The Guilford girls’ swimming and diving team took second place at the Class M State Championship meet on Nov. 14 at Southern Connecticut State University. The Grizzlies had a strong showing, posting 564.4 points as the runner-up to Pomperaug, which finished second with 707.5 total points.

Finishing one place away from a state title is quite the accomplishment for a program in its sixth year, though not a surprising outcome for Head Coach Jenn Amasino, who has envisioned the team competing for the Class M crown since the offseason.

“We went into the season with a goal of being the Division 2 SCC champ again,” Coach Amasino said. “We set a goal of top 3 in SCCs and had our sights set on trying to win a state championship. I wrote the goals on the board the first week, and said I know these are very high expectations, but we are talented enough.”

This year’s team was more than up for the challenge. Three strong senior captains, Rylan Jacobson, Charlotte Martocci, and Grace Young, along with fellow seniors Ella Esposito and Eliza Hastings, led Guilford to their most successful season yet.

Guilford went 14-0 during the regular season and has rapidly ascended to among the best in the SCC, winning the SCC Division 2 title for the third consecutive year. Guilford finished third at the SCC Championship meet just behind conference champion Cheshire and runner-up Amity Regional. The Grizzlies will bump up to Division 1 next season, where they will compete with Cheshire and Amity on a regular basis.

Early in the state meet, the Grizzlies set the tone by taking first place in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of junior Sorina Cheng, senior captain Rylan Jacobson, sophomore Kate Young and freshman Aislin Cohen combined for a winning time of 1:51.85, just edging out St. Joseph.

Coach Amasino saw this event as a key factor in setting the tone for the meet and establishing Guilford as a formidable contender for the state title.

“They know what they’ve accomplished as a team,” Amasino said. “We kept saying you know we wouldn’t be 14-0 if we didn’t come together as a team, so even if we don’t win states lets win as many relays as we can, let’s come together as a group and make Pomperaug sweat it out, and I think that was the goal and we were trying to set the tone there.”

Guilford finished top three in the two other relays during the meet. In the 200 freestyle relay, the team of Cheng, Young, Martocci and sophomore Isabel Torello finished third with a time of 1:42.74. Later, in the 400 yard freestyle relay, the unit of sophomore Kate Young, Torello, Cohen and Grace Young finished third with a time of 3:42.61.

In the 200 freestyle, Torello took fourth with a time of 2:00.39 and Cohen placed fifth with a time of 2:00.59. Sorina Cheng finished second in the 100 yard backstroke with a time of 1:01.05. She also finished fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:15.45) along with Grace Young in sixth (2:17.07.)

Cohen came in sixth in the 100 freestyle with a time of :55.67 and Torello finished fourth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:21.81. Kate Young finished third in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:01.24. In the 100 breaststroke, Grace Young finished eighth (1:10.83) and Jacobson finished ninth (1:09.66).

At the Class M Diving State Championship, sophomore Jordyn Gould took first place with a score of 399.95, setting a school record for an 11-dive performance. Esposito finished seventh with a score of 321.00 when the meet took place at Middletown High School on Oct. 10. Sophomore Ava Seseske finished 15th with a score of 259.25.

An integral part of the Guilford swim team from its inception, Coach Amasino has goals for the program that extend beyond the lane lines and into the Guilford swimming community as a whole.

“We’re also looking to continue growing the program,” Amasino said. “We’re trying to start a diving program through the Y and encourage younger kids in the community to go out for it so we can continue to grow our diving program which helps the success of the swim team. You can’t have a successful swim program without a successful diving program.”

Coached by Steve Sawyer, that diving program is already helping high school athletes find their path to college sports. Esposito just began diving this season. Esposito, who has an extensive background in gymnastics, will join the Fordham University diving team next season.

Coach Amasino praises her captains for an incredible year and for motivating the team, helping them to reach those goals she wrote on the board to start the season.

“Those 3 seniors as captains really helped to motivate the team to go undefeated and to come in second at the state and to do things that we didn’t know if they were possible,” said Amasino. “We kind of put them up there like here’s some goals let’s see if we can accomplish this and I think without their leadership I don’t think we would have accomplished half of what we accomplished.”

While such a strong senior class will be difficult to replace, Guilford hopes to rebuild while still competing over the next few seasons, making up for what they lose in top-of-the-roster speed with depth and enthusiasm throughout the program.

“I think we definitely are going to be rebuilding next year a little bit but hopefully I’d like to see the team have 10-15 more kids than this year. We might not have the powerhouse seniors that we’re losing but we definitely have some younger kids that have experience and just need to become leaders and when they get that experience we’re going to be aiming to try for a state championship again in another 2 years I mean who knows, maybe next year if they come together like they did this year anything’s possible.”

Guilford’s roster for the 2022 season includes junior Madeline Antony, sophomore Sasha Armster, sophomore Evelyn Bertolini, junior Isabella Blanco, junior Sorina Cheng, freshman Liana Clune, freshman Aislin Cohen, senior Ella Esposito, sophomore Jordyn Gould, junior Madison Harrington, senior Eliza Hastings, senior captain Rylan Jacobson, senior captain Charlotte Martocci, freshman Clara Matos de Cruz, sophomore Chloe McCoole, sophomore Taylor Nowak, sophomore Ava Seseske, sophomore Amy Shi, junior Sofia Tian, sophomore Isabel Torello, senior captain Grace Young, sophomore Kate Young. The coaching staff includes Head Coach Jenn Amasino, Assistant Coach Alex Hunter, and Diving Coach Steve Sawyer.