Here are eight Shore teams to watch closely at the NJSIAA Swimming State Tournament

Which are the local teams that have the best chance of taking home a state title when the NJSIAA Swimming State Tournament starts this week? Below are three Shore favorites and one dark horse to watch from both the girls and boys competitions.

More: Team title decided by 5/100ths of a second at Shore Conference Swimming Championships

BOYS

1. Holmdel

The lone top-seeded team from the Shore is once again in a position to sweep through their North 2, Group C bracket to a section title. The Hornets were the top seed in the same bracket last year, but they will aim to avoid last year's fate of falling to Haddonfield in the state final.

Holmdel has once again been immaculate up to this point. The Hornets boast an 8-0 record and their smallest margin of victory was still a 68-point victory over a very strong Rumson-Fair Haven squad. Senior Hunter Kuenzel leads the way and has the versatility to secure first-place in a variety of different events, which will be key in the head-to-head matchups. Holmdel's depth will become key in the postseason to secure strong finishes across the board.

The standard is sky high for this team. After last year's runner-up finish, anything but a final victory might feel like a letdown for the most dominant public team at the Shore.

2. Christian Brothers

The non-public albatross of the Shore showed a brief sign of mortality in their final regular season meet against powerhouse Westfield as the Colts lost for the first time this season, 112-58. That meet was also a different caliber of matchup, considering all but one of the first-place finishers posted times that beat the state qualifying marks of last year.

CBA will not have to face Westfield in the Non-Public South section tournament, but the second-seeded Colts will have to topple top-seeded St. Augustine. The Hermits closed out their season with an impressive victory over Cherry Hill East, who is the top seed in the Public South A section. And generally speaking, the top times from that meet were at a faster pace than CBA's matchup with Westfield.

But the Colts have an incredible blend of top-end talent and depth that always seems to peak at the right time. Senior Nick Volkov and Juniors Max Maycher and Alexander Ruckel-Bikefi will lead the way as this team's first major hurdle is winning a section title. A rematch with St. Augustine in the section final would be a rematch of last year's state championship.

3. Manasquan

A state title would be an ambitious goal, so the standard of success is a little different as there's big gap between 'Squan and the top two contenders on the Shore. But the Warriors are the beneficiaries of very favorable seeding, and if they take advantage they could easily find themselves in a section final matchup where anything could happen.

As a three-seed in Central Group B, the Warriors merely need to avoid an upset in their opening matchup before facing two-seed West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The Pirates are a fairly beatable opponent, based on their times, despite their impressive 10-2 record. The Warriors have demonstrated throughout the season that although they lack a singular top-end performer, they can grind out victories in the points battle with their depth. This is already long shot territory, but 'Squan has two beatable seeds ahead of them if they can take advantage.

Dark Horse: winner of Rumson-Fair Haven and Point Pleasant Borough

The matchup between these two Shore rivals might be the best of any opening round matchup in the state, given that the brackets are shaped with multiple byes for top seeds. Both teams have high-end performers that can go toe-toe with elite teams, and if the depth comes through in the postseason then either team is capable of making a run. But first, they'll need to get past this opening round matchup.

The Bulldogs' only loss came in the aforementioned meet against Holmdel, which was their second of the season back in December. Rumson is a five-seed and thus technically the favorite against Point Boro. Junior Cole DiPietro is in an elite class individually, and has the versatility to carve out first-place finishes in multiple events against even the best competition.

The Panthers have several elite performers in juniors Milo Stefanowicz and Collin Najdzinowicz in addition to senior Sean Cleveland. The gambit is the same as for Rumson; this team will need their depth to come through to make an underdog run.

Both teams face the daunting prospect of having to upset Haddonfield in the section semifinals. But if they can, none of the teams that they could potentially face in the finals would be a substantial opponent to overcome.

GIRLS

1. Trinity Hall

In order to be the best in the state, the Shore's top teams will have to beat the best in state in the section finals. The two best teams in the league are both two-seeds behind a pair of reigning state champs. For Trinity Hall, that means facing Our Lady of Mercy. The Monarchs knew this was likely under the new postseason format of North and South. Although it's a tricky matchup, this could ultimately be more favorable.

Trinity Hall lost to eventual state champ Immaculate Heart in the semifinals of the Non-Public A state tournament last season, whereas Our Lady of Mercy took home the Non-Public B title. Based off last year's results, that actually favors the Monarchs in terms of resume.

This year, Trinity has once again been strong with a 9-1 record. The lone loss came in a tight 91-79 defeat against powerhouse Westfield. And even in that narrow defeat, the Monarchs had some uncharacteristically weak results in certain events. They have talent across the board, but have three truly elite performers in juniors Mia Smith and Maxine Camillone in addition to star senior Jillian Basile.

The Monarchs should be able to win the section and knock off Our Lady of Mercy in the process, but toppling Immaculate Heart in a state final would be a formidable challenge.

2. Manasquan

The Warriors face a difficult path to postseason success despite their undefeated regular season record. That's the unfortunate reality after a truly unfortunate bracket assignment as Manasquan is the two-seed while Princeton, the reigning state champion, received the one-seed.

Princeton is an absolute powerhouse and has not lost a head-to-head meet since February of 2022. This matchup was likely unavoidable given the region, but it would take a breakthrough performance for the Warriors to win the section. And just to get to a matchup with Princeton, they will probably need to beat a Red Bank Regional squad with several elite underclassmen who are due for a breakout performance.

The Warriors must rely on their tremendous seniors Dylann Eldridge and Kylie Spalt to get key performances if this team is going to hand Princeton their first loss in two years and come away as section champs.

3. Shore Regional

This short list is not necessarily about who is the best team, it's about who has the best shot at a state title. Shore has a very favorable draw in Central Group C. The Blue Devils are a two-seed with a better record (8-2) than top-seeded Gov. Livingston (7-3).

Both teams have played very difficult schedules, as Shore was in the same division as non-public contenders Trinity Hall and Red Bank Catholic (their only two losses) while Gov. Livingston faced multiple powerhouses in the UCC.

But now the bad news: the pace of times generally favors Gov. Livingston across the board. It would take an unprecedented performance for the Blue Devils to pull off the upset based on their times up until this point. Star senior Devyn Ford is capable of keeping pace, but others will need to step up. Dual meets also a points game, and Shore has been astute at grinding out wins with depth.

Dark Horse: Red Bank Catholic

It might seem a little absurd to label Red Bank Catholic a dark horse in any sport, and RBC almost shouldn't qualify as a dark horse given their impressive 8-1 record with the lone blemish being a solid performance in the loss to Trinity Hall in the season opener. And yet, they were surprisingly given a five-seed in the Non-Public South bracket. Not getting a bye week is a tough break, but it should serves as motivation for this talented group.

In the former Non-Public A postseason of last year, RBC got a postseason win over Camden Catholic before narrowly losing to Trinity Hall. If the Caseys can win their opening matchup against St. Thomas Aquinas, then they'll get a rematch against Camden Catholic that they should be able to win. After that would be a matchup with top-seeded Our Lady of Mercy.

The Caseys have depth and consistency on the roster, which is bolstered by the breakthrough seasons of underclassmen like freshman Hayden Gill and sophomore Natalie Dapra. If it all comes together, there's a possibility that we could see a Shore rematch in a section final between RBC and Trinity Hall.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Shore NJ swimming teams to watch at NJSIAA State Tournament