The Marblehead High girls swim team finished in a tie for third place with Wayland during the Division 1 North state sectionals at the Boston Sports Institute in Wellesley on Feb. 6. Both teams each accumulated 216 points.
The Marblehead boys, two days later at Boston University, picked up 35 points that resulted in a tie for 16th place with the Wilmington/North Reading co-op. Highlights of that meet coming up after detailing the girls’ results.
The Concord-Carlisle girls won the North with 279 points, followed by Weston (255), Marblehead (216), Wayland (216), Mystic Valley Charter (200), Westford Academy (150), Newton South (148), Lincoln-Sudbury (131), Cambridge Rindge & Latin (116) and Triton Regional (108). A total of 23 teams competed in these sectionals.
Coach Sue Guertin had much to say about the solid finish by the girls. “The girls did amazingly well, considering the limited number of qualifiers we had going into the competition,” she said. “I was particularly thrilled for our seniors on both teams — Ian Chemel, Brady Leveroni, Cale Nelson, Lucas Rosen and Monica Pechhold — who closed out their high school careers with solid performances.
Hazell Wright, Grace Ladouceur, Macy Ladouceur and Winnie Waddington (1:53.70) ended up third in the 200-yard medley relay. Wright (1:57.83, personal best) was second in the 200-yard freestyle. Grace Ladouceur (2:17.66) did the same in the 200-yard IM. Waddington (24.79, personal best) maintained the trend in the 50-yard freestyle, and had another second-place finish after completing the 100-yard butterfly with a personal best time of 59.64. Macy Ladouceur (1:03.97) was 10th in that event.
Grace Ladouceur (56.47) came in eighth in the 100-yard freestyle. Shaelyn Callahan (5:37.69) and Macy Ladouceur (5:40.66, personal best) secured 10th and 12th places in the 500-yard freestyle, respectively.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Waddington, Pechhold, Macy Ladouceur and Callahan (1:45.61) accounted for a sixth-place finish. Wright (59.60. personal best) was second in the 100-yard backstroke, and Callahan (1:12.39, personal best) was credited with an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke. In the 400-yard freestyle relay, the quartet of Abigail Moore, Wright, Callahan and Grace Ladouceur (3:49.49) took home third place.
Wrapping up the boys
Two days later at Boston University, St. John’s Prep (240) bested the boys field to secure the Division 1 North state title. The Marblehead boys were once again tied for 16th place with the Wilmington co-op. They both came home with 35 points. There were 30 teams participating in this meet, and after the Eagles first place finish, Wayland (212) was right behind them in second. Mystic Valley Charter (209), Acton-Boxborough (182.5), Westford Academy (164), Lincoln-Sudbury (159.5), Concord-Carlisle (148.5), Lexington (143), Haverhill (114), Weston (109.5), Belmont (106), Chelmsford (84), Newton South (82), Andover (44), Bedford (42.5), Marblehead (35), Wilmington/North Reading (35) and Salem (34) rounded out the top half of the boys standings.
In the 200-yard medley relay, Chemel, Nelson, Leveroni and Orion Lewis (1:44.98, personal best) teamed up to come in 12th overall. Leveroni (1:50.93, personal best) also finished 12th in the 200-yard freestyle, before turning in his best time ever (50.54) in the 100-yard freestyle.
Chemel (5:10.17, personal best) ended up 11th in the 500-yard freestyle. Leveroni, Nelson, Omar Elnabarawy and Lewis (3:29.25) were credited with a 13th place finish in the 400-meter freestyle relay.
Next up for these Magicians is the All-State Championship Meet at MIT. The girls will compete on Saturday, Feb. 14, while the boys take center stage the very next day.
