Every hundredth of a second counts.
For the anticipated sequel between heavyweights Bridgewater-Raritan High School and Hillsborough High School, which tallied a 26-point victory over the Panthers in their regular-season meeting just under four weeks earlier, that statement could not have been truer.
After both squads completed the meet’s eleventh and final race, the final outcome was not decided in the pool.
It was decided at the scorer’s table over the course of just over a half hour that felt like an eternity for everyone in attendance, particularly the swimmers on Bridgewater-Raritan and Hillsborough’s sidelines.
With one team still needing to advance in the state tournament bracket, how did this juggernaut meet get to this point, and what happened next?
A rare tie – in the postseason, nonetheless, which invoked the following NJSIAA tie-breaking procedure for all state tournament contests: “When a meet ends in a tie, the meet shall be power pointed using the NISCA 2023 power point tables to determine the winner (including exhibition swimmers if any).”
In other words, for an undefeated Hillsborough squad ranked No. 2 in all of New Jersey and a one-loss, reigning state sectional champion Bridgewater-Raritan team just behind at No. 8, the meet result was determined by extraordinary means.
A computer, calculator, and the humans tasked with using them.
“I’m not going to lie – it was very nerve-wracking,” described about long wait leading up to the final result by Bridgewater-Raritan senior Kimaya Desai. “We were running all over the place not knowing what was going to happen, but we all just tried to stay confident in the moment knowing that we swam our best out there, got the best times we could, and that was going to take us to the win.”
“It did in the end.”
That, along with keeping the Panthers’ state sectional title defense bid alive in dramatic fashion.
Down by 12 points and counting after second-seeded Hillsborough (9-1) won the meet’s first five races, third-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan (9-1) rallied to within single digits before the Raiders won the 200-yard free relay to set themselves up with a 10-point cushion with three races to go. Desai’s timely gold medal in the 100-yard back stroke (1:00.76) coupled with senior Riccia Castone’s second-place finish (1:02.93) by 0.01 second then began a furious surge by the Panthers, who then tallied 12 points in the 100-yard breast stroke to take its lead of the season over the Raiders with one race to go in the state sectional semifinals.
With Bridgewater-Raritan needing just second and third place or better in the 400-yard free relay finale, that particular result along with Hillsborough’s gold medal in this final race never appeared to be in doubt.
The meet’s winner? A much different story.
After just over 30 grueling minutes of deliberation at the scorer’s table, it was ruled that Bridgewater-Raritan edged Hillsborough by a mere 37 Power Points to break a tie and clinch a stunning 86-85 victory over the previously-undefeated Raiders in the NJSIAA North New Jersey, Section 2, Group A Tournament Monday, February 9, at the Hillsborough YMCA in Hillsborough.
“I know that I have put in the effort this entire season, and I know that I could do it if I believed in myself,” revealed Castone of her thoughts during that crucial 100-yard back stroke, which she won over bronze medalist and Hillsborough sophomore Marielle Colipano (1:02.94) to give Bridgewater-Raritan the last of its two most critical sub-one-second margins of victory in races lasting over 60 seconds.
Had this 0.01 second alone gone in favor of Hillsborough, everyone would have went home much earlier, as the Raiders would have secured an outright 86-84 victory after decisively winning the 400-yard free style relay (3:45.03) by just over two and a half seconds courtesy of Colipano, senior Dylan Briones, senior Tammy Leng, and junior Emily Sudol.
Hillsborough, who made its state tournament debut as one of the heavy favorites to hoist the Group A state championship trophy, instead found itself one-and-done in the postseason.
A crushing blow for the Raiders, whose boys’ squad rolled to a 117-53 victory over Montgomery High School immediately after the conclusion of the girls’ contest in the semifinal round of their Central, Group A bracket.
Its girls’ squad, however, was slotted in the North 2, Group A bracket, which consists of three of New Jersey’s top 10 girls’ teams in Hillsborough, Bridgewater-Raritan, and sixth-ranked Westfield High School.
In a top-heavy bracket that would see its survivor be the favorite to be the last team standing overall, only two tickets were therefore available for the North 2, Group A state sectional finals at 4 p.m. Thursday, February 12, at the Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy.
Top-seeded Westfield (11-1) tallied a 92-78 victory over fourth-seeded Columbia the next day on Tuesday afternoon, but before that, Bridgewater-Raritan snatched the first spot after arguably one of the greatest comeback victories and upsets in recent memory.
Hall-Of-Fame head coach Chris Levin knew what his team had signed up for, but regardless of what was revealed at the scorer’s table, he knew his team did its best when it mattered the most.
The victory was just the cherry on top, to say the least.
“I was telling our girls how the meet was decided [by power points] after the last race, but honestly, I was thrilled either way walking over to that table,” revealed Levin of those tense moments between the meet’s finale and the announcement of the final result. “Win or lose, they poured their hearts into that meet and left it all in the water. We talk a lot about swimming for each other and swimming for more than a best time and yourself. We’re swimming for each other, and they took that to heart. Honestly, had we lost by one power point, I would have walked away smiling and thrilled, especially after getting beat as handily as we did [by Hillsborough in the regular season].”
