Shawnee’s perfect season faced its toughest challenge yet on Tuesday.
Down 63–61 after eight races against Haddonfield— the six-time defending Group C state champs— Shawnee knew the final three events would decide not just whether they’d leave Camden with their unbeaten record, but also how this team would respond to real pressure, facing a fellow state title contender with their backs against the wall for the first time all year.
And judging by the way Shawnee raced in the breaststroke, backstroke and 400 freestyle relay, the Renegades can do just fine when the odds are stacked against them.
Outscoring Haddonfield 27-19 in the final three events, Shawnee, ranked No. 7 in NJ.com’s Top 20, managed to retake the lead in the closing minutes of the meet and earn a 88-82 victory over No. 16 Haddonfield at the KROC Center in Camden.
“Haddonfield has always been a great team, we have so much respect for them and their girls, and we knew we’d have to bring our all today,” Shawnee head coach Meg Warren said. “We had a couple girls that were out today and we really knew everybody had to step up, and every event counted, and they really came through event after event. That backstroke and breaststroke combo was huge for us—it put us right where we needed to be going into the 400 freestyle relay.”
In the backstroke, Notre Dame commit Camryn Tilger earned a dominant win, clocking 1:01.77 for her second race win of the day. Just as important were the efforts of her teammates — sophomore Tori Rusinski (1:09.46) and freshman Lilie Dascier-Santamaria (1:12.18)—who finished third and fourth, securing a crucial 1-3-4 finish that pushed Shawnee back in front, 72-68.
“Our coach said going into the 100 back that we really needed to push it,” Tilger said. “I had full faith in our team, but I know that for them it was definitely a really stressful time. So I’m really proud of Rusinski and Dascier-Santamaria for pushing through, and this entire team for being so determined, because we did have a lot of illness and sickness this week, and it took a couple of our girls out of this meet, so things had to be switched around last minute. So those girls pushed through, and they really were a huge part of our team’s success today.”
In the breaststroke, Jacobson muscled a season-best 1:07.04 clip to win the breaststroke, which lowers her previous MOC qualifying time by more than a second.
Emelia Bonelli and Georgie Kokolis (career best 1:22.39) also delivered key third and fifth place finishes in that race that helped give Shawnee a commanding 82-74 lead heading into the 400 freestyle relay.
“We all knew going into the 100 breaststroke that we had to go 1-3-5 at least in order to have a chance in the 400 free relay,” Jacobson said. “We knew we just all had to floor it. We were almost done, but the meet kind of depended on that race. It was a big turning point, and we all just kind of went for it. I remember last year, the breaststroke was a big turning point in one of our meets, and we just knew we all had to go for it today.”
Needing only to avoid a 1-2 finish from Haddonfield in the final event to win the meet, Shawnee sealed the deal with a 2-3 finish in the 400 free relay to come out on top.
Depth was seen across the scoreboard for Shawnee, who relied upon second and third place finishes to keep pace with Haddonfield’s star power in the middle lanes. The Bulldogs finished with six total event wins, including five of the first eight events.
It certainly helped that star freshman Samantha Gatesman cruised to impressive wins in the 50 free (24.92) and 100 free (54.57), and that Shawnee’s 200 medley relay of Tilger, Jacobson, Bonelli and Gatesman snagged first overall in 1:51.05.
But Shawnee led for most of the meet because of second, third and even fifth place finishes, particularly in the first half of the meet.
“There are so many names I could say—I feel like I could name my whole team today,” Warren said, when asked about specific standout performers. “These girls really brought it today. They have so much spirit to swim for each other. One of our new quotes that we went with tonight was, ‘It’s hard to beat a team that never gives up.’ And that’s really the mantra that we’re going for—that we give it our all, and it’s well worth it in the end.”
With a 6-0 record, Shawnee has not only cemented themselves as the top team in South Jersey, but is also turning heads across the state with power points. Few teams have put up the kind of numbers they’ve had this season.
Even without Ellie Walsh and a few other key swimmers, Shawnee racked up 3,507 power points against Haddonfield and now sits comfortably atop South, Group B—with a commanding 807-point lead.
The Renegades’ success in the state tournament is a recent development—they won their first two sectional titles in 2023 and 2024, but a state championship still hasn’t happened. Around the program, though, there’s a sense that 2026 could be their best shot yet.
“I’m also so excited to see what we can do because I feel like the past couple of years, we’ve been strong, but this year there’s something different about our team,” Tilger said. “I feel like everyone is just so connected, and these girls are such great teammates on deck and off deck. At every meet, everyone’s cheering, everyone’s rooting for one another, and I just think that’s something not every team can say they have. I feel like this year we can really make it far.”
Haddonfield (4-2) swam its best meet of the season despite the loss, with the score in this meet being closer than what the coaching staff had projected.
Junior Audrey Derivaux continued her unbeaten season with dominant wins in the 200 IM (2:01.61) and 100 fly (54.75). Sophomore Lia Cottrell won the 200 free in a season-best 1:55.80 and the 500 free (5:07.06).
Haddonfield’s 200 freestyle relay of Ellie McFadden, Julia McHale, Cottrell, and Derivaux hit a Meet of Champions qualifying time, clocking 1:42.70. McFadden, Cottrell, Katie Brown and Derivaux also hit a MOC cut in the 400 FR, winning that race in 3:41.67.
