This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
11/09/2019 11:00 PMThe North Haven girls’ swimming and diving team put together its best performance in program history at the Southern Connecticut Conference Championship by taking third place in the meet last week. The Indians recorded six first-place finishes and scored 803 points on their way to placing third at SCCs. North Haven will continue its postseason by competing in the Class M State Championship this week.
Senior Angela Gambardella and junior Maddie Bergin each won two individual events and swam on a victorious relay for North Haven at SCCs. Bergin was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the meet, Gambardella was selected as the SCC Division I Athlete of the Year, and Indians’ Head Coach Martha Phelan was named the SCC Division I Coach of the Year.
Cheshire won the conference title for the eighth-straight season by scoring 1,225 points at the SCC Championship. Amity finished second with 956 points scored.
Three days after senior Ava Santacroce took first place at the SCC Diving Championship, the Indians’ swimmers hit the water to compete in SCCs at Southern Connecticut State University on Nov. 4. Bergin had a huge meet for the Indians by winning the 100 freestyle for the third year in a row and claiming victory in the 50 freestyle for the second-straight season. In the 50 freestyle, Bergin swam a time of 24.14 seconds to edge out Jordan Macdonald of Foran (24.74) for first place. Later in the meet, Bergin finished with a school-record time of 52.30 in the 100 freestyle to beat out Elise Richardson of Lyman Hall (53.62) for the top spot.
Gambardella also had an exceptional meet for North Haven by winning both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke for the third season in a row. Gambardella swam a time of 2:07.13 in the 200 IM to finish ahead of Caroline Krawec of Lyman Hall (2:11.15) by more than four seconds for top honors. In the 100 breaststroke, Gambardella delivered a time of 1:03.37 to take first place by more than five seconds over runner-up Emma Glover of Cheshire (1:08.49). Last year, Gambardella set the SCC record in the 100 breaststroke when she swam a time of 1:03.29 in her victory at the conference meet.
North Haven also notched a win in the 200 medley relay at SCCs. The Indians’ unit of sophomore Brooke Nebor, Gambardella, freshman Mikayla Rapuano, Bergin finished first with a time of 1:49.39, placing ahead of Cheshire (1:51.15) for first place.
The Indians earned runner-up honors in the 200 freestyle relay. North Haven’s quartet of Gambardella, junior Riley Jooss, sophomore Taya Laborde, and Bergin took second place by timing in at 1:40.64. In the 400 freestyle relay, North Haven’s team of Laborde, Nebor, Rapuano, and Jooss came in eighth place with a time of 3:50.44.
Gambardella, Bergin, and Santacroce made the All-SCC Team by virtue of their first-place finishes in their individual events. North Haven’s victorious 200 medley relay and second-place 200 freestyle relay also garnered All-SCC accolades.
Jooss posted a pair of top-15 finishes in individual events the SCC meet. Jooss finished 10th in the 200 freestyle at 2:02.19 and came in 15th place for the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:38.12, swimming season-best times in both events. Freshman Alice Scalmani placed 11th in the 100 breaststroke with a season-best time of 1:12.54 and also finished 21st for the 200 IM in 2:22.34. Rapuano claimed 12th place in the 100 backstroke (1:03.83) and finished 13th in the 100 butterfly (lifetime-best 1:01.15).
Nebor finished 13th in the 100 backstroke (1:04.02) and came in 22nd place for the 50 freestyle (season-best 26.64) at SCCs. Sophomore Giulia Faulkner took 15th place in the 200 freestyle (season-best 2:07.16) and finished 17th in the 500 freestyle (lifetime-best 5:38.95). Taya Laborde finished 18th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 58.04 and placed 21st in the 50 freestyle at 26.52. Junior Molly Coyle finished 20th in the 200 IM (season-best 2:22.24) and was 22nd in the 100 butterfly (1:05.21).
Senior Abby Kirtland finished 21st in the 100 backstroke (season-best 1:06.59) and came in 27th place in the 100 butterfly (lifetime-best 1:06.75) for North Haven. Senior Mackenzie Montesi finished 22nd in the 500 freestyle at 5:48.07 with fellow senior Gillian Regan taking 24th place behind a time of 5:50.25. Regan also finished 23rd in the 200 freestyle with a season-best mark of 2:11.51. Junior Alyssa Laborde finished 24th in the 100 freestyle (lifetime-best 59.42) and came in 32nd place for the 500 freestyle (27.41).
Previously, on Nov. 1, senior Ava Santacroce became the first athlete in program history to earn first place at the SCC Diving Championship. Santacroce posted a score of 401.70 points to finish ahead of Alyssa Cervero of Lyman Hall (342.75) for the SCC diving title. Fellow senior Christina Stoeffler came in 12th place by totaling a score of 264.05. Sophomore Chandler Ceste-Martinez took 13th place with a score of 262.05.
North Haven is competing at the Class M State Championship that began with the Diving Championship at Bulkeley High School on Nov. 13 (after press time). The Swimming Qualifying will take place at East Hartford High School at 5:55 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16, and the Class M Swimming Championship is at Southern Connecticut State University on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. After the Class M meet, the State Open gets underway with the Diving Championship at Middletown High School on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 5:30 p.m. and finishes with the Swimming Championship at Yale University on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2 p.m.