Swimming: Top performances, results from the 2024 Passaic County championships

WAYNE – Sarah Rodrigues’ mind went blank.

The Wayne Valley swimmer has won state medals and a national title, but what happened Saturday was unlike anything that happened in her career.

Rodrigues hopped in the water with her team more than two seconds behind Passaic Tech in the 200 freestyle relay. Her adrenaline powered her to a record-split and another gold at the Passaic County Swimming Championships.

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“I honestly don’t even remember swimming,” Rodrigues said. “I just remember hitting the wall and we won. That’s honestly one of the greatest feelings ever. It was insane. And I never celebrate when I swim.”

Jan 20, 2024; Wayne, NJ, USA; Sarah Rodrigues with Wayne Valley takes first in the girls 200 yard freestyle during the Passaic County swimming championships at Passaic Tech HS on Saturday.

Saturday was a dominant day for Rodrigues and a perfect one for Passaic Tech.

The Bulldogs swept the team titles once again and set a tournament record by winning all 11 races on the boys side. The host school has now won nine straight boys championships and six in a row for the girls.

High school swimming can be overshadowed by the club side, but the county meet was a clear example of how much weight it still carries. The pool deck was loud, the stands were full and the speed was fast enough to topple eight county records.

While Rodrigues has been on much bigger stages, her relay split (22.94) for the rebuilding Indians was more than a second faster than her personal best and quicker than the winning 50 free time in last year’s state meet. Even her mild-mannered father, Joe, was brought to his feet by the photo finish.

“I don’t even think my dad cheered when I got my Olympic trial cut,” said Rodrigues, who set Passaic records in the 100 and 200 freestyles this year as a junior. “I was in utter shock.”

The grand finale of the day came in the 400 free relay when Passaic Tech’s Tyler Roer held off a close challenge on his right from Wayne Valley’s Max Carter. Roer could hear the volume cranked up even underwater.

“You get such a rush of adrenaline,” the West Milford native said. “Your body goes numb. It’s so cool to experience. It hurts, but after it hurts, you know it’s going to feel so good.”

Jan 20, 2024; Wayne, NJ, USA; Oliver Kiss with Passaic Tech in the boys 200 yard individual medley during the Passaic County swimming championships at Passaic Tech HS on Saturday.

Roer’s story is a common one in the world of high-level swimming. His life has largely revolved around the sport since signing up for a local club team about 10 years ago and training year-round.

So Roer, more than most, can truly appreciate what his senior teammate Joseph Stauss has been able to accomplish.

Stauss was a fencer freshman year who needed to learn how to dive when he tried out for swim as a sophomore. His form was just fine on Saturday when he set the county record in the butterfly and scored gold in the 100 freestyle. Now Stauss is looking to compete on the college level.

“It hurts someone like me who’s been swimming all my life,” Roer said. “You watch him in three years go from zero to 200 in such a short amount of time. It also motivates me that if he can do it, I can do it. The whole team can do it.”

Stauss was one of five individual champions for his team along with Adam Kiss (200 and 500 freestyle), Oliver Kiss (individual medley and breaststroke), Zachary McKatten (backstroke) and Roer (50 free). His Bulldogs scored 454 points to cruise past Wayne Valley in second with 282.

Super sophomores Francesca Cordero and Danna Tapia added two individual titles apiece to send the Passaic Tech girls past runner-up Wayne Hills, 423-337. Passaic Tech’s Charlize Macaranas and Wayne Hills’ Alexis Gentile took home their first solo county titles.

“We have a really good sense of family here,” Stauss said. “All the kids on the team, everyone know each other’s times. Everyone knows how well we do and we all push each other at practice. The kids that go to club, we still come to all the meets and try to stay involved with the team. So we all support each other.”

Jan 20, 2024; Wayne, NJ, USA; Francesca Cordero from Passaic Tech takes first in the girls 100 yard breaststroke during the Passaic County swimming championships at Passaic Tech HS on Saturday.

Girls swimming

Team score: 1. Passaic Tech, 423; 2. Wayne Hills, 337; 3. Wayne Valley, 204; 4. Lakeland/West Milford, 181; 5. Clifton, 84; 6. Passaic, 33.

