There is a school of thought that says it's harder to repeat than win a championship the first time.

If you buy into it, then you have to marvel at Vineland, which is seeking its fifth consecutive Public A state championship.

The Fighting Clan is currently tied with Cherry Hill East (1997-2000) for most consecutive Public A state titles.

Obviously there is much that goes into a streak like this, not the least of which is talent. Vineland, 6-0 and No. 1 in the latest Courier-Post Top 10, has plenty of that.

In Tiffany Malatesta, Sabrina Warren and Stevie Anderson, Vineland returns three-quarters of its state champion 200 medley, 200 and 400 freestyle relays. The 200 free relay broke the state record.

Malatesta was also state champion in the 100 free and the Courier-Post Swimmer of the Year.

But talent alone won't win a state championship let alone five. It takes more than that.

"Sometimes I have to sit back and wonder what motivates them," Vineland coach John Casadia said. "We as coaches don't pretend to do that. That comes from the seniors on down. Our job as coaches is to get them ready to swim fast. The pride and motivation comes from the seniors."

To that end, Casadia has three seniors - Nina Montero, Karly Daplyn and Kaitlin Muchler - who have accepted the responsiblity with a great deal of pride and enthusiasm.

Montero's story is most interesting. A member of the team as a freshman, she did not swim the past two years to concentrate on her soccer career. But she returned this year.

"It's not that I didn't want to swim," said Montero, who will attend Rutgers next year and play soccer. "It's just that I couldn't give both coaches the level of commitment they demanded. So I had to make a choice.

"I came back because I like the team concept we have here. We're different from most other high school teams because we're together all the time. There is no outside interference. It's a lot of hard work, but the payoff is great.

"You know the three of us are not the fastest and not the best, but all the swimmers are needed here. Our job is to tell them it's going to be OK when things get tough."

They really don't have to say much. The example they set speaks volumes. The three seniors are the only members of the team to have perfect morning and afternoon practice attendance.

"For us seniors it's what we're supposed to do," Daplyn said. "It just comes natural. We're the role models.

"When we were freshmen, we had seniors that made us feel welcome. As underclassmen, you looked up to them. It's like a tradition. It's cool to have people look up to you. We just let them know we're in this together."

It turns out to be a learning experience as much for the seniors as it does for the underclassmen. It does wonders for their own self-confidence.

"I was nervous at first," Muchler said. "I didn't know I would be able to do this, but I've gained a lot of confidence. It's not easier filling their shoes (of those who preceded them) because we're different than them. But it is an awesome experience."

It is also a valuable ingredient in Vineland's quest for a fifth straight state title.

Sterling Rules

The annual Girlz Rule meet took place at Rowan University last Sunday and the Sterling girls cleaned up.

Only girls who compete for coed teams are eligible to swim this meet. It gives them a chance to swim against each other.

The Silver Knights' Regina Lyons won both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, Barb Caccia took the 50 free, Justine Spack captured the 100 free, Jill Sollenberger finished first in the 100 backstroke and the four combined to win the 200 free relay as well.

"I asked them what they wanted to swim and they all picked their own events," Sterling coach Sharon Galt said. "They all had a good day. But that's how they always swim. What that meet did was give some of the younger swimmers who always don't get a chance to swim an opportunity to compete."

Tri-County champs

We all know there isn't officially a Tri-County Girls Swimming Conference, so we'll just have to call Woodstown the unofficial champion.

The Wolverines are 7-0. They have beaten all the remaining Tri-County split squads: Clearview, Cumberland, Glassboro, Kingsway and Gloucester Catholic. They've also beaten Hamilton North and Shawnee.

The 96-89 win over Gloucester Catholic Tuesday came down to the last relay with Woodstown anchor swimmer Gretchen Geiger holding off the Rams' Megan McCourt to win the race and the meet.

"I wasn't sure what to expect," Woodstown coach John Phillips said. "Saturday was a big meet for us. Kingsway is a big rival and they were pumped up for that. I was hoping they would get just as pumped up for Gloucester Catholic.

"Our third-lane swimmers were phenomenal. We only had two sixth-place finishes the whole meet."

Crusaders roll

Bishop Eustace only won three individual races - Julie DeMareo (100 butterfly), Meg McCotter (100 free) and Cara Choplin (500 free) - and the 200 medley and 400 free relays, but used its depth to upset No. 8 Moorestown 103-89 Tuesday.

"The girls swam very well," Crusaders' coach Mike Parker said. "We got a lot of second, third and fourths when they did win. In the races we won we went either one-three or one-four. I think we went one-two in fly and one-three in the medley relay.

"We had suffered a bad defeat to Haddonfield by 30 points and Moorestown had beaten Haddonfield by 30. But we had a lot of close seconds against Haddonfield and I felt the score really didn't indicate how close the meet was. So I felt we could compete well against Moorestown."