2025 New Jersey Meet of Champions
- Gloucester County Institute of Technology in Sewell, New Jersey
- March 1-2, 2025
- SCY (25 yards), Prelims/Finals
- Full results on meet mobile: “2025 Meet of Champions”
This weekend, New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) hosted their annual Meet of Champions (MOCs). Unlike most high school state championship meets, New Jersey does not crown team champions at MOCs, and only individual swimmers and school relays are recognized as winners. Meanwhile, team championships are given to the winners of the NJSIAA dual meet state tournament brackets.
Girls’ Recap
Last year, Sidney Arcella swam a time of 1:46.97 in the 200 free, a new meet record, to out-touch Texas commit Sarah Rodrigues for the win. In a deja-vu-esque moment today, Arcella once again won the 200 free with a new meet record of 1:46.71 to come from behind, beating Rodrigues (1:48.19) to three-peat as the NJ state champ in this event. Although Rodrigues was out fast (51.12), Arcella kept it close (52.01) before closing in 54.70, ahead of Rodrigues’ 57.07. Indiana commit Colleen Bull improved upon her 4th place finish last year to round out the podium in 1:49.43.
Arcella, a Duke commit, went on to take second in the 100 free with a time of 50.17. The win went to Addy Gebhart, a sophomore from Cherokee High School who swam a PB of 49.85 to dip under the 50 barrier for the first time. Bull collected her second bronze medal of the meet with a 50.29, shaving 2 tenths off her PB, which she set at this meet last year to also take 3rd.
Gebhart was the sole double champion on the girls’ side, as she also won the 50 free. She shaved nearly half a second off her previous best time of 23.31 by recording a 22.84. Tori Castro, a Bucknell commit, took 2nd in 23.33, while Catherine Ritter, who will head to Dartmouth this fall, rounded out the podium with a 23.55.
Shelby Hutchinson, a freshman, took the win in the 100 fly with a 53.60—over a second faster than her best time coming into this meet (54.70). She beat out Samantha Villacis, an FSU commit (54.31) and Anna Kilponen, a Villanova commit (54.84).
Hutchinson also swam the 100 back, taking silver in 53.70. She was bested by Rodrigues (52.75), who is the defending champion and meet record holder in this event. Villacis took third with a 55.47.
Kent Place’s Ayah Bedri, another freshman, won the 100 breast in a stunning 1:02.54. She cut over a second off of her previous best with that swim, splitting 29.37/33.17 to lead the race wire to wire. Loyola University (Maryland) commit Meghan Donovan took 2nd in 1:03.36, while Emily Volchansky, a Rutgers commit, took 3rd in 1:03.57.
The sprint free relays were swept by Mount Saint Mary Academy. In the 200 free relay, the quartet of Dani Carter (24.02), Kayla Marion (24.37), Meghan Dwyer (24.60), and Catherine Ritter (23.25) combined for a 1:36.24 to best the Pingry School (1:36.50) and Chatham High School (1:36.63) in a thrilling race that came down to the touch.
Similarly, in the 400 free relay, the same quartet from Mount Saint Mary’s came from behind to beat out Chatham (3:31.27) and Pingry (3:32.25) once again. Notably, Dani Carter anchored in a 50.84 to make up a a 1+ second deficit and take the win.
Other Event Winners:
- 200 Medley Relay: Pingry School (Maria Pontoriero, Emma Davidkhanian, Mia Cuiffo, TingTing Luo) – 1:46.48
- 200 IM: Emily Sudol – 2:05.02
- 500 Free: Bridget Lowery – 4:55.16
Boys’ Recap
In a dramatic turn of events, Bridgewater Raritan High School got DQ’d for an early take-off after initially touching first in the 200 Medley Relay. Summit High School’s team of Declan Vargas (24.28), Yehor Maistruk (24.96), Kyle DripChak (22.81), and Charlie Moon (20.93) thus took the win in 1:32.98, holding off Westfield’s Owen Waibel, who anchored in 20.02. Westfield took 2nd in 1:33.78, while Princeton High School claimed 3rd (1:35.29).
Kenny Barnicle, a Cal commit, repeated as the 200 free champion with a time of 1:35.15 and was over 2 seconds faster than the 1:37.45 that he swam to win last year. Charlie Kulp, a senior at Chatham High School who heads to Duke this fall, came in 2nd with a 1:36.90—a new personal best by .03 seconds.
Like Gebhart, Barnicle was the sole swimmer on the boys’ side to claim double victories. He won the 100 free in 43.88, matching his PB to the hundredth and beating Gregory Yukhvid (45.34), who took 2nd, by over a second.
Georgetown commit Daren Chen (1:48.96) similarly defended his title in the 200 IM, just out-touching Jaden Lee (1:49.04) for the win. The two were 1-2 in this event last year as well.
Ryan Quinn, a Notre Dame commit for 2026, won the 100 fly in 48.14 to improve upon his 3rd place finish from last year. Kulp took home his second silver of the day with a 48.95, while Virginia Tech commit Connor Johnson took 3rd in the 49.52.
Summit High School sophomore Yehor Maistruk dominated the 100 breast, swimming a 54.34 for the win while Northwestern commit Zack Kusch followed in a 55.14.
Westfield also swept the sprint free relays, with Waibel (20.40), Hudson Wilcomes (21.16), Logan Swenson (21.58), and Danny Pierce (20.64) combining for the win in the 200 free relay (1:23.78). Bridgewater Raritan took 2nd in 1:24.74, with Christopher Wasko’s 20.37 split, the fastest of the field, leading them to the podium.
The 400 free relay was all Westfield, as they led the race from start to finish, winning by over 3 seconds. Waibel, a Duke Commit, lead the Westfield Blue Devils off in 44.96, and Wilcomes (46.65), Michael Fischer (46.27), and Pierce (25.71), never relinquished the lead. They combined for a 3:03.59, beating St Augustine Prep, who took silver in 3:07.29.
Other Event Winners:
- 50 Free: Jack MacMillan – 20.92
- 100 Back: Connor Johnson – 48.57
- 500 Free: Mike McCarthy – 4:29.20