200 medley relay: *MEET RECORD*: 1. Passaic Tech (Charlize Macaranas, Francesca Cordero, Julia Lo, Danna Tapia, 1:51.39; 2. Wayne Hills, 2:00.19; 3. Lakeland/West Milford, 2:05.24; 4. Passaic Tech, 2:05.51; 5. Wayne Hills, 2:11.26; 6. Wayne Valley, 2:15.77.

200 freestyle: *MEET RECORD* 1. Sarah Rodrigues, Wayne Valley, 1:51.21; 2. Zariah Townsend, Passaic, 2:02.46; 3. Alexis Gentile, Wayne Hills, 2:05.73; 4. Emily Kebrdle, Lakeland/West Milford, 2:06.13; 5. Ashaly Dominguez, Passaic Tech, 2:09.62; 6. Elliana Macaluso, Passaic Tech, 2:14.37.

200 IM: 1. Francesca Cordero, Passaic Tech, 2:11.88; 2. Julia Lo, Passaic Tech, 2:14.89; 3. Zariah Townsend, Passaic, 2:20.93; 4. Mary Puglisi, Wayne Hills, 2:29.76; 5. Sasha Wunej, Wayne Hills, 2:32.66, 6. Heidi Choi, Wayne Hills, 2:33.74.

50 freestyle: 1. Danna Tapia, Passaic Tech, 26.24; 2. Maya MacCracken, Passaic Tech, 27.69; 3. Mia Medina, Wayne Hills, 27.82; 4. Avery Derstine, Wayne Valley, 5. Madeline Voinov, Wayne Valley, 28.51; 6. Amanda Magee, Lakeland/West Milford, 28.97.

100 fly: 1. Danna Tapia, Passaic Tech, 1:01.60; 2. Rebecca Siuffe, Wayne Hills, 1:05.93; 3. Mary Puglisi, Wayne Hills, 1:06.11; 4. Gabriela Becerra, Passaic Tech, 1:11.92; 5. Natalie Rozon, Clifton, 1:11.95; 6. Vivian Li, Mary Help, 1:12.71.

100 freestyle: *MEET RECORD*, 1. Sarah Rodrigues, Wayne Valley, 51.86; 2. Charlize Macaranas, Passaic Tech, 54.81; 3. Ashaly Dominguez, Passaic Tech 58.37; 4. Maya MacCracken, Passaic Tech, 59.30; 5. Callie Ng, Wayne Hills, 1:00.51; 6. Mia Medina, Wayne Hills, 1:00.86.

500 freestyle: 1. Alexis Gentile, Wayne Hills, 5:26.03; 2. Emily Kebrdle, Lakeland/West Milford, 5:38.58; 3. Emily Orsato, Lakeland/West Milford, 5:53.86; 4. Naiara Castrillion, Passaic Tech, 6:02.68; 5. Leah Ciabattoni, Passaic Tech, 6:04.26; 6. Tori Burgess, Wayne Hills, 6:11.94.

200 freestyle relay: 1. Wayne Valley (Avery Derstine, Kyla Fitzsimmons, Madeline Voinov, Sarah Rodrigues), 1:48.36; 2. Passaic Tech, 1:48.86; 3. Passaic Tech, 1:49.69; 4. Wayne Hills, 1:51.17; 5. Lakeland/West Milford, 1:54.48; 6. Wayne Hills, 1:57.94.

100 backstroke: 1. Charlize Macaranas, Passaic Tech, 1:00.91; 2. Rebecca Siuffe, Wayne Hills, 1:07.87; 3. Naira Castrillion, Passaic Tech, 1:08.32; 4. Renata Chyshkevych, Clifton, 1:08.75; 5. Leah Ciabattoni, Passaic Tech, 1:09.37; 6. Heidi Choi, Wayne Hills, 1:11.83.

100 breaststroke: 1. Francesca Cordero, Passaic Tech, 1:08.91; 2. Julia Lo, Passaic Tech, 1:09.80; 3. Callie Ng, Wayne Hills, 1:12.06; 4. Chris Ranft, Lakeland/West Milford, 1:19.87; 5. Ashley Castillo, Passaic Tech, 1:21.46; 6. Sasha Wunej, Wayne Hills, 1:22.11.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Passaic Tech (Ashaly Dominguez, Maya MacCracken, Charlize Macaranas, Julia Lo), 3:47.10; 2. Wayne Valley, 4:01.67; 3. Wayne Hills, 4:07.88; 4. Passaic Tech, 4:14.99; 5. Wayne Hills, 4:31.68; 6. Clifton, 4:36.50.

