The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page B4

Page B4 Monday, Feb. 25, 2013 Courier News MyCentralJersey.com Isports 14 Mount St. Mary turns the tables a year later Pingry's Jamie Finnegan won the 500 freestyle in 5:13,25 on Sunday in the boys Non-Public Final at The College of New Jersey, jason towlenstaff photographer Pingry dominant in swim to title Mount St. Mary's Katie Fallon won the 500 freestyle against Mount St. Dominic on Sunday in the Non-Public girls swimming state final, jason towlenstaff photographer By Carol J.Kelly MyCJSports EWING Mount St.

Mary avenged its performance from last year's state final on Sunday. The Mount Lions, who advanced to the state final for the 12th consecutive season, faced Mount St. Dominic, a team that edged them 88-82 to snag the 2012 title. But Sunday's script was different. Mount St.

Mary notched a 95-75 victory over the defending champions to capture the NJSIAA Non-Public girls swimming team crown at The College of New Jersey. Junior Katie Fallon, who won two individual events and contributed to a winning relay, was one of the standouts for Mount St. Mary. "I feel that we all swam so fast this year," said Fallon, who touched first in the 200 free (1:55.83) and the 500 free "Everyone's dropped so much time. We all came here and we won.

Mount St. Dominic did a great job, too." Senior Carly Whitm-er also was a multiple medalist for the Mount Lions, finishing first in the 100 butterfly (57.00) and swimming on two winning relay teams -the 200 medley (1:49.45) and the 200 free "I think, speaking for the team, we all feel Mount St. Dominic 75 200 medley relay: Mount St. Mary (Julia Day, Megan Guinee, Carly Whitmer, Molly Gaynor) 200 free: Katie FaUon (MSM) 200 IM: Abigail Ortman (MSD) 50 free: Megan Wujciak (MSD) 23.97; 100 butterfly: Carly Whitmer (MSM) 57.00; 100 free: Megan Wujciak (MSD) 52.36; 500 free: Katie FaUon (MSM) 200 free relay: Mount St. Mary (Megan Guinee, Carly Whitmer, Katie Fallon, Caitlin Carroll) 100 backstroke: Abigail Ortman (MSD) 57.56; 100 breaststroke: Jasmine Spinelli (MSD) 400 free relay: Mount St.

Dominic 3:41.72. the start with that big lead which helped motivate them the medley relay and the 200 free gave us an early lead. I'm very excited for them. They're a talented group of girls and they all pulled together as a team." Mount St. Mary's depth helped the team pull out the win because the girls finished first in only five of the 11 events, including two of the three relays, but they were place-winners in several.

Staff Writer Carol Kelly: ckelly njpressmedia.com GIRLS SWIMMING NJSIAA Non-Public Championship Mount St. Mary 95, By Carol J. Kelly MyCJSports EWING After the first few races, it was clear that the top-seeded Pingry School was in command of the NJSIAA Non-Public boys swimming team final at The College of New Jersey on Sunday. Pingry, the five-time defending champions, ended up winning all 11 events, crushing Newark Academy to claim a sixth straight state title with a score of 131 to 39. Sophomore Jamie Finnegan led the charge.

He touched first in two individual events, the 200 free (1:54.21) and the 500 free (5:13.25) and contributed to two winning relays. "I'm happy with my swims," Finnegan said. "It may not have been best times, but I'm so happy that we won the state championship. We lost a lot of seniors last year, so this year being my sophomore year, I knew I had to step it up. It means a lot that I could win two individual events at the state championship and I was backed by my team the whole time." Other multiple medalists include Brown University-bound senior Will LaCosta and sophomore Sebastian Lutz.

LaCosta posted first-place finishes in the 50 free (21.69) and the 100 free (47:04) and swam legs in the first-place 200 medley relay (1:41.84) and 400 free relay "I feel great. It was good for me and it was good for the team," LaCosta said. "It's the last dual meet I'll swim with Pingry, so it's a good way to end my four years here." Lutz, who won the 100 butterfly (54.88) and the 100 breaststroke was grateful for Pingry's team spirit. "We had a really good year this year," noted Lutz. "Our whole team melded together really well, and with the support of our captains, we finished strong this year." Lutz also swam on the winning 200 medley relay team, which clocked a time of 1:41.84.

Steve Droste, in his first year as head coach after several years in the No. 2 spot, was thrilled to keep the streak going. "I thought the boys did a great job today," said Droste, who led Pingry to an 11-1 record. "I'm especially proud of my three seniors Alex Tung, Will LaCosta and Dorian Allen who graduated having only lost four meets in four years and with four state titles." Rounding out the events, Paul Ludwig touched first in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:11.52, and Matt Barickman clocked 57.32 to win the 100 backstroke. Showing great depth, Pingry boys placed in the top three for several races.

