COACH OF THE YEAR

CHW sparkled under Sweeten

As Cherry Hill West entered the semifinal round of the NJSIAA South Jersey, Public A tournament and a matchup with five-time state champion Vineland, coach Scott Sweeten wasn't sure he had one of those special teams.

He knew his team was good, for sure. But earlier tests against strong competition had come back inconclusive.

"Haddonfield was a tough win, but we didn't swim our best," Sweeten said. "We jumped out to a big lead so fast on Cherry Hill East in our first meet that our latter swims weren't very sharp either. Obviously, our regular-season loss to Vineland wasn't a positive indicator either."

Neither Sweeten nor Vineland coach John Casadia showed much with their lineups in that meet, a 100-86 Vineland victory Feb. 2. But when their playoff showdown arrived, Sweeten made all of the right moves.

"John and I put in lineups we had used before not wanting to show any custom changes we would make to exploit each other's weaknesses when the outcome was more important," Sweeten said. "Our most significant changes were to go for 2-3 in the medley relay and go for the win in the two free relays. That allowed us to put Allison Rolish in her strongest events, the 200 and 500 freestyles."

The moves paid off. Cherry Hill West won the 400 free relays and Rolish set school records in winning the 200 and 500 freestyles to spark an 87-83 victory that ended Vineland's 62-meet winning streak. That victory served as a springboard for Cherry Hill West, which then rolled to victories over Cherry Hill East, Ridgewood and Westfield to claim its first Public A state title, the school's first since it won Public B in 1998.

But Sweeten credits his swimmers for the team's success.

"The real reason for the win was not strategic. Our girls simply swam out of their minds," said Sweeten, who also guided his team to the South Jersey League and South Jersey Coaches Invitational A Division titles. "Thirty one new, all-time, personal-best swims were achieved in the meet by our team members, including Allison's team records in the 200 and 500 and Maureen O'Neill's record in the 50 free.

"It was just a great pleasure to see this group achieve so much because they loved each other dearly and were always swimming hard simply because the other 40 were depending on them each time they did. That was the motivating force that led to those 31 personal bests against Vineland. I'll take the memory of that night and what we did the 10 days that followed to my grave as some of my most cherished as a coach."