Captains leading High Point swimmers
SUSSEX BOROUGH — Being honored with a title of a team captain at the high school varsity level isn’t something that a young person should take for granted.
Rather, they should feel a great sense of pride, confidence as well as responsibility.
Being a captain is a privilege and an important task. Those student-athletes who understand captainship is something to be cherished are the ones who can have a positive effect on their teammates.
The captains for the High Point High School swimming program (boys and girls teams) have done their best to lead the Wildcats this winter.
Symoine Anglin, Emily Haudek, Vinnie Dellechiaie and Mills Macken, all of whom are seniors, have guided High Point as captains this season.
“I leave the decision [to select the captains] up to the team," High Point coach Kate Niemiera said. “They are allowed to vote on who they would like to represent them. Before voting occurs, I encourage the team to think of and vote for the people who would best represent us to total strangers. I emphasize that the votes should not be based solely on who is the fastest in the pool. These are student-athletes that care about their teammates, set goals for themselves and their team and show great character. They are personable and trustworthy.
“All of the captains have swam personal bests early on in the season. It is hard to give stats at this point since we have not had counties or Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex yet. Emily Haudek has won every single race she’s swam this season (through Jan. 11). Vinnie Dellechiaie only began swimming last year and qualified for Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex and counties."
Niemiera has been impressed with the variety of ways in which the four captains work diligently to themselves get better, but aide their teammates to improve as well.
“These captains are always setting goals and when they reach them, setting more," Niemiera said. “Throughout the season, they have grown into their roles as leaders. They always want to get better in the pool and want the rest of their team to follow suit.
“These student-athletes are very personable. The rest of the team is comfortable approaching them or even watching to see what they do during practice to emulate that. They are willing to work with any of their teammates. The captains help newer swimmers navigate through meets, encourage others before races and give advice to their teammates swimming new events."
On Jan. 23 the Wildcats will compete in the Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex championships at Raritan Valley Community College.
“The High Point swim team is a very tight knit group of kids," Niemiera said. “The girls have been very successful so far this season, remaining undefeated (through January 11) and the captains show great humility despite their success. Their humble attitude spreads to their rest of their teammates. The boy’s team has many talented swimmers, but is lacking in numbers overall. Although they can’t fill a whole meet lineup, the boy captains do a great job of keeping the team motivated and striving for success."