Guilford Swims to SCC Division II Title
The Guilford girls’ swimming and diving team made history when it competed at the Southern Connecticut Conference Division II Virtual Championship. Guilford’s athletes delivered many excellent performances at the meet to help the team finish in first place and claim the divisional crown.
This year, due to restrictions in place as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SCC Championship did not take place as it typically would with all the teams competing at one site. Instead, the 17 teams in the SCC competed at their respective home pools, after which the performances in every event were ranked in order score out the team standings for Division I and Division II, as well as the SCC overall.
Guilford finished first with 1,055 points scored for the Division II meet, placing ahead of runner-up Shelton (943) to take the title. Head Coach Jenn Amasino’s squad also finished eighth in the SCC outright with 483 points scored for those standings.
“Going into the season, we sat down as a team, and each individual girl made seasonal goals. We also had a team goal of, ‘Face and everything and rise.’ That was the focus of every race,” Coach Amasino said. “These girls embraced every challenge. Every day something was changing, and they didn’t let it hold them back. We swam every meet like it was our last.”
Guilford didn’t win any events at the SCC Division II Championship, but turned in several second-place showings on its way to finishing first as a squad, including runner-up performances from all three of its relays. Guilford’s 200 medley relay of freshman Sorina Cheng, sophomore Rylan Jacobson, sophomore Grace Young, and senior Haley Moriarty finished second in the divisional meet and eighth for the SCC overall with their time of 1:58.25.
Guilford’s 200 freestyle relay of Cheng, Young, sophomore Charlotte Martocci, and Moriarty recorded a time of 1:46.81 to place second in Division II and sixth in the SCC. To finish off the meet, the 400 freestyle relay featuring junior Brynn Leslie, Martocci, sophomore Alyssa Simione, and senior Julia Earle finished second in the division and seventh in the conference by swimming a time of 4:03.00.
Guilford also claimed second place in four individual events en route to its victory at the Division II meet. Young swam a time of 1:11.75 in the 100 breaststroke to finish second in the division. Young’s time was also good for sixth place in the SCC overall.
Cheng posted a time of 1:04.22 in the 100 backstroke to finish second in the division and eighth for the conference. Moriarty placed second in the division in the 100 freestyle and was also eighth in the conference with her time of 57.10. Leslie finished with a mark of 5:49.00 in the 500 freestyle to place second in Division II and 17th among all SCC swimmers for the event.
Cheng also swam a time of 2:19.22 in the 200 individual medley, earning a third-place finish in the division and a ninth-place showing for the conference. Young recorded a time of 1:05.76 in the 100 butterfly to take third place in the division and 15th in the SCC.
Martocci went a 1:00.19 in the 100 freestyle to finish fourth in the division and 20th in the conference. She also swam a time of 2:08.78 in the 200 freestyle to finish sixth in the division standings and 21st for the conference rankings.
Moriarty swam a time of 1:12.39 in the 100 breaststroke to take fourth in the division and 10th for the conference. Sophomore Rylan Jacobson timed in at 1:15.06 to finish in the divisional meet and 14th in the SCC meet.
Simione finished with a time of 6:01.56 in the 500 freestyle to place fourth in the division and 20th in the conference. Simione also finished seventh in the division and 23rd in the SCC for the 200 freestyle by posting a time of 2:09.83. Leslie swam a 2:13.87 to place ninth in the division and 29th in the conference in the event.
Earle finished at 1:02.50 for the 100 freestyle to take seventh place in Division II and 25th in the SCC. Sophomore Maddie Merkle-Ward swam a time of 1:02.56 to finish eighth in the division and 26th for the conference.
Junior Natalie Bryan clocked in with a time of 1:13.97 in the 100 butterfly to finish ninth at the divisional meet and 33rd in the SCC standings. Junior Christina LaChance finished ninth in the division for the 500 freestyle and was 31st the SCC with her time of 6:36.02.
The other athletes who competed for Guilford at the SCC’s postseason meet were juniors Olivia Biagotti and Hannah Dang, sophomore Mia Amasino, and freshmen Sofiie Shanbhag, Sofia Tian, and Gwendolyn Braithwaite. Guilford’s roster also includes senior Rosabianca Corbett. Coach Amasino is assisted by coach Veronica Ahlgrim.
Courier Sports Writer Dean Bibens contributed to this story.