SJ Sports: East Had Super Season

Sports are never a perfect science, nor a perfect math equation. After graduating 10 seniors last year, Cherry Hill East’s Coach Bill Sheppard knew that there were some big question marks regarding how to fill the empty spots on the Cougars’ swimming roster.

But sometimes it only takes a few strong athletes to spark the entire team. And despite East’s double-digit loss of experience, it only required three swimmers to guide the squad into a very successful season. Sheppard nicknamed them the “Big Three” — and rightfully so.

The intensity and momentum of senior Ryan Shore and juniors Devin Canfield and Graham Parker propelled the Cougar’s to a 12-2 season, winning the South Jersey Divisional A Sectional Championship. It is the athleticism and leadership of this trio that Sheppard credits as the driving force behind East’s climb toward the state title, which they lost to Westfield in the final state championship meet.

According to Sheppard, the team relied on the “Big Three” every meet for two sure-fire individual wins each. And the trio undoubtedly lived up to its name throughout the course of the regular season, dominating any event they raced.

“I looked to these three meet in and meet out to get the job done,” said Sheppard. “Last season was the first year we had that many swimmers graduate in one year. It was nice to have these three as the nucleus of the team this season.”

With such high expectations from both their coach and teammates, it would be understandable for any athlete to feel a certain degree of pressure. But the responsibility to succeed did not faze this trio.

“Now I realize that there was a lot of pressure on us, but it didn’t seem that way during the season,” said Parker. “We just had the attitude that we would try our best and see what would happen.”

Whether they felt it or not, the pressure cooker was on, however, at the final meet of the season, the coveted Meet of Champions. Coming from behind to win the gold for the 400-yard freestyle relay, Shore, Canfield and Parker along with sophomore Allen Chan combined to finish 3:17.48 to defeat top seed Bishop Eustace.

The win psyched the entire team, but the victory may have most profoundly affected Shore. On the last event of what would be his final scholastic swim meet, Shore knew that he would have to dig deep to win.

With the amount of strength he radiated during any given meet, only those that knew him well, understood how deep he had to dig to muster it. Unrecognizable by his consistently stellar performances, Shore battled a series of injuries and illnesses throughout the entire season, which included a possible career-ending shoulder injury, a pulled back muscle and concussion. In order to prepare for playoffs, Shore took three months off from his intense practice regimen, swimming only in school meets. Just when both his body began to heal and the team started progressing into postseason, Shore would have to overcome one more health issue. Shore was diagnosed with mononucleosis.

“When I found out I had mono, my doctor told me that I couldn’t swim,” said Shore. “But I went against his orders. It was my senior year and I didn’t want to let my team down.”

Fighting an energy depleting illness along with a three-month-long training break, Shore claims that it was pure adrenaline that allowed him to survive his final race before attending the University of Maryland on a swimming scholarship next fall.

For the “Big Three,” winning the relay was not the only thing that made this season special; it was sharing the victory with their longtime friends. Since they were eight-years-old, the trio has been swimming with or against each other on various club and summer teams. Their close bond made it easy for them to relish in each other’s accomplishments.

“I was so happy that Ryan swam last in the relay,” said Parker, who finished first in the 200-yard individual medley at the Meet of Champions with a personal best of 155.24. “I knew that it must have been the most tremendous feeling when he touched the wall to win since it was the last meet for high school.”

Even as a transfer from Eastern High School, Canfield had no problem fitting into the dynamics of the Cougars’ squad. “I knew Ryan and Graham since I was a kid and that made it extremely easy to adjust,” he said.

No matter how talented, no team can advance to the state level of competition with only three all-star athletes. Both Sheppard and the “Big Three” agree that the success of the Cougars’ season was an entire team effort.

“The kids really worked hard on what they needed to improve on from last season,” said Sheppard. “And it showed.”

East’s talent has much depth, but Sheppard noted both the exceptional abilities and hard work of swimmers such as senior Brian Radziwill, junior Raman Ravindran, sophomores Neil Manus, Allen Chan and Andrew Breen and freshmen Jason Huber and Michael Scott.

Next year the squad is hopeful of making it to the state championships again. “I think that we will have a better chance to win next season,” said Canfield. “Westfield is our biggest rival and they are losing ten seniors so it is going to be a close meet.”

But the Cougars know that they can’t rely on these raw numbers to predict the outcome of the season. After all, it was only took three swimmers this year to set the pace for the team and its successful season.

Content provided by South Jersey Sports Club.

For more Local Sports features, visit our Sports page.

Article continues below

---

advertisement

---

Author: SJ Sports Club-Grace Hagan