BOSTON – Seconds removed from a victory jump in the pool at the Boston University Fitness and Recreational Center, Concord-Carlisle swimming head coach Matt Goldberg could finally answer the dreaded question.
At the helm of the defending Division 1 state titlists, Goldberg has been asked all season if his squad would repeat. With the help of individual first-place medals by Sarah Fortier in the 100-yard breaststroke and Maisey O’Donnell in the 1-meter diving along with a trio of top-11 finishes in the 500-yard freestyle, the Patriots’ dominance at Saturday night’s state competition spoke for itself.
“It’s really exciting,” Goldberg said. “I think these guys felt the pressure coming into the season as the state champ. People have been asking us all year are we going to do it again, and that’s not a question I like to answer. It’s been exciting.”
The Patriots netted 270 points to best runner-up Lincoln-Sudbury by 50 points. Franklin wasn’t far behind to take third (181.5).
Fortier (1:08.87) and O’Donnell (457.60) anchored the win, but the widespread effort in the 500-yard freestyle propelled the Patriots past Lincoln-Sudbury, who held a six-point lead ahead of the event. Concord-Carlisle yielded a second-place bid by Bea Turrettini (5:09.56), a sixth-place finish by Sarah Nadzo (5:20.69) and an 11th-place finish by Hana Baldini (5:29.89) to claim 36 clutch points. They never relinquished that lead.
Turrettini, Nadzo and Baldini are year-round swimmers who hit the ground running in the winter.
“Our job is just keeping them going all season long and making sure that they can maintain their stamina,” said Goldberg.
Still, an impressive performance by the Bucknell-bound swimmer Joslin Halsey kept the Warriors within striking distance all night. She factored into four wins, including the 200-yard freestyle (1:51.54), the 100-yard butterfly (55.53), the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:40.60) and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:39.17). Her mark in the 100-yard butterfly earned her All-American consideration.
Halsey placed second in the 200-yard freestyle the last time she competed in the event on this stage as a sophomore. The memory was one of many actors fueling her dominance.
“I just really tried to stay in my own lane and do what I could, and it paid off,” Halsey said. “It was the best feeling ever; I ran up to my parents and I ran over to my team. I couldn’t even believe it.”
But a rounded showing by Concord-Carlisle was too much to overcome. A second-place time of 24.33 by Reiling in the 50-yard freestyle and a second-place finish by a 400-yard freestyle relay team of Turrettini, Baldini, Nadzo and Reiling (3:40.03) secured the win.
The Patriots — and Goldberg — did it in style. As the swimmers rocked pink cowboy hats, Goldberg proudly represented his pink colored hair from an earlier season fundraising challenge.
He even rocked his 2024 championship ring.
“I don’t wear it much, but I wore it today,” he said.