Boys swimming

Team score: 1. Passaic Tech, 454; 2. Wayne Valley, 282; 3. Wayne Hills, 269; 4. Lakeland/West Milford, 143; 5. Passaic, 63; 6. Clifton, 44.

200 medley relay: *MEET RECORD* 1. Passaic Tech (Zachary McKatten, Oliver Kiss, Joseph Stauss, Adam Kiss), 1:37.34; 2. Wayne Valley, 1:41.72; 3. Passaic Tech, 1:47.54; 4. Wayne Hills, 1:51.65; 5. Lakeland/West Milford, 1:56.59; 6. Wayne Valley, 1:56.79.

200 freestyle: *MEET RECORD* 1. Adam Kiss, Passaic Tech, 1:44.91; 2. Tyler Roer, Passaic Tech, 1:49.29; 3. Sion Lee, Wayne Hills, 1:50.98; 4. Patrick Lo, Passaic Tech, 1:59.77; 5. Dylan Borowinski, Wayne Valley, 2:04.75; 6. Evan Hablitz, 2:08.39.

200 IM: 1. Oliver Kiss, Passaic Tech, 1:55.88; 2. Zachary McKatten, 2:05.35; 3. Israel Rodriguez, Passaic Tech, 2:10.07; 4. Matheus Campos, Wayne Hills 2:11.97; 5. Hector Ramirez, Passaic, 2:19.87; 6. Peter Swede, Wayne Valley, 2:20.25.

50 freestyle: 1. Tyler Roer, Passaic Tech, 22.74; 2. Jake Ryan, Wayne Valley, 23.21; 3. Will Torticill, Pompton Lakes, 23.31; 4. Jace Kim, Wayne Hills 24.28; 5. Michael Sanchez, Passaic Tech, 24.33; 6. Devin Korsak, Passaic Tech, 25.46.

100 fly: *MEET RECORD* 1. Joseph Stauss, Passaic Tech, 50.94; 2. Max Carter, Wayne Valley, 54.21; 3. Matthew Piacentini, Wayne Valley, 55.08; 4. William Lebron, Wayne Hills, 57.52; 5. Avi Shah, Passaic Tech, 59.96; 6. Mohamed Baloush, Passaic Tech, 1:02.65.

100 freestyle: 1. Joseph Stauss, Passaic Tech, 48.81; 2. Nathan Schouten, Lakeland/West Milford, 50.56; 3. Will Torticill, Pompton Lakes 51.19; 4. Israel Rodriguez, Passaic Tech, 52.04; 5. Michael DeMarco, Passaic Tech, 56.45; 6. Marcello Dugdale, Wayne Hills, 57.87.

500 freestyle: *MEET RECORD*, 1. Adam Kiss, Passaic Tech, 4:44.53; 2. Sion Lee, Wayne Hills, 4:57.28; 3. Matheus Campos, Wayne Hills, 5:23.14; 4. Victor Mielnik, Passaic Tech, 5:39.04; 5. Dylan Borowinski, Wayne Valley, 6:03.52; 6. Nicholas Bongiovanni, Wayne Valley, 6:27.19.

200 freestyle relay: *MEET RECORD*, 1. Passaic Tech (Tyler Roer, Oliver Kiss, Joseph Stauss, Adam Kiss), 1:29. 23; 2. Wayne Valley, 1:30.25; 3. Passaic Tech, 1:42.59; 4. Lakeland/West Milford, 1:43.31; 5. Wayne Valley, 1:47.17; 6. Wayne Hills, 1:48.84.

100 backstroke: 1. Zachary McKatten, Passaic Tech, 53.02; 2. Nathan Scouten, Lakeland/West Milford, 53.99; 3. Maxwell Matthews, Wayne Valley, 56.76; 4. William Lebron, Wayne Hills, 58.91; 5. Avi Shah, Passaic Tech, 59.32; 6. Hector Ramirez, Passaic, 1:06.75.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Passaic Tech (Israel Rodriguez, Zachary McKatten, Patrick Lo, Tyler Roer), 3:21.15; 2. Wayne Valley, 3:21.42; 3. Wayne Hills, 3:32.42; 4. Passaic Tech, 3:47.06; 5. Wayne Hills, 4:00.60; 6. Wayne Valley, 4:02.73.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Swimming: Top performances, results from the 2024 Passaic County championships