A 1-4 record from earlier this winter is just a distant memory.
Bridgewater-Raritan High School’s girls’ swim team stood with that record at one point this season, but then Coach Chris Levin’s determined squad took off and finished with a 4-1-1 surge, capped by a thrilling victory in the North 2, Group A state sectional final.
In the state sectional championship meet, Bridgewater-Raritan, the second seed, upset top-seeded Westfield High School, 88-82, at the Raritan Bay YMCA in Perth Amboy on Wednesday, February 12.
That triumph sent Bridgewater-Raritan, ranked No. 11 in New Jersey, to a 5-5-1 record, and it earned a ticket to the Group A state semifinals.
Bridgewater-Raritan will oppose 16th-ranked Montclair High School (8-2) in the state Group A state semifinals on Tuesday, February 18, at 5 p.m. at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology in Sewell.
The other semifinal will follow on that same day, February 18, and also will be contested at the Gloucester County Institute of Technology at 6:30 p.m. when eighth-ranked Cherry Hill East High School (10-2) swims against 12th-ranked East Brunswick High School (7-1).
The final four teams in Group A were seeded for the state semifinals.
Cherry Hills East is the No. 1 seed, Bridgewater-Raritan is No. 2, Montclair is No. 3 and East Brunswick is No. 4.
The Group A state championship meet will be held on Sunday, February 23, at Rutgers University. The start time is 12 noon.