NJIC 2024 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP
STORY BY: SEAN FARRELL / NORTH JERSEY.COM
Rutherford boys swim coach Steve Dunn kept a poker face and an air of suspense.
As a math teacher by day, Dunn crunched the numbers fast enough to learn his fate after a tight finish the NJIC championships.
But the rest of his Bulldogs had to wait for the official announcement to hear about their 3.5-point victory over Leonia/Palisades Park.
“I honestly had no idea who won or not,” senior Sam Lorenc said. “That’s why I was in total awe.”
The Bulldogs captured the meet title for the second time in three seasons behind Lorenc’s speed in the water and Dunn’s savvy moves on the pool-deck.
Lorenc broke the meet record in the 100 and 200 freestyles on Saturday, then proved to be an invaluable chess piece in the last event.
Rutherford went into the 400 freestyle relay with a 6.5 point lead, but as a huge underdog to the Lions’ top unit. So Dunn conceded the race for first and dropped Lorenc down to the B relay on the way to a 3-4 finish.
“Sam is a superstar,” Dunn said. “Not only does he swim great, he’s also a real good team guy. You could tell at the end of the meet how much our kids care about this. We’ve been talking about this for a while and setting up our lineup. We knew it would be very tight.”
On the girls side, Leonia/Palisades Park cruised to the top and became the first team in tournament history to sweep all 11 events. Iris Kim, Rebekah Jung and Isabelle Yoo were all double-winners for the Lions, who have now earned nine straight meet titles.
Coach Tim Ryan doesn’t take success for granted as a Leonia graduate who was in middle school when the program started in 2006.
“I’ve seen what it went from: a team that had a really hard time winning meets,” Ryan said. “To see where the program has come now is incredible. It really is. And it’s a testament to the kids.”
The Lions are especially happy to have Kim on board after her move from Cresskill. The sophomore smashed the meet records in the 200 freestyle (1:53.14) and 500 freestyle (4:55.29) and the latter time was more than 23 seconds faster than the old mark.
“She’s a once-in-a-generation kid,” Ryan said. “I’ve not seen anyone like that.”
One of the other stars on Saturday was Becton junior Charles Groh, who became the first conference champion in school history. The Wildcats started a club team last year and moved up to the varsity ranks this season with Groh heading the movement. The East Rutherford native captured league titles in the breaststroke and 50 freestyle despite feeling under the weather.
“This is huge. It means a lot of me,” Groh said. “I’ve been wanting to start up this team since eighth grade. It feels great to be able to be a leader.”
Rutherford finished with four race wins, including gold in the opening relay from Greg Farnum, Joey Lu, Brian Mulligan, and Ian Ensucho. Lorenc’s speed in the 200 free relay allowed the Bulldogs to split up their teams and still finish 1-2. After taking last year off to focus on club swimming, Lorenc decided to come back as a senior to chase titles and “some untouched records”.
“I’m just glad everything went the way it did,” Lorenc said. “It was really to do something to RHS and to give back for all the things they’ve done for me and the great sports community we have. It was my duty.”
Boys team score: 1. Rutherford, 178; 2. Leonia/Palisades Park, 175.5; 3. Garfield/Hasbrouck Heights, 63; 4. Becton, 39.5; 5. New Milford/Dumont, 28; 6. Secaucus, 17; 7. Harrison, 11; 8. Lyndhurst, 6.
Individual champions: Rutherford’s Sam Lorenc (100 and 200 freestyle), Garfield/Hasbrouck Heights’ Pawel Drzymala (individual medley), Becton’s Charles Groh (50 freestyle and breaststroke), Leonia/Palisades Park’s Matthew Chang (butterfly and backstroke) and Vincent Kim (50 freestyle).
Girls team score: 1. Leonia/Palisades Park, 228; 2. Rutherford, 89; 3. Garfield/Hasbrouck Heights, 77; 4. New Milford/Dumont, 41; 5. Secaucus, 40; 6. Harrison, 21; 7. Mary Help of Christians, 18; 8. Lyndhurst, 4.
Individual champions: Leonia/Palisades Park’s Iris Kim (200 and 500 freestyle), Rebekah Jung (individual medley and backstroke), Hailey Castillo (50 freestyle), Isabelle Yoo (butterfly and breaststroke), and Cate Chang (100 freestyle).
