The state tournament, which concludes this weekend at The College of New Jersey in Ewing, had many of the familiar names in the brackets.

Vineland, Cherry Hill East and West lined up in Public A.

Haddonfield and Moorestown were back in Public B.

Over in the Non-Public group were Holy Spirit, Wildwood Catholic and Bishop Eustace.

Two of the teams making their first appearance this year were Moorestown Friends and Ocean City. The Foxes created a stir when they were seeded eighth in Non-Public B with 690 power points opposite top seed Academy of St. Elizabeth, which power-pointed 3394.

Meanwhile, the Red Raiders surprised some by reaching the sectional final, where they lost a nail-biter to Haddonfield. Mixing in the rookies with the veterans always makes it more interesting.

Experience

Moorestown Friends, 10 strong and not one senior in the bunch, took the hour and a half bus ride north to Morris County, where it lost 121-42.

To judge their participation by the final score would be missing the point.

As far as coach Kimberly Rotter is concerned, the experience they gained was invaluable. The team, now in its third year, is building for the future and this group, which consists of two juniors, a sophomore and seven freshmen will all be back.

"We knew going in what we were up against," the first year coach said. "But we just looked at it as a warmup for the Friends League Championship Meet, which was the next day. We thought that was the best way to get ready. The girls did well."

It must have worked. Emily Adair, a sophomore, won the 50 free and the 100 breaststroke, and Andrea Onorato, a freshman, captured the 100 backstroke in the tournament meet.

The next day, at the George School in Newtown, Pa., Moorestown Friends finished third at the Friends Schools Championships. Adair set a league record in the 200 IM and also won the 100 breaststroke. Onorato finished first in the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke, and junior captain Alex Stark won the 200 free. Rotter said her team established seven or eight new team records.

First time

In its first year as a split team, Ocean City was very impressive, advancing to the South Jersey Public B final where it lost to Haddonfield 87-83. The Red Raiders won nine of the 11 races, they just didn't have the depth to match the Bulldogs.

"We talked before the meet and basically put out there what we had to do," Ocean City coach Bob Cornell said. "On paper we looked pretty good. We just came up a little short.

"You know you can always go home afterward and think of five things you could have done differently. But I can't harbor on the what ifs. I look back at our season, the first year as a split team, and I can't feel bad. I'm very pleased with our performance this year."

There were 20 swimmers on the Ocean City roster this year, half were first-year swimmers.

In the meet against Haddonfield, Ocean City was once again led by Renee Tomlin and Samantha King. Tomlin won the 50 free and 100 butterfly. King dominated her specialties, the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke. Suzanne Moore was also a double-winner in the 500 free and 100 backstroke.

Ocean City finished the season with a 7-3 record, losing also to Mainland and Holy Spirit. Cornell thinks the season's success will be a good foundation for the future.

"We have no seniors but we do have a lot of juniors," Cornell said. "With the freshmen we have coming in who are decent, next year is going to be our year."

Haddonfield

It's hard to beat tradition. Ocean City gave it a valiant effort but, in the end, the Bulldogs won because they had the confidence gained from having been there before.

They have been to the Public B sectional championship meet the past four years, winning in 2002 and 2003.

Not all the Bulldogs may have had that experience, but they most certainly know someone that has, a sibling or friend, and they know what Haddonfield has accomplished in the past.

"Girls on the team know about the previous successes we've had over the years," Haddonfield coach Bob Querubin said. "Maybe they've had older brothers from Haddonfield or older sisters. Or maybe they had friends that swam for Haddonfield. They have just a little bit more confidence. It starts in the beginning of the season and when February comes around, they have just one goal in mind. Yeah, history has helped."

Vineland

Another school where tradition is a major part of the program is Vineland. Walk into the pool area and the first thing you notice is all those championship banners hanging on the wall above the pool. Look up behind the bleachers and you see the framed All-American certificates hanging on the wall.

It is the job of the seniors to remind the underclassmen what playoff time means to Vineland High School.

"It is the senior girls to get us psyched," sophomore Stevie Anderson said referring to Karly Daplyn, Nina Montero and Kaitlin Muchler. "They have the most experience. They've been here before and they tell us what we have to do. It is so exciting because this is what we worked so hard for all year."

The Fighting Clan took another step closer to their fifth straight Public A state title when they won the sectional crown, beating Mainland 108-62.

Junior Tiffany Malatesta was asked if winning ever got old. Her answer was that it didn't, then she offered this perspective.

"Every year it is like a new team," she said. "Every year we lose some seniors. And every year new people come in. We're really rebuilding every year. So everything is new. To us, this is a new team."

Deja Vu

With his team trailing 80-76 heading into the 400 free relay, Bishop Eustace coach Mike Parker knew what was coming: Mt. St. Dominic would split its relay. He was at their meet against OLMA when MSD trailed heading into the relay, split it and finished one-two to win the meet.

But this time there was no magic left in the hat and the Crusaders' relay of Julie DeMareo, Alyssa Combs, Kara Choplin and Meg McCotter held off MSD to give Bishop Eustace an 88-82 win and its first trip to the Non-Public B state championship meet, where it will face the Academy of St. Elizabeth.

"It's very good for the girls because this is our first trip to the state finals," Parker said. "We were never fortunate to go before, even during the Patty Murphy or Shannon Johnston era."

Bishop Eustace scored well in every event.

The Crusaders started the meet by going 1-2 in the medley relay. Their only individual win was by Taylor Morganti in the 100 breaststroke. In four races MSD won, the Crusaders finished 2-3-4 to outpoint them 9-7. All in all they finished fourth in seven races, which means they pushed their opponents down to fifth and sixth.

When you have that kind of overall effort you usually win. And that's why the Crusaders are in the state championship meet.