Bear teams make coach's first year enjoyable
E.B. teams hope to shine at GMC meet
BY DOUG McKENZIE
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY SCOTT PILLING staff Above, East Brunswick's Jenny Zavoda competes in the 200-meter freestyle event during the Bears' win over North Brunswick in North Brunswick on Tuesday. Below, the Bears' Danica Cotov competes in the breaststroke.

With a wealth of talented and hard-working swimmers on his teams, East Brunswick swim coach Jeff Sundberg is enjoying his first season with the Bears.

The former College of New Jersey swimmer has been pleased with both the effort and results he's received from his two teams this winter, and is looking forward to seeing exactly how his teams match up with the rest of the Greater Middlesex Conference down the road.

"Things have gone really well so far," Sundberg said. "There have been a few bumps in the road - a lot of illnesses mostly - but I'm really pleased overall."

Both the boys and girls teams from East Brunswick got wins in North Brunswick on Tuesday, with the boys beating the Raiders, 113-57, to improve to 4-5 on the year, and the girls scoring a 91-79 win to improve to 7-3.

And while the girls record is better on paper, Sundberg points out that that doesn't necessarily make them the stronger of the two teams.

"The boys record is a result of a lot of really good competition," the coach said. "It seems like the teams we've faced have had a lot stronger boys so far."

And while records are normally a good barometer of a team's success, Sundberg is more concerned with other statistics.

"I really go by power points because they're based on every swimmer, and every swimmer is contributing points to the total, so it's a better gauge," he said.

And with the Bears' power points going up consistently, Sundberg is seeing progress within both teams.

"Overall I've been pretty happy with the way the teams have come along," he said, adding that his squads are hoping to surprise some people at the GMC championships on Jan. 27 at Princeton.

"It's going to be interesting," the coach said. "Our girls were second last year, and all things point to us being able to repeat that performance. I don't think Bishop Ahr [the GMC's top-rated team] is completely out of our reach, but certainly I would be surprised if we beat them at the GMCs. They have several strong swimmers who are tough to beat."

The Bears will get a good idea of how they match up with the Trojans later today when they take on the GMC's top team in a dual meet.

As for the East Brunswick boys, they too hope put forth a strong showing at the GMC meet.

"I think everybody knows that St. Joseph's is the top team in the state, and is pretty much untouchable, but I think we're right there with the rest of the teams," Sundberg said. "South Brunswick is the team I'm concerned about. They beat us in a dual meet pretty handily, but I expect us to go after them at the GMCs.

"This year, I hope that both teams will get second at the county meet. It would be unrealistic to expect them to be higher."

The girls have been led by the Zavoda sisters, Jenny and Katie, along with senior Tracy Lindboe, who has won just about every 500 freestyle race she's entered so far.

Against North Brunswick on Tuesday, Jenny Zavoda won the 200 free in 2:03.08, while also helping a pair of relay teams win - the 200 free relay (with Alex Nawrot, Tiffany Carson and sister Katie swimming the other legs), and the 400 free relay. Katie Zavoda added wins in the 100 freestyle (57.48) and the 100 breaststroke (1:13.29) to pace the Bears.

Meanwhile, the East Brunswick boys have been led by the efforts of Aaron Moskovich, who continued his strong season with a win in the 100 butterfly on Tuesday in 56.94, while also teaming with Kevin Sheridan, Mark Blank and Szymon Bykowski to win the 200 medley relay in 1:51.32, and Dan O'Sullivan, Ivan Urits and Leon Lukanov to win the 400 free relay in 3:42.74.

Troy Gladstone also picked up a win (in the 200 free in 2:04.12), for the Bears on Tuesday, while C.J. Suydam won the 500 free (5:38.16) and Sheridan captured the 100 back (1:06.04).

"Our success this year has been a total team effort for both teams," Sundberg said. "All of them are hard workers who are exceeding their ability levels as a result."

Beyond the GMC meet, Sundberg is hoping some of his more accomplished swimmers can make a splash at the state level.

"I would love to qualify several relay squads for the Meet of Champions," he said. "Right now it's about 50/50 that they can get to that level, but to get there would really give the kids the feeling that they've accomplished something."