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Girls Swim Notebook: Metuchen's Stankiewicz ends historic GMC career

Andy Mendlowitz
@andy_mendlowitz
North Brunswick's Melanie Fosko (left) and Metuchen's Macie Schaper swim in the 100 freestyle during the Greater Middlesex Conference Championship on Saturday at the Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy.

Julie Stankiewicz finished with the equivalent of an .875 batting average.

The Metuchen High School swimmer won seven of eight individual races at the Greater Middlesex Conference championships during her career. Considering a swimmer is only allowed two events per season at the meet, Stankiewicz ends as one of the most storied competitors ever in the conference.

“She accomplished more than any kid ever in Metuchen,” Bulldogs coach Jim Thomas said. “And you can’t do too much better than seven out of eight first places. Only one more better. And I don’t know if anyone’s ever done that. So she’s right there. She’s done a tremendous job.”

Stankiewicz holds the school’s freestyle records in the 50, 100, 200 and the 500. Her lone non-gold GMC medal was in 2016 in the 500 free. Piscataway’s Elizabeth Borges swam a 5:03.83 to get the title over Stankiewicz’s 5:14.77.

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This season, Stankiewicz avenged that loss by setting a meet record in the 500, getting first over Borges in a 5:02.07 to the Piscataway swimmer’s 5:03.83. She also took first in the 100 free and was part of the 200-medley relay first-place team with Sarah Jenny, Macie Schaper and Courtney Little.

“She came in good and she just kept getting better,” Thomas said. “And she always would give us everything that she had. Just a great asset to the program. We’re going to miss her. She’s a quiet leader. She never boasts or anything, and she would give me good feedback. We would talk about things. She would give me good suggestions. It’s like having another coach around.”

After a midseason injury to another swimmer, Stankiewicz suggested to her coach that she swim the backstroke portion. Thomas said, “I didn’t know how good she was at back until I saw her. And I said, 'Whoa, you are good.'”

Metuchen placed third in the GMC behind East Brunswick and J.P. Stevens. For a small enrollment school, the Bulldogs have found success among larger schools. A big part of that has been because of Stankiewicz, who heads to Seton Hall next season.

“She can probably swim every event, one after the other and do well for the team,” Thomas said. “If I can have Julie swim every event for us, we’d probably win everything.”

NOTES

East Brunswick won its fourth-straight GMC team title with its strong depth. Individually, East Brunswick didn't have a champion, but placed in the top six in seven of the eight events. That equaled a189-point advantage over second-place J.P. Stevens. The Bears did capture championships in the 200 free relay (Amaya Renzulli, Megan Tang, Sabrina May, Sara Park) and the 400 free relay (Darby VanDeVeen, May, Renzulli, Park).

J.P. Stevens placed second as a team led by Jenna Yan (first in the 100 breaststroke, second in 200 IM) and Stephanie Chiu (first in 50 free, fourth in 100 free). Other multiple individual placers included Michelle Kong (fourth in 100 butterfly and sixth in 500 free) and Cecilia Bailey (fourth in both the 200 free and 500 free).

In the Olympics, a swimmer jumps out by medaling in multiple events. At the GMCs, several swimmers finished in the top three in their two individual events. Bishop Ahr’s Sarah Hardy led the way with two golds in the 200 IM and the 100 back. Colonia’s Monika Burzynska took first in the 100 butterfly and second in the 100 backstroke, while Piscataway’s Elizabeth Borges won the 200 and finished second in the 500.

Other top finishes included North Brunswick’s Melanie Fosko, who earned second place finishes in the 100 free and the 100 breaststroke. Bishop Ahr’s Emily Louie got silver in the 200 free and the 100 butterfly. While East Brunswick’s Sara Park took second in the 50 free and the third in the 100 free. Additionally, Metuchen’s Macie Schaper got two third-places in the 200 free and the 100 butterfly.