“Hillsborough is an insanely good team, and it is exciting to be able to compete with them.”
In the regular season back on January 13, Hillsborough swept all 11 gold medals and rolled to a 98-72 victory at home over Bridgewater-Raritan on the way to its eventual Skyland Conference Delaware Division crown and perfect regular season. In Monday afternoon’s state playoff rematch, Hillsborough picked up right where it left off right out of the gate by cruising to a victory in the 200-yard medley relay (1:52:44) courtesy of Colipano, Sudol, freshman Olivia Kay, and sophomore Megan Wishnow.
Briones (200-yard free style, 1:54.60), Sudol (200-yard individual medley, 2:10.25), and Kay (50-yard free style, 24.78 seconds) then led the way in first place finishes for the Raiders, who took a 35-27 lead into the four-race intermission.
This was identical to the score after four races in their regular-season meeting, when Hillsborough then extended its lead to 10 points and remained ahead by double digits for good.
That history was projected to repeat itself after a first and second place finish in the 100-yard butterfly by Briones (58.99 seconds) and sophomore Kiran Bar (1:02.85), who rebounded from a potential fourth-place finish in the final leg to steal the race’s silver medal.
After five races, Hillsborough took its largest lead of 45-33: two points higher than after this same race in the regular season.
“Going into the butterfly, I knew there would be some tight races, and Kiran Bar swam a great race with her best time of the year,” Levin explained. “A lot of races were going to be decided by the thinnest of margins. On Friday, I met with our team and went through the meet and what their lineup would probably look like. I then told them our races on Friday, which I normally don’t do that far in advance. But to have a shot at this, our girls needed time to figure it out and be mentally ready for it. I said there would be ups and downs at this meet, times where we would get great touch-outs, and times where we would lose some.”
“That’s okay, because we’re together as one.”
And together, Bridgewater-Raritan began its furious comeback bid.
Kay (100-yard free style, 53.94 seconds) and Sudol (500-yard free style, 5:14.08) decisively won gold medals in the next two races, but Bridgewater-Raritan still trimmed Hillsborough’s lead to 59-51 thanks to back-to-back, 2-3-4 placements in these races. This notably included a 0.68 margin of victory by Bridgewater-Raritan senior Claire Hegedus (57.17 seconds) for fourth place over Colipano in the 100-yard free style, which junior Merah DeRosa (56.03 seconds) and freshman Gia Larosa (56.13 seconds) touch out amongst each other for silver and bronze, respectively.
Heading into the meet’s eventual tie, that was another difference-making moment for Bridgewater-Raritan, which started to clearly gain momentum after decisively grabbing the 2-3-4 spots in the 500-yard free style courtesy of Desai (5:42.38), freshman Valentina Zirpoli (5:43.92), and sophomore Anika Nandi (5:47.40).
Especially with what ended up being a backloaded lineup created by Levin, who like his counterpart in Hillsborough head coach Todd Sudol, were tasked with the challenging constraints of a maximum of slotting in their swimmers into a maximum of four races: two individual races, and two relays.
A good problem to have for deep teams like Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan.
“After the butterfly, we needed to focus on the 100-yard free style next,” Levin went on to say. “I pulled them aside during the 500-yard free style and said based on who [Hillsborough] used so far, the 200-yard free relay, 100-yard back stroke, and 100-yard breaststroke are our big three races. I said to have fun out there and race and give it all you’ve got.”
“Our girls did exactly that.”
Kay, Leng, Wishnow, and Briones won the 200-yard free style relay (1:42.62) for Hillsborough to extend their lead to 67-57, while DeRosa, freshman Lily Tamedl, freshman Janani Senthilkumar, and Daniels followed just behind at second place (1:43.85). However, junior Diya Poleti, freshman Maria Stakias, freshman Viv Blomquist, and Hegedus edged the Raiders by just 0.59 second for third place (1:49.40) for a massive four-point swing in favor of the Panthers.
And after 19 consecutive gold medals for Hillsborough against the Panthers going back to their January 13 regular-season meeting, Bridgewater-Raritan finally touched the wall first in back-to-back races when it mattered the most.
Desai and Castone’s one-two finish in the 100-yard back stroke cut the Raiders’ lead to 73-67, while Daniels (1:08.44) led the Panthers for what looked to be a 1-2-3 finish upon immediate glance with Tamedl and Nandi.
Or so everyone in the crowd thought.
Although the scoreboard showed that Bridgewater-Raritan swept the top three spots, following what appeared a short deliberation at the scorer’s tables, it was instead ruled a 1-2-4 finish with Leng of Hillsborough touching out Nandi for third place three lanes over.
This may have denied Bridgewater-Raritan a chance to be set up for an outright victory in the meet’s finale, but the Panthers still took their first lead of the season over Hillsborough, 79-77.
Just the way Bridgewater-Raritan drew it up.
