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Tigers Never Wavered on Way to First State Title

Many championship teams experience a midseason gut-check moment that propels them to the title. However, the Hand girls’ swimming and diving squad didn’t need any sort of wake-up during the 2018 campaign. Instead, Hand displayed great focus and determination throughout the year on its way to claiming first state crown in program history.

Head Coach Jen Lyman’s club finished with a regular-season record of 7-4, before coming in fifth place at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship. While those were great accomplishments, the best was still yet to come for the Tigers, who took first place at the Class M State Championship in dramatic fashion at Wesleyan University on Nov. 13.

Heading into the last event of the night, Hand held a 5.5-point lead over North Haven for first place in the standings. As a result of a victorious performance from the Tigers’ 400 freestyle relay of juniors Ruby Redlich, Erin Reilly, Kayla Mendonca, and sophomore Ava Keane, the Tigers solidified their first state title by scoring 588.8 points to edge out runner-up North Haven (569 points) at the Class M meet.

Looking back to the beginning of the season, Coach Lyman said the Tigers displayed a united front right out of the starting blocks this fall.

“With a high school team, when you have people from different grades merging, there usually is a transition period in the beginning of the year, but that happened quick for us. That had to do with the upperclassmen reaching out to the younger girls,” said Lyman. “The girls reached goals and overcame challenges. The team was cohesive, and it took every one of their efforts to win.”

Co-captains Gabby Wira and Sam Tuveson led a sensational group of seniors for Hand. The other members of the Tigers’ senior class were Julia Bloomfield, Catherine Chimbolo, Mary Huminski, Grace Lavin, Margaret Major, Maeve Merkle-Scotland, Schylar Saliba, and Cassandra Williams.

“It was great to see how the captains and seniors carried on the tradition and team culture here of work ethic, pride, and togetherness,” Coach Lyman said. “All of the girls knew they had to train at a higher level, and the seniors were encouraging and supporting with the way they helped the others. The underclassmen knew the seniors, and captains believed in them. They knew how important reaching solo goals would help the team goals.”

Hand saw numerous athletes earn accolades throughout the postseason. Mendoca set a meet record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.36 seconds when she won the event in the SCC Championship, after which she placed first and set another meet record by swimming a 58.02 at the Class M State Championship, earning both All-SCC and All-State honors. Mendonca went on place third in the backstroke with a time of 57.25 at the State Open.

Also at the SCC meet, Redlich took third place in the 100 freestyle (54.77) to make the All-Conference Team. Huminski scored 378.8 points at the SCC Diving Championship to finish third and garner All-SCC distinction.

For the Class M Championship, Redlich took second place (53.84) in the 100 freestyle with Keane finishing third (55.70) as both athletes earned All-State accolades. Freshman Abbi Chemacki made All-State by placing third in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:14.05. Hand’s triumphant 400 freestyle relay of Redlich, Reilly, Keane, and Mendonca went All-State by swimming a time of 3:38.68, while cementing the state title for the Tigers.

For team awards, Mendonca was named Hand’s Most Valuable Player, Chemacki was honored as Rookie of the Year, and sophomore Flynn Miller earned the Coaches’ Award. Additionally, sophomore Sophia Cadematori was selected as the Tigers’ Most Improved Player, Reilly was named Most Dedicated, and Huminski was presented with the Pat Fitzgerald Award that is named after the founder of the program.

Looking ahead to next year, Coach Lyman said the Tigers need to develop some depth on the diving board, but added that her team will still feature plenty of depth elsewhere in the pool.

“We do graduate all our divers, so we’ll be looking to encourage people to try out for diving. It will be a growing season next year, but we will still be solid,” said Lyman. “We still have a lot of depth with a solid senior class next year and, with our sophomores and juniors, another year will only help them. We have our work cut out for us the next nine months.”

In reflecting upon her team’s banner campaign, Coach Lyman felt it was only fitting that the State Championship meet came down to the final relay. Lyman said the quartet’s first-place finish exemplified the teamwork that carried the Tigers throughout the season, resulting in the proudest moment in program history.

“The title represented everything the program has worked for for decades. They knew what was at stake, and it was exciting to go against North Haven, which we have high respect for,” said Lyman. “The journey was a long one, but now they know what it takes to win a state title, and will pass down that Tiger pride. It was our time, because the girls did the work. If you look at how we won it, it would be a different outcome if any one person wasn’t there.”

• This was Jen Lyman’s 11th season as the head coach of the Hand girls’ swimming and diving team.

• Christina Forristall, who is also the Tigers’ boys’ swimming and diving head coach, was the assistant coach for the girls’ team this year.

• Hand’s previous best finish at states came in 2004, when the Tigers were the runner-up to Branford at the Class M State Championship.