Swimmer of the Meet Hutton wins twice, Kosowski takes first and

Jan. 31, 2015 MCT Boys Swimming
Steinert's Jacob Kosowski exults after winning the 200 freestyle at today's Mercer County Championshp. Kosowski also took
second to Griffin Hutton in the 400 free (Photo by John Blaine/purchase photos at [email protected]).
Swimmer of the Meet Hutton wins twice, Kosowski takes first and second
By Mark A. Pratico II
Fish4scores.com
Jan. 31: At the end of the Mercer County Swimming Championship this afternoon, the teams from
Hamilton West and Steinert were smiling wider than most.
The joy was not because of the final team scores, but because a pair of local swimmers simply stole
the spotlight during the meet.
Hamilton senior Griffin Hutton and Steinert junior Jacob Kosowski owned the Aquatics Center at West
Windsor Plainsboro North.
Hutton finished first in the 200-meter individual medley (2:09.10) and the 400 freestyle (4:06.08).
Hutton also helped Hamilton to an eighth place finish in the 400 freestyle relay and a ninth place finish
in the 200 freestyle relay. At the end of the day, Hutton was named Swimmer of the Meet
“The day was great,” Hutton said. “I’ve been hitting what I wanted to do. I wanted to go a little faster in
the 400, but I did as well as I could. I’ve known Jacob from swimming against him these past few
years, he’s a great kid and a hard competitor.
“A lot of this is all about the training. You train for so much more than what the distance of the race is,
so when you swim it, it feels like nothing.”
Hutton plans to attend Rider University and continue his swimming career in the fall, where he will be
teammates with former Steinert standout Zach Mabin.
“Coaching a kid like Griffin is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Hamilton coach Mary Kanoc said.
“You’re lucky as a coach to have the chance to work with someone of that caliber.
“The kids have worked so hard this year, and everyone just gets in the water and tries their best.
There are a lot of great kids in swimming and an event like this is really fun for them to swim against
kids from different schools.”
Kosowski is quickly
earning his spot on the list
of Spartan great
swimmers, along with
recent standouts Mabin
and Kevin Hom. In the
400 free, Kosowski came
in second behind Hutton
in 1:59.44. Kosowski
brought home a title of his
own, winning the 200
freestyle (1:59.44).
“I was very happy with
today,” Kosowski said. “I
had an outstanding meet Steinert's Stephen Walsh had two fourth place finishes today in the 100 fly and 50 free
yesterday and got all best (Photo by Dennis Symons Jr./purchase photos at www.dennissymons.com).
times and placed higher than I ever thought I would. I was terrified before that 200 free but I gave it my
best to get that first place.”
In the 200 free, Kosowski swam down to the wire against North’s Max Von Autenried and Notre
Dame’s Rob Kahrs, who tied for second place just tenths of a second behind Kosowski at 1:59.86.
“I saw them every time I took a breath,” Kosowski said. “I think they were ahead of me at one point.
They’re fighters. It was a fight to the end for all of us.”
“Jake’s a great kid in and out of the water,” Spartans coach Emily Summers said. “He is always
looking to do better for himself and he’s a great teammate as well.
“He’s such a humble kid. He was nervous for these races, but he deserves it. The boys did great
today and times are dropping. That’s the important thing.”
Stephen Walsh finished fourth in both the 50-meter freestyle (25.26) and the 100-meter butterfly
(1:01.04) for Steinert.
The Spartan 400-meter free relay team of Walsh, Stephen Huie, Edward Michalec and Kosowski
ended the meet finishing sixth place in 3:55.65.
The 200 free relay of Kosowski, Walsh, Huie and Michalec finished seventh with in 1:45.99, which
qualified them for a the state tournament. Their time in yards was 1:34.98, which is close to the school
record 1:34.98.
Boy’s team results: 1. Notre Dame 285.5; 2. West Windsor Plainsboro South 196.5; 3. Princeton
168; 4. Pennington 131; 5. West Windsor Plainsboro North 113; 6. Hopewell Valley 100; 7. Lawrence
87; 8. Steinert 87; 9. Hamilton 52; 10. Ewing 17; 11. Hightstown 16; 12. Nottingham 16; 13. Trenton 2
Hamilton, Nottingham, Steinert Boy’s Event Results
200 mr: 10. Nottingham 2:10.31; 11. Steinert (Andre Michalec, Ryan Lewallen, Brian Shiarappa, Mike
Stinson) 2:18.07; 12. Hamilton (Mike Lionelli, Valentine Perez, Jimmy Sharkey, Raul Mancera) 2:21.28
200 free: 1. Jacob Kosowski (Steinert) 1:59.44
200 IM: 1. Griffin Hutton (Hamilton) 2:09.10
50 free: 4. Stephen Walsh (Steinert) 25.26
100 fly: 4. Stephen Walsh (Steinert) 1:01.04
400 free: 1. Griffin Hutton (Hamilton) 4:06.08; 2. Jacob Kosowski (Steinert) 4:13.26
200 fr: 7. Steinert (Jacob Kosowski, Stephen Huie, Edward Michalec, Stephen Walsh) 1:45.99; 9.
Hamilton (Griffin Hutton, Valentine Perez, Mitchell Fechter, Robert Mraw) 1:50.93; 11. Nottingham
(Chris Johnson, Dylan Ash, Brandon Torres, Paul Morante) 1:56.80

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