CAMBRIDGE – Long live the queens of the North.
Behind a double win from junior Bea Turrettini, all three relay teams medaling, two other first-place finishes, and a host of other contributions, the well-rounded Concord-Carlisle girls swimming and diving team dominated the competition Saturday night at MIT to secure its third straight MIAA winter North Sectional championship.
It marked the second straight year the Patriots won the title by at least 75 points, as its 338.5 points lifted them over an otherwise strong showing from its Dual County League rivals.
Weston finished second for a second straight year with 259.5 points, Mystic Valley (241 points) took third, Lincoln-Sudbury (232 points) placed fourth and Wayland (173.5 points) came in fifth.
“This has been a special group of kids,” said Concord-Carlisle head coach Matt Goldberg. “They’re obviously great athletes, but they’re great people. They’re always there to support each other. It’s fun to win, but it’s been really fun to win with these guys.”
Turrettini led the way, as wins in the 200-yard freestyle (1:56.73) and the 500-yard freestyle (5:07.72) marked one of two individual double-winners in the meet. Lincoln-Sudbury senior Joslin Halsey was the other with wins in the 50-yard freestyle (24.21 seconds) and the 100-yard freestyle (52.17), and her top finish with the 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:41.53) made her the only triple-winner.
The win in the 500-yard freestyle also broke Turrettini’s own school record, and second-place finishes with the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:41.81) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:41.94) teams rounded out a star performance.
“I’m pretty happy that I got a double win because last year I got second and second,” Turrettini said. “It was nice that I was able to finish first, but still, that doesn’t (take away) the fact that we got top-three in (other events). … I wanted to do it for the team.”
Allison Lu, Hana Baldini and Reese Phillips swam in the 200-yard freestyle relay as well, while Baldini, Sarah Nadzo and Elisabeth Reiling swam in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Reiling took gold and set a school record in the 100-yard butterfly (58.29) and finished third in the 50-yard freestyle (24.94). Maisey O’Donnell’s 484.29 score won the gold in the one-meter dive. Reiling, Phillips, Sarah Fortier and Phoebe Renyi took third in the 200-yard medley relay (1:53.98), and Nadzo, Baldini, Phillips, Renyi, Fortier, Lu, Maddie Werner, Mena Sheth, Caroline Hollywood, Maya Jaffe and Isabella Ramirez each added valuable points in their respective individual events.
“It’s been phenomenal, these last few years we’ve had a lot of depth to this team,” Goldberg said. “Actually, one of our 500 swimmers today (Baldini) swam the 100-freestyle because we had a fifth kid qualify in the 500, and we wanted to give her a chance to swim today at sectionals. So, she swam outside of her top events to allow her to do that. … That’s what this team’s been about.”
“Just as a team, we’re all supporting each other,” Turrettini added. “It’s all for the team. … (Concord-Carlisle) has just such a great support system.”
Weston had a similarly deep effort to come in second, though IT didn’t have as many top finishes to keep up. Kate Krueger won the 200-yard individual medley (2:10.90), Sadie Nelson finished second in the 100-yard freestyle (54.92) and Zichen Zhang did the same in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.65) to lead the Wildcats.
Mystic Valley won two of the three relays, taking the 200-yard medley (1:53.01) and the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.28). Britney Nayiga and Lana Santos Albuquerque were on both teams, while Lucia Antonucci won in the freestyle relay and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.57).