freestyle leg, while Averie Wu took fifth (2:34.67) and Leah Zong sixth (2:47.53).

Montgomery picked up its first event win of the day in the 50 freestyle, where Juliet Boulos out-touched Bridgewater’s sprinter to take first in 26.86. Liu followed in third (27.71) and Vedika Gupta in fifth (30.59), giving the Cougars valuable points in the sprint.

Bitterman then delivered another standout swim in the 100 butterfly, winning the event in 1:02.40. She held off a trio of Panthers over the final 25 yards, while Gupta (1:12.90) and Katherine Karam (1:24.21) added fourth and sixth.

Boulos returned in the 100 free for a second-place finish in 58.99, with Liu claiming fourth (1:03.65) and Catherine Morris sixth (1:11.32) as Montgomery stayed within striking distance in the team score.

In the grueling 500 free, Ristuccia turned in a wire-to-wire win for the Cougars, touching in 5:54.19 and holding off Bridgewater’s top distance swimmer over the final 100 yards. Chen (6:39.40) and Katerina Kondratyev (6:47.08) secured additional points in the event.

Montgomery’s A 200 free relay of Boulos, Wu, Gupta, and Liu took second in 1:56.57, followed closely by the B and C relays, which finished fifth and sixth.

Backstroke saw the Panthers sweep the top three spots, but Ristuccia, Alessandro, and Gandhi kept Montgomery on the board with fourth, fifth, and sixth-place finishes. The Cougars answered in the 100 breaststroke, where Tadych captured the win in 1:13.54, Wu took third (1:15.18), and Zong finished fifth (1:23.06), giving Montgomery one of its best point hauls of the meet.

The closing 400 free relay again showcased the Cougars’ core. The A relay of Bitterman, Boulos, Ristuccia, and Tadych finished second in 4:04.29, keeping the meet competitive through the final event.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com