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11/14/2018 11:00 PMFor the second straight season, the North Haven girls’ swimming and diving team earned the runner-up trophy at the Class M State Championship by recording a second-place finish in the meet last week. The Indians were bolstered by a pair of individual victories from junior Angela Gambardella and sophomore Maddie Bergin, who both also swam on two triumphant relays to help North Haven win six events at the Class M meet. As a team, the Indians scored 569 points and only finished behind Hand, which took the title by totaling 588.5 points as Wesleyan University on Nov. 13.
Two weeks after winning the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke for the second year in a row at the SCC Championship, Gambardella took first place in both events for the second consecutive campaign in the Class M State Championship. In the 200 IM, Gambardella swam a time of 2:06.46 to beat out Brookfield’s Anna Weinstein (2:07.71) for first place. Then in the breaststroke, Gambardella claimed first place by timing in at 1:03.63, well ahead of runner-up Nicole Hahn from East Lyme (1:07.44).
Bergin captured the top spot in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle for second straight year at states. Bergin finished with a time of 24.27 seconds in the 50 free to edge out Masuk’s Elizabeth Stoelzel (24.56) for first place by less than half-a-second. Later in the meet, Bergin won the 100 freestyle by swimming a time of 52.74 seconds to defeat Ruby Redlich (53.84) of Hand for first. Bergin has previously won the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle in the SCC Championship.
Gambardella and Bergin also swam for a pair of first-place relays at the Class M Championship. The Indians’ 200 medley relay of freshman Brooke Nebor, Gambardella, sophomore Riley Jooss, and Bergin finished first with a time of 1:50.10 to defeat second-place Brookfield (1:52.19). In the 200 freestyle relay, North Haven’s quartet of Gambardella, freshman Noelle Carmody, Jooss, and Bergin recorded a mark of 1:40.45 to beat out the runner-up unit from East Lyme with its time of 1:41.51. Both of these relays earned All-State honors and qualified for the State Open Championship on behalf of Head Coach Martha Phelan’s squad. Gambardella and Bergin also made All-State and qualified for the State Open with their wins in their two individual events.
At the State Open, Gambardella took second place in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.44, only finishing behind Meghan Lynch of Greenwich, who swam a time of 1:02.75. Gambardella also placed third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:05.74 at the Open, which was held at Yale University on Nov. 17. Bergin posted a time of 52.75 to take fifth place in the 100 freestyle, in addition to finishing sixth in the 50 freestyle at 24.03.
North Haven's 200 medley relay of Nebor, Gambardella, Jooss, and Bergin came in sixth place with a time of 1:49.26. The Indians' 200 freestyle relay of Gambardella, Nebor, Jooss, and Bergin finished ninth with a 1:40.04. As a team, North Haven scored 199 points at the State Open and finished in 11th place out of the 53 teams that were represented in the meet.
Junior Ava Santacroce competed at the State Open Diving Championship that took place at Middletown High School on Nov. 16. Santacroce recorded a score of 411.45 points to finish in 12th place among the 24 divers that participated in the Open.
Additionally at the Class M State Championship, Nebor continued her fantastic freshman season by turning in a solid performance at states for North Haven. For individual events, Nebor took sixth place in the 100 backstroke (1:02.65) and came in seventh place in the 100 butterfly (1:02.72). She also teamed up with freshman Taya Laborde, Carmody, and junior Kiresten Winter for a sixth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay behind a time of 3:51.75.
Winter also finished sixth in the 200 individual medley (2:18.04) and placed 15th for the 100 breaststroke (1:15.11) at the state meet. Jooss took seventh place in the 200 individual medley (2:18.27) and came in 13th place in the 100 butterfly with a 1:04.41. Carmody finished in eighth place for the 50 freestyle at 26.13 to go with a 13th-place performance in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.51).
Junior Mackenzie Montesi swam a time of 5:36.49 to finish 12th in the 500 freestyle. She also recorded a time of 1:07.66 to take 22nd place in the 100 backstroke for the Indians. Also in the backstroke, junior Abby Kirtland finished in a time of 1:06.10 to come in 14th place.
Laborde finished 15th in the 100 freestyle (57.75) and placed 23rd in the 100 backstroke (1:07.75) in states. Fellow freshman Giulia Faulkner took 16th place in the 500 freestyle (5:42.33) and finished 20th for the 200 freestyle at 2:08.06. Freshman Scarlett Vogel came in 16th place in the 50 freestyle (27.07) and finished 18th in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.33). Sophomore Molly Coyle took 17th place in the 200 individual medley by clocking in with a time of 2:24.35.
Previously, North Haven had two athletes compete at the Class M Diving State Championship that took place at Bulkeley High School on Nov. 7. Junior Ava Santacroce finished in fourth place out of 28 divers by posting a score of 388.80 for her 11-dive set, qualifying for the State Open Diving Championship in the process. Senior Isabella Alogna came in ninth place by tallying a total of 318.80. With their performances, Santacroce and Alogna scored points that contributed to North Haven’s final total at the Class M State Championship.