“It felt really good, and my teammates following me really bolstered my confidence,” reflected about that moment by Daniels, who finished runner-up in individual races for the first time in her freshman campaign during her team’s regular season meeting at Hillsborough.
Factoring in the Panthers’ massive upset at the Raiders’ pool in Monday afternoon’s rematch, Daniels has launched her promising career for Bridgewater-Raritan with gold medals in 13 of her 17 individual races to date.
Of the four other individual races she failed to collect gold, three of them came against Hillsborough, including both the 100-yard free style and 200-yard individual medley back on January 13.
While she finished runner-up in the 100-yard free style, her victory in the 100-yard breaststroke improved Daniels’ record to a perfect 3-0 in this race in team meets: regular season or postseason combined.
“It was disappointing losing, but I knew that if I just kept practicing before the next meet, I would be able to win,” Daniels went on to say of how both her individual race losses and the team’s lone loss at Hillsborough to date motivated them moving forward.
Needing to then win the 400-yard free style relay to tie the meet, 85-85, Hillsborough accomplished this task, but Bridgewater-Raritan’s second and third place finishes were also never in doubt. Larosa, Senthilkumar, Desai, and Daniels tallied a time of 3:47.67, while Zirpoli, senior Kaylee Cerbone, Stakias, and Castone rounded off the Panthers’ third-place finish (3:57.59) by just over six seconds to deadlock the meet and cap off Bridgewater-Raritan’s miraculous comeback from its double-digit deficit.
The final result was not announced publicly, but the loud cheering that finally erupted from Bridgewater-Raritan’s sideline once both coaches shared the results with their teams answered the most important question of the day.
The Panthers survived and advanced, while the Raiders’ season came to an end.
Ironically, this same 85-85 outcome happened between Hillsborough and Bridgewater-Raritan in the 2024-25 regular season back on January 21, 2025, in Bridgewater. Unlike Monday evening, no further action was necessary after that meeting given that it just went into the record books as a tie.
Instead, Bridgewater-Raritan and Hillsborough had to anxiously await the result of the ensuing power point tiebreaker, which consisted of awarding a predetermined amount of power points: 0-200 for individual race times, and 0-600 points for relay times, for each swimmer. For example, Daniels’ gold medal winning time of 1:08.44 in the 100-yard breaststroke falls just under the threshold for 105 points (1:08.41) but meets the requirement for 104 points (1:08.57). Daniels’ second-place time in the 200-yard free style of 1:56.85 was just under the requirement for 111 points (1:56.72) but meets the milestone for 110 points (1:57.00).
Those 104 + 110 = 214 points for Daniels were the most obtained amongst individual races for Bridgewater-Raritan, which cashed in with a relay-team-high 318 power points in its second-place 200-yard free relay result (1:43.85) by DeRosa, Tamedl, Senthilkumar, and Daniels. With increments of three points in relay benchmarks factored in instead of one point in individual race benchmarks, this met the criteria for 318 points (1:43.98) but not for 321 points (1:43.73).
These were amongst Bridgewater-Raritan’s 3,707 total power points compared to Hillsborough’s 3,670, which clinched the Panthers’ their third straight trip to the state sectional finals.
For what it’s worth, had both teams remained tied after power points, the first tiebreaker after this would have been fewest sixth-place finishes in favor of Bridgewater-Raritan, which had just five compared to Hillsborough's six.
Nonetheless, the ensuing wait proved to be worth it in the end for the Panthers, who have now won in the state sectional semifinals or later as an underdog at least once in each of the last three seasons.
“You have to believe in each other and believe in yourselves,” Levin said of his message to his squad, whose upset over Hillsborough on Monday evening followed upsets over Westfield in each of the previous two seasons, including in last season’s North 2, Group A finals. “A lot of it boiled down to the fact that we had nothing to lose. Hillsborough beat us handily 30 days ago, but that the target was on their back and the pressure was on them. We’ve done this before, so we were going to try and do it again, but we had to get creative with our lineup. I told them to trust me and believe that I looked over this stuff for a long time. If I’m putting you in this spot, then I know that you are capable of doing what we need you to do.”
“They bought in and left it all out there.”
After Bridgewater-Raritan (9-1) ended last regular season with a 3-5-1 record, the Panthers went on to eliminate Hillsborough in their home rematch in the state sectional semifinals, 89-81, before upsetting top-seeded Westfield in the sectional finals to win their first North 2, Group A crown since 2019-20.
Last season’s Bridgewater-Raritan girls’ swimming team fell to Montclair High School, 95-75, in the Group A state semifinals. But after slaying one dragon in Hillsborough on Monday evening, third-seeded Bridgewater-Raritan has to take down another monster in top-seeded Westfield again to return to this stage.
And most importantly, fulfilling its next objective: defending its state sectional crown in its state sectional finals rematch with the Blue Devils at 4 p.m. Thursday, February 12, at the Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy.
“It means so much that our underclassmen did not stop believing,” praised Castone of her group.
“They don’t have the experience we have against Westfield over the past couple of years, so knowing that they were able to do their part along with the rest of us was really worth-while.”