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North Haven’s Swimmers See Success at the State Open

A few days after taking second place for the second straight year at the Class M State Championship, the North Haven girls’ swimming and diving team sent several athletes to the State Open Championship that was held last week. The Indians’ performance resulted in 199 points that put them into 11th place out of the 53 teams that were represented at the meet.

Junior Angela Gambardella capped off her excellent junior year by finishing second in the 100 breaststroke and third in the 200 individual medley at the State Open, which took place at Yale University on Nov. 17. In the breaststroke, Gambardella swam a time of 1:03.44 to earn runner-up honors, only finishing behind Meghan Lynch of Greenwich, who swam a time of 1:02.75. Gambardella improved upon her time of 1:03.63 from when she won the event at the Class M State Championship. Also at the Open, Gambardella finished third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:05.74, bettering her mark of 2:06.46 from when she won that event for the second year in a row at the Class M meet. Gambardella had previously finished first in both the 100 breaststroke and the 200 individual medley for the second consecutive season at the SCC Championship.

Sophomore Maddie Bergin finished fifth in the 100 freestyle by swimming a time of 52.75 seconds at the State Open. She had previously won the event with a time of 52.74 at the Class M Championship. Later at the Open, Bergin claimed sixth place in the 100 freestyle with a time of 24.03, improving on her mark of 24.27 from her victory in the Class M meet. Previously, Bergin took first place in both the 50 and 100 freestyles at the SCC Championship, defending her title in the 100 free.

Additionally at the Open, North Haven’s 200 medley relay of freshman Brooke Nebor, Gambardella, sophomore Riley Jooss, and Bergin came in sixth place by posting a time of 1:49.26. The quartet had previously finished first in Class M with a time of 1:50.10. In the 200 freestyle relay, the Indians’ grouping of Gambardella, Nebor, Jooss, and Bergin took ninth place with a time of 1:40.04, bettering their time of 1:40.45 from their first-place finish at the State Championship. Both of these relays also took first place at the SCC Championship.

Junior Ava Santacroce competed for the Indians at the State Open Diving Championship at Middletown High School on Nov. 16. Santacroce recorded a score of 411.45 points for her 11-dive performance to finish in 12th place out of the 24 divers who competed in the meet. Santacroce significantly improved her point total from the Class M Diving State Championship, where she finished in fourth place with a total of 388.80 points. She also took second place at the SCC Diving Championship, helping North Haven finish fifth as a squad.