Montgomery Boys Fall to Pingry Despite Strong Swims from McWha, Distance Corps

December 17, 2025

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

The Montgomery boys’ swim team turned in a series of strong individual and relay performances but ultimately came up short against Pingry, falling 105–65 in a dual meet.

Pingry’s depth carried the day, as the visitors captured the top spot in all but one event. Montgomery dropped to 0–2, while Pingry improved to 1–2.

McWha delivers lone individual win, big workload
Montgomery’s lone event victory came from Liam McWha in the 200-yard freestyle, where he out-touched Pingry’s Douglas McNaugher in a tight race. McWha posted a winning time of 1:51.73, holding his pace over the final 50 yards to secure first place.

McWha was a workhorse for the Cougars throughout the meet. He later took second in the 100 butterfly in 56.45, just behind Pingry’s Max Ruffer, and anchored Montgomery’s top relay efforts.

In the 200 freestyle relay, McWha teamed with Nicholas Paradizov, Jerry Qiu and Elves Huang to finish second in 1:39.97. He returned again in the 400 freestyle relay, joining Paradizov, Lars Harrison and Kobe Solivan for another runner-up spot in 3:38.95, closing out the meet on a strong note for Montgomery.

Sprint points from Paradizov, Solivan and Qiu
In the sprints, the Cougars picked up valuable points even as Pingry claimed the wins.

Paradizov led Montgomery in the 50 free, taking third in 24.50, followed closely by Greg Heden in 25.23 for fourth, with Qiu sixth in 26.15.

Paradizov came back with a standout swim in the 100 freestyle, finishing second in 52.89. Solivan was right behind in 54.01 for fourth, and Qiu added fifth in 56.41, giving Montgomery a solid haul from the event.

Distance crew packs the 500 free
Montgomery’s distance group turned in one of the team’s best overall segments of the meet in the 500 freestyle.

Although Pingry’s McNaugher took first, Heden, Harrison and Huang combined for a 2–3–4 finish:

Heden – 2nd, 5:35.43
Harrison – 3rd, 5:40.13
Huang – 4th, 5:48.06

The trio’s effort represented one of Montgomery’s deepest events of the day and showcased the Cougars’ endurance strength.

Solid efforts in IM and strokes
In the 200 individual medley, Siddharth Parambath led the way for Montgomery, placing third in 2:20.46, followed by Winston Shih in 2:26.04 for fourth and Saksham Prasad in 2:28.67 for fifth. Pingry swept the top two positions to maintain its overall lead.

Backstroke and breaststroke also produced key finishes for the Cougars:

In the 100 backstroke, Solivan took second in 1:00.84, with Parambath fifth in 1:06.49 and Allen Qin sixth in 1:09.78.
In the 100 breaststroke, Shih placed second in 1:10.99, followed by Yusuf Shaikh in 1:12.92 (fourth) and Prasad in 1:17.25 (fifth).

In the 100 butterfly, McWha’s second-place 56.45 was backed by Arhan Kondala in 1:00.33 (fourth) and Monit Jain in 1:06.15 (fifth), helping Montgomery stay competitive in the middle of the lineup.

Relays open and close strong
Montgomery’s 200 medley relay of Solivan, Shih, Kondala and Qiu got the meet started with a third-place finish in 1:53.77, behind two Pingry quartets. The Cougars’ B and C medley relays also gained valuable experience, finishing in 1:59.22 and 2:09.48, respectively.

In addition to the second-place A squad in the 200 freestyle relay, Montgomery’s B and C teams of Ryan La, Kondala, Sriram Reddy, Heden and Cole Kemen, Jain, Advait Dambe, Aashman Chalukya finished in 1:44.33 and 1:49.78, respectively.

The meet closed with three Cougar entries in the 400 freestyle relay, highlighted by the A team’s second-place 3:38.95 and a solid effort from the B relay (3:53.83) and C relay (4:23.04).

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com