From left, Maggie Wallace, Amanda Nunan and Amber Glenn were part of a 1-2-3 finish in the 500-yard freestyle Sunday at the state swimming Meet of Champions.
Winning an individual event at the New Jersey Scholastic Meet of Champions is a rare achievement for any swimmer — Amanda Nunan last year became the first girl ever to win a title for Ocean City High School.
But on Sunday morning, the Red Raider girls achieved something unprecedented: Nunan, Amber Glenn and Maggie Wallace swept the the top three spots in the 500-yard freestyle.
Nunan, a sophomore, defended her title in 4:51.75. Glenn, a junior, was second in 4:57.08 with freshman Wallace close behind in 4:57.67.
The Meet of Champions includes the best individual swimmers from among hundreds of teams throughout the state. Girls have competed in a Meet of Champions since 1973 (see
history of team championships), and no single school has ever swept the top three places in an event.
Ocean City High School's individual state championship swimmers: Coach Kate Merz, Gabby Breazeale, Maggie Wallace, Amanda Nunan, Ryann Styer, Aly Chain, Amber Glenn and coach Brittany O'Donnell.
The three Red Raiders didn't go unnoticed. As the girls were stepping up to the starting blocks before their race, an official said to Glenn, “You must have a really good 2,000-meter relay.”
The comment was a nod to the team's dominance of the distance event (the longest relay in high-school competition is 400 meters).
“That was our goal,” Glenn said of the sweep. “We kind of knew it was going to happen.”
Wallace said it was “awesome” to celebrate with high fives and hugs with the next closest girls finishing two seconds behind.
“We all pushed our hardest,” Wallace said.
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Nunan's victory was her second of the day in an individual event. She also won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:48.60. Glenn was fourth in 1:53.26 and Wallace ninth in 1:53.75.
“I’m so excited,” Nunan said. “I love to compete with Maggie and Amber. They’re so much fun.”
Nunan already has
qualified for the 2016 Olympic Trials in two events, and she's currently working toward a USA Swimming sectional championship.
Nunan was not Ocean City's only state champion on Sunday.
She joined Gabby Breazeale, Aly Chain and Ryann Styer in winning the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:36.69.
The 400-yard freestyle relay team of Styer, Chain, Wallace and Nunan took a third place.