NJSIAA Team Final Non-Public Pingry 131, Newark Academy 39 200 medley relay: Pingry (Sebastian Lutz, Alex Ting, Will LaCosta, Dorian Allen) 200 free: Jamie Finnegan (P) 200 IM: Paul Ludwig (P) 50 free: Will LaCosta (P) 21.69; 100 butterfly: Sebastian Lutz (P) 54.88; 100 free: Will LaCosta (P) 47.04; 500 free: Jamie Finnegan 200 free relay: Pingry (Sebastian Lutz, Alex Tung, Kamau Holston, Jamie Finnegan) 100 backstroke: Matt Barickman (P) 57.42; 100 breaststroke: Sebastian Lutz (P) 400 free relay: Pingry (Will LaCosta, Dorian Allen, Matt Zeikel, Jamie Finnegan) 3:36.35. Record: Pingry 11-1. Team effort lifts Highlanders to title great," Whitmer said. "I mean, this is what we've been looking forward to all year. I think in the beginning, there were some doubts just because it was a new coach, a new team -we lost some strong seniors but I think we all really came together and did what we needed to do.

I couldn't be more proud of the team." First-year coach Megan Decker, who guided Mount St. Mary to an 8-3 record, was happy her girls was able to capitalize on their opportunity. "They swam amazing," Decker said. "They were very pumped up coming into this. Some people thought we wouldn't win and we had to prove them wrong.

We came out from serve Patrice DiTomasso (13 points) rounded out a team effort and were especially important when Ferguson picked up her third foul midway through the second quarter. Governor Livingston (20-4) trailed by as many as eight and was down six when Ferguson went to the bench. But Ferguson's absence seemed to energize George, who scored seven of her eight first-half points in the final four minutes to help forge a 24-24 tie at the break. "My teammates did a great job to keep us in the game," Ferguson said. "I wanted to make sure we came out being the better team in the second half.

My teammates were very helpful getting me the ball inside where I could do things with it." Governor Livingston took its first lead when George scored a second-chance basket at the beginning of the third quar By Ryan Dunleavy rydunleavy UNION Considering his leading scorer was dogged by foul trouble and the opposing team could not miss in the early going, Governor Livingston High School girls basketball coach Andy Silvagni could not believe his good fortune Sunday night when he looked up at the halftime scoreboard and saw a tie. Silvagni sensed that his team's best effort remained in the tank and he was right. Senior center Erin Ferguson scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds as third-seeded Governor Livingston captured its second straight Union County Tournament title by beating eighth-seeded Oak Knoll 54-44 in the final at Harwood Arena on the Kean University campus. "This is great because everybody on the outside didn't give us a shot to repeat after graduating six seniors," Silvagni said, "but we felt we had enough talent coming back." Indeed Ferguson did not do it alone. Seniors Mallory George (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Alyssa Cranston (seven assists) and junior re Granderson out for 10 weeks with broken arm ter and extended it to eight by the end as Ferguson converted a three-point play and scored of a perfectly executed pick-and-roll with Cranston.

"Erin, Mallory and I have played together since the fourth grade and we have great chemistry," Cranston said. "Erin and Mallory are dominant inside and (Oak Knoll) didn't have the size to match up." On the opening possession of the fourth, DiTom-maso canned her third 3-pointer to push the lead to 39-28. Oak Knoll, which rallied from a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to top Linden in the semifinals, twice came within five points but could not get the key defensive stop it needed because of Ferguson's force. "Teams, people, everybody doubted us," Ferguson said. "We graduated six seniors.

(They said), 'It's a rebuilding year for I didn't like that. I and wanted to make a statement." The previous two UCT finals both of which featured Governor Livingston were defensive struggles in which no team surpassed 33 points. But Oak Knoll, seeking its first county title in its second finals appearance, started by draining two straight 3-pointers and a deep 2 to set the tone for a high-scoring first half. Senior guard Kerri Mo-ran, a Bernardsville native, paced Oak Knoll (21-4) with 17 points. "We said before the game, 'If we're up 12-8 at halftime we'll be Silvagni said.

"But they came out on fire and we had to weather the storm a little bit. I looked up and it was tied and I didn't know how. Then we got it going in the second half." Staff Writer Ryan Dunleavy: rdunleavy njpressmedia.com Enter our Door Prize Drawings 2013 Tee Off Luncheon Keynote Speaker: Laura T. Wallace, General Mgr. NY Metro District, Microsoft Corp Members and Non-members are Welcome.

Learn about the EWGA, our Golf Outings, Leagues, Education Networking Events. Connect with EWGA Members and Guests. Saturday, March 23, 2013 Check out Exhibitors at our Vendor Cashman came up with another word. "Sucks," he said. A 10-week recovery would put Granderson back in the Yankees' lineup the first week of May.

This winter, the Yankees lost power hitters Nick Swisher, Russell Martin, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Andruw Jones to free agency. Chad Jennings writes for the (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News HIKH EXCi-y---. prizes DOOR1 By Chad Jennings Staff Writer TAMPA, Fla. The Yankees lost 98 home runs to free agency, they lost a few more when Alex Rodriguez had offseason hip surgery, and they lost even more on Sunday when outfielder Curtis Granderson was hit by a pitch in the second game of spring training. Granderson's forearm is broken.

He's expected to miss the next 10 weeks, and the Yankees have no easy way to replace him. "Who knows?" general manager Brian Cashman said. "I can't tell you if we'll wind up doing anything (to add an outfielder) down the line or not. We will be getting him back, but it won't be until May." Five pitches into his first spring at-bat, Granderson was hit by a first-inning fastball from Blue Jays lefty J.A. Happ.

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