Hand Girls’ Swimming Represents at State Open
The Hand girls’ swimming and diving team was represented by several athletes when the State Open Championship was held at Yale University on Nov. 24. The Tigers scored a total of 131 points to finish in 17th place among the 51 squads that were represented at the meet.
Kayla Mendonca competed in two individual events for Hand at the Open. Mendonca took sixth place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 57.60 and finished 13th in the 100 butterfly at 59.08. Mendonca had recently placed first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 56.83 at the Class M State Championship after winning the event for the fourth year in a row at the SCC Championship.
Also at the State Open, Hand’s 400 freestyle relay team of senior Ruby Redlich, senior Erin Reilly, junior Ava Keane, Mendonca recorded a time of 3:36.43 to come in sixth place. That same unit claimed first place at the Class M meet by posting a mark of 3:36.43.
Sophomore Abbi Chemacki finished 13th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:11.65 at the Open. Chemacki won the event at the Class M meet by clocking in with a 5:10.63.
The Tigers’ 200 medley relay of Mendonca, junior Ava Dougherty, Reilly, and Keane took 13th place with a time of 1:52.82 at the Open. Reilly finished 19th in the 100 backstroke by swimming a time of 1:00.25.
—Peter Vander Veer