This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/18/2015 11:00 PMThe Indians swam at the Class M State Championship on Nov. 18 and saw their 200-yard medley relay post a third-place finish en route to qualifying for the State Open Championship. North Haven’s grouping of juniors Lauren Spencer, Molly Duffy, and Callyn Priebe, plus sophomore Laura Borrelli finished with a season-best time of 1:55.02 to earn the right to compete at the Open, which takes place at Yale at noon on Saturday, Nov. 21. As a team, North Haven scored 391 points to finish in fifth place among the 19-team field at Southern Connecticut State University.
“It was a nice way to set the tone for the evening. We have a great medley relay and all those girls will return next season when new talent comes on the team and so we’re going to build on this success,” Head Coach Martha Phelan said. “I knew they would do well, but I was really happy with their performance.”
Duffy went on to have the best individual showing among Indians’ swimmer by placing fourth in the 100 breaststroke behind a time of 1:09.44. Duffy’s mark gives her the chance to potentially compete at the Open as an alternate. Individuals and relays qualify for the Open by virtue of being in the top 24 between the four class meets and the next two in each event are alternates.
“She is consistently under a 1:10 now, which is great,” said Phelan of Duffy, who also took 19th in the 50 freestyle at 27.31. “Molly is very quietly determined. She wants to get better, she really wants to make it to the Open, and she’s been working on her turns. She’s a great kid who really wants to be better and so I’m really proud of Molly.”
The Indians also had a pair athletes record two top-10 individual finishes in Spencer and Borrelli. Spencer placed sixth in the 100 backstroke at 1:03.05 and was also 10th for the 200 individual medley with her mark of 2:18.94. Meanwhile, Borrelli suffered a twisted ankle when she slipped off the starting block at the outset of the 50 freestyle, but still persevered to take eighth place in 28.99 and came then back for another eighth-place performance in the 100 freestyle with a time of 57.82. At the Indians’ postseason banquet the night after states, Spencer was named the team’s Most Valuable Player for the third-straight year and a captain for next season with Borrelli winning the Athletes as Allies Award, which is a diversity award.
“Laura grinded her way through and it’s unfortunate when those things happen and it was a huge disappointment for Laura, who was really looking to do a personal best, so I just tried to encouraged her and told her it’s not the end of the world. Laura had an amazing season and she was a trooper who scored points for her team and got in there and did it anyway,” Phelan said. “Lauren is the top scorer for the team and so she’s very consistent and an important part of the team. It may not have been her best night, but she still medaled [by taking 6th in the backstroke] and was on the medley relay that medaled [with its 3rd-place showing].”
Borrelli and Spencer later joined forces with sophomore Jasmine Nguy and her sister Tracy Nguy, a senior, to take sixth place in the 400 freestyle relay (3:50.76). In the 200 freestyle relay, Priebe, Duffy, and the Nguy sisters swam a 1:47.38 and came in seventh place.
Individually, Priebe, who was also chosen as a captain for 2016, took seventh for the breaststroke (1:12.42) and 14th in the 200 IM at 2:21.87. Jasmine Nguy found 11th in the 500 freestyle with her lifetime-best time of 5:27.59 and she also finished 16th in the 100 butterfly (1:03.59). For Tracy Nguy, the senior’s final meet as an Indians’ swimmer saw her place 10th in the 100 backstroke with a lifetime-best of 1:05.59 and to go with a 17th-place showing for the 100 freestyle in 57.68, which was also an all-time best.
“Callyn has been steadily chipping away at her signature events and has been outstanding in the sprint free relay and the medley relay,” Coach Phelan said. “The Nguy sisters both had impressive postseason lifetime performances. Tracy is ending a stellar high school career on top with her last swims at Class M finals.”
Previously, at the Class M Diving Championship at Bulkeley High School on Nov. 12, senior Brooke Dietter scored a 340 to take fourth place and break her own school record she’d set for an 11-dive performance the week before at the SCC meet. Freshman Isabella Algona took sixth place with a total of 323.60. Dietter and Alogna amassed points that contributed to North Haven’s final tally at the Class M meet and Coach Phelan was pleased with her squad’s ultimate result.
“Besides the divers, there were just six swimmers competing and so to place fifth overall is amazing,” she said. “I am so pleased with the way they performed in the postseason and this is the most points we’ve had at states in a long time. They’re a great bunch of girls who are also very mature.”
Additionally at the postseason banquet, captain Rachel Buonasora took home the Sportmnaship Award and fellow senior Michaela Salvo was presented with the Most Improved Player Award.
“Rachel also had her lifetime-best at the SCC Qualifier in the 500 free [6:16.0] and was my go-to swimmer when I needed to matchup for a dual meet in different events. Rachel was the quintessential captain and well respected by her peers as they voted to award her the Sportsmanship Award,” Coach Phelan said. “Michaela Salvo was a consistent member of the sprint [200 freestyle] relay, which she competed on at SCC finals. Her freestyle times significantly dropped over the course of the season, earning her the Most Improved Award.”
From the Sidelines
North Haven went 6-5 for the regular season and then finished in fifth place by scoring 585.points at the SCC Championship.
Last year, the Indians competed in the Class L State Championship and took 13th place with 139 points.
Lauralton Hall won the Class M title for the second-straight season by scoring 741 points. The rest of the top 10 is as follows: 2. Brookfield (623), 3. East Lyme (473), 4. Branford (447), 5. North Haven (391), 6. Sacred Heart Academy (298), 7. Immaculate (289), 8. Masuk (250), 9. Windsor Locks-Ellington (208), and 10. Fitch-St. Bernard (207).
For the other class championships, Greenwich won in Class LL, Darien prevailed in Class L, and Weston was the victor in Class S.