Montgomery boys swim shows firepower in loss to deep Hillsborough squad

Nicholas Mistretta

MHS ’79 Cougar Sports Correspondent

The Montgomery High School boys varsity swim team opened its season against one of the area’s premier programs on Wednesday, falling to Hillsborough, 115.5–54.5, but flashing plenty of speed and promise in key events.

Hillsborough (3–0) used its depth early, sweeping the top two spots in the 200-yard medley relay, with Montgomery’s A squad of Kobe Solivan, Winston Shih, Arhan Kondala and Greg Heden leading the Cougars in 1:58.54. The B relay of Allen Qin, Yusuf Shaikh, Siddharth Parambath and Sriram Reddy (1:58.79) and the C relay of Advait Dambe, Aarav Kapileshwar, Monit Jain and Ryan La (2:05.93) added depth but were outscored by Hillsborough’s stacked relay groups.

Freshman Liam McWha gave Montgomery its first major spark in the 200 freestyle, clocking 1:51.35 to finish third in a tightly bunched field. Lars Harrison added a 2:03.84, and Jerry Qiu rounded out the event for the Cougars.

Montgomery’s IM crew was solid in the 200 individual medley, with Parambath taking fourth in 2:22.68, followed closely by Shih (2:23.25) and Saksham Prasad (2:27.54), giving the Cougars three swimmers under 2:30 in the event.

In the sprints, Eric Qian led the way in the 50 freestyle, placing near the top of the heat in 23.88, followed by Nicholas Paradizov (24.50) and Heden (25.28). Qian returned in the 100 freestyle with another strong outing, taking a scoring spot in 52.12, with Solivan (53.57) and Paradizov (54.08) close behind to round out one of Montgomery’s better events of the night.

McWha was also sharp in the 100 butterfly, posting 56.69 for second place, keeping close to Hillsborough’s top flyer. Kondala (1:04.98) and Qin (1:11.33) added solid depth in the event.

The distance trio shined in the 500 freestyle, where Harrison battled Hillsborough’s Kevin Gao to a dead heat, tying for second with a 5:42.35. Heden was right behind in 5:43.13, and Reddy added a 6:11.16, giving Montgomery a strong showing in the longest race of the meet.

In the 100 backstroke, Solivan took second for Montgomery in 1:00.57, with Parambath finishing in 1:04.45 and Kondala in 1:10.06. The breaststroke group followed with another steady performance, as Shih went 1:10.25 in the 100 breast, Shaikh 1:12.09, and Prasad 1:15.96.

Montgomery’s relay chemistry grew stronger as the meet progressed. In the 200 freestyle relay, the A team of McWha, Paradizov, Qian and Qiu finished second in 1:39.53, while the B and C relays (Qin, Jain, Reddy, Harrison / Kemen, Dambe, Aashman Chalukya, La) both turned in competitive times.

The Cougars closed the meet with their biggest highlight of the night.

In the 400 freestyle relay, Montgomery’s A quartet of McWha, Paradizov, Qian and Solivan stormed to first place in 3:34.40, outpacing Hillsborough’s top relay and sending a clear message about the potential at the top of the lineup. The B relay (Qin, Harrison, Heden, Parambath) also finished strong in 3:51.89, with the C relay (Qiu, Anay Bhorkar, Chalukya, Vikunth Sridhar) adding a 4:20.70.

Photo Credit: Nicholas Mistretta/headlinenewsmontgomery.com