C.H. West has a banner year

The 2005-06 version of the Cherry Hill West High School girls' swim team didn't have the star power of its 1998 state championship team. But this squad has something that one didn't: A Courier-Post Cup.

This year's Division A state champions were a team in every sense of the word. Sure it was full of great swimmers, but there were no stars and definitely no egos on this team. The Lions will receive the Cup, emblematic of the No. 1 team in South Jersey, at the South Jersey Interscholastic Swimming Association banquet April 2.

"While that team (1997-98) had bigger stars like Jennelle Ritchie (who went on to Penn State and was a one-time national record holder in the 100 backstroke) and Katie Kopil (Princeton), this team was much deeper," said coach Scott Sweeten, who also coached the 1997-98 team.

"Our outside lane swimmers contributed more to our success this year than that team's did. While that team topped out at 4,002 power points in its best effort that year, this team earned 4,293 power points against Vineland because of that depth."

Sweeten is referring to the Lions' 87-83 win over Vineland in the South Jersey Division A sectional semifinal, in which West snapped Vineland's 62 dual-meet winning streak, while also avenging a 100-86 loss to the Fighting Clan earlier in the season.

And for Sweeten, it wasn't until after that meet that he truly knew this team had a shot to accomplish something special. After all, it already had against then top-ranked Vineland.

"It wasn't until after the Vineland meet that we really knew," Sweeten said.

Sweeten had a reason to be concerned prior to the West-Vineland playoff meet. On the bus ride to Camden County Tech, hours before the meet, Sweeten sat confused and concerned as his team sat in complete silence on the way to its second showdown with Vineland.

"After losing to Vineland by 14 at their place it was a major concern of mine that the intimidation of Vineland's natatorium would be remembered," Sweeten said. "The quietness left me no clues as to whether we had left that intimidation behind."

But they did. And the Lions went out and swam the meet of their lives, creating memories that will stay with them for ever. Sweeten was quickly convinced the silence his swimmers displayed on the bus was one of confidence.

"Everyone was just so focused on that bus," senior captain Allison Rolish said. "Everyone knew that every person in every event had to do their best for us to win against Vineland."

Sweeten and the rest of the Lions admit that after the second Vineland meet, there was a certain feeling of "Now what?" and neither the team, nor the coaching staff knew how to react as they headed into the final stages of the team tournament.

"We had been banging our heads against the Vineland wall for so long that the girls didn't really know at first how to feel or prepare as the sudden favorite for the rest of the tournament," Sweeten said.

But they remained focused and cruised through the playoffs like a well-oiled machine, in the same fashion as the Fighting Clan had done in previous years.

"It was hard to stay focused after the Vineland meet because we wanted to soak it up and celebrate," Rolish said. "But we had to refocus because we had another meet three days later."

The Lions won their last three meets by an average of 42 points, closing out a special year for a special team.

"Going into the season, we knew we had a great team," Rolish said. "But we got better as the season went on and everyone went above and beyond. That's what makes this team and this year so great."

Reach Andre Watson at jamwatson@courierpostonline.com