With the help of a strong presence from team members ranging from 9th to 12th graders, MFS’s girls swimming team defeated Villa Walsh 88-62 to advance to the second round of the NJSIAA playoffs. This is the first time the team has won a playoff meet in 10 years. Players reflect on this victory and what’s in store for the rest of the season.

Team manager Azaria Coleman-Stokes ’25 commented on the team’s journey: “it’s a lot of fun to see everyone swimming their hardest and doing everything they can do … watching them from the beginning of the season to now and [seeing] how hard they work.”

Logan Shields ’25 agreed, and added that “so far [first round playoffs have] been the most important meet of the year. It was super exciting … we were really just suited up to race and try our hardest.”

After winning an individual event at the first round of the playoffs, Julia Brown ’24 said that she is “excited [for the second round of playoffs and has] confidence in the team.”

Vivian Messina, ’23, who has been swimming for MFS since 9th grade, said that the team is “just really excited to be there, and we had a big rebuilding year and so we’re just happy to be there and the team’s all together … It’s definitely gonna be a harder fight, but we’re excited, we’re gonna have a good attitude, and whatever happens.”

Coleman-Stokes added that the first round of playoffs “was really good because that was the first [meet where] there were parents and spectators there so they had a lot of people cheering for them … everybody was excited, the [boys swim team] came who weren’t even swimming to support everybody.”

As the team manager, Coleman-Stokes is responsible for “taking times” and “keeping score”. As for the differences between her responsibilities during the regular season and playoffs, she said “I wouldn’t say it’s that much different [during playoffs] but I’m a little bit more involved … I sit at the scorers table more.”

Regarding precticions for the important upcoming meet, Shields said that “hopefully we’ll do well … I’m trying to be optimistic.”

On February 12th, the team participated in the Friend School League championship meet. The team had several podium appearances, including Logan Shields’ gold medal in the girls 100 backstroke and Julia Brown’s silver medal in the girls 100 butterfly.

Despite their successes during the first round of NJSIAA Non-Public B playoffs, and the multiple podium-worthy performances during the FSL Championships, the team fell short to St. Rose 86-84. Regardless, the 2021-2022 Girls swim team has set a high bar for future teams to come.