Weston captures 7th straight Class S swimming title; Lauralton Hall takes 2nd

NEW HAVEN — Many winning traditions weigh down high school sports programs.

The Weston girls swimming team isn’t one of them.

“It is an amazing run of success. And the girls work super hard,” Weston senior quad-captain Mary Alice Kohn said. “But we always have a great time doing it. The experiences we have each year are unlike any other. We have passion. We have desire. But we are one happy swim family.”

Well, the Trojans added their seventh straight and ninth Class S girls swim championship title in 10 years to their vast collection Tuesday night at the 2019 Class S meet at the Southern Connecticut State University Hutchinson Natatorium.

Weston amassed 893.50 points over the 12 events to outdistance S runnerup Lauralton Hall (601).

Seymour (533) was third followed by Jonathan Law (392), East Catholic (356), Woodland (260) and Joel Barlow (231).

While Weston’s depth was the key — the Trojans finished 1, 2, 3, 7 in the 200-yard individual medley — it also had a number of gold medal performances.

Weston won the 200-yard medley relay in 1:49.74 behind Katherine Franco, Isabella Gary, Nicole Linell and Katherine Linell.

Other Class S individual champions for the Trojans included Gary (200 IM, 2:07.28; 100-yard breaststroke, 1:04.52) and Alexandra Bradley (100 Butterfly, 58.85).

“The girls swam exceptionally well. When there are personal best times all over, that’s all you can ask for,” said Weston coach Brandon Barone, who jumped into the pool to celebrate his third S championship in his tenure. “It was incredible swimming from everybody.

“The program always has great senior leadership. And that passes down from class to class,” Barone continued. “People graduate. People get hurt. And new girls step in. This is an incredible group of girls to be able to coach.”

Lauralton Hall has seen this movie play out before. So veteran coach Fran Pfeiffer and assistant Paul Katz had a number of silver linings to celebrate.

“We were superb,” Pfeiffer said. “Our time in the 400 yard free relay (2nd place, 3:37.66) broke a school record that had been standing for 20 years. It was a super team effort.”

Individual champions for Lauralton Hall included sophomore Claire Kehley (dead heat for 1st in 200 free; won 500 free in 5:10.66) and junior Vivian Freitas (100 backstroke, 58.30).

Seymour’s third place total of 533 was a school record as well.

“The girls swam out of their minds,” Seymour assistant coach Nick Blade said.

Leading the way were freshman Sophia Velleco (dead heat in 200 free) and freshman Katrine Oleary (won 50 free in 24.18; won 100 free in 52.95).

CLASS S SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIP

Team Scores

 1. Weston 893.5; 2. Lauralton Hall 601; 3. Seymour 533; 4.Jonathan Law 392; 5. East Catholic 356; 6. Woodland Reg. 260; 7. Joel Barlow 231; 8. Sheehan 216; 9. Berlin 213; 10. Waterford 185; 11. Oxford 139.5; 12. Torrington 135; 13. Watertown 131; 14. Plainville 119; 15. New Fairfield 114; 16. Hadd-Kill 108.5; 17. Rocky Hill 100; 18. Portland 77; 19. St. Paul 60; 20. Sacred Heart 58; 21. Ledyard 55.5; 22. Tolland 44; 23. Rockville 33; 24. Ansonia 31; 25. Cromwell 3.

Individual Scores

200 Yard Medley Relay: 1. Weston (Sarah Franco, isabella Gary, Nicole Linell, Katherine Linell), 1:49.74; 2. Seymour (Sophia Velleco, McKenna Haynes, Olivia Velleco, Anna Mrozik), 1:51.46; 3. Lauralton Hall (Vivian Freitas, Jenna DePasquale, Elizabeth Long, Catherine McLaughlin), 1:55.26; 4. East Catholic (Tahlia Crowley, Emma Wojnarowski, Paige Sciarra, Jenna Swist), 1:56.47; 5. Jonathan Law (Brooke Nabors, Hennessey Shane, Alexa Darak, Ali Gordon), 1:58.69; 6. Joel Barlow (Madison Hawks, Zoe Skidell, Danae O’Dean, Liberty Nocito), 2:01.41.

200 Yard Freestyle: 1. Claire Kehley, Lauralton Hall, 1:54.64; 1. Sophia Velleco, Seymour, 1:54.64; 3. Caroline Begg, Lauralton Hall, 1:57.91; 4.Jenna Swist, East Catholic, 1:59.06; 5. Alexandra Bradley, Weston, 1:59.36; 6. Annamarie Pope, Tolland, 2:00.40.

200 Yard IM: 1. Isabella Gary, Weston, 2:07.28; 2. Sarah Franco, Weston, 2:12.01; 3. Olivia Huewe, Weston, 2:14.56; 4. McKenna Haynes, Seymour, 2:16.15; 4. Olivia Velleco, Seymour, 2:16.15; 6. Katherine Webb, Sheehan, 2:18.87.

50 Yard Freestyle: 1. Katrine Oleary, Seymour, 24.18; 2. Tahlia Crowley, East Catholic, 24.93; 3. Katherine Franco, Weston, 25.03; 4. Ashlyn Blessey, Lauralton Hall, 25.11; 5. Emma Savoie, Jonathan Law, 25.22; 6. Lily Watson, Waterford, 25.23.

100 Yard Butterfly: 1. Alexandra Bradley, Weston, 58.85; 2. Julia McCarthy, Torrington, 59.19; 3. Olivia Velleco, Seymour, 59.69; 4. Nicole Linell, Weston, 59.92; 5. Kelly Leahy, Weston, 1:01.65; 6. Kyla Behrle, Woodland Reg., 1:01.91.

100 Yard Freestyle: 1. Katrine Oleary, Seymour, 52.95; 2. Katherine Franco, Weston, 54.31; 3. Ashlyn Blessey, Lauralton Hall, 54.56; 4. Vivian Freitas, Lauralton Hall, 54.79; 5. Lily Baldieri, Jonathan Law, 55.49; 6. Danae O’Dean, Joel Barlow, 56.01.

500 Yard Freestyle: 1. Claire Kehley, Lauralton Hall, 5:10.06; 2. Caroline Begg, Lauralton Hall, 5:15.49; 3. Emma Savoie, Jonathan Law, 5:17.71; 4. Jenna Swist, East Catholic, 5:21.48; 5. Kaitlyn McCluskey, Seymour, 5:27.11; 6. Jodie Pickle, Portland, 5:29.06.

200 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Lauralton Hall (Ashlyn Blessey, Elizabeth Long, Caroline Begg, Claire Kehley), 1:40.64; 2. Weston (Katherine Franco, Alexandra Bradley, Adele Kopis, Katherine Linell), 1:40.73; 3. Seymour (Katrine Oleary, McKenna Haynes, Grace Parkosewich, Anna Mrozik), 1:41.38; 4. Jonathan Law (Lily Baldieri, Hannah Rascoll, Athena Homorodean, Emma Savoie), 1:43.59; 5. Berlin (Kelly Chmielewski, Julia Arcila, Bailey Baclaski, Madeline Palmese), 1:46.39; 6. Sheehan (Amy Bui, Rachel Kerrigan, Katherine Webb, Leila Sofiane), 1:47.18.

100 Yard Backstroke: 1. Vivian Freitas, Lauralton Hall, 58.30; 2. Tahlia Crowley, East Catholic, 58.39; 3. Sophia Velleco, Seymour, 58.59; 4. Olivia Huewe, Weston, 1:00.44; 5. Sarah Franco, Weston, 1:00.46; 6. Kelti Johnson, Seymour, 1:00.82.

100 Yard Breaststroke: 1. isabella Gary, Weston, 1:04.52; 2. Nicole Linell, Weston, 1:05.65; 3. Katherine Linell, Weston, 1:08.04; 4. Julia McCarthy, Torrington, 1:08.39; 5. McKenna Haynes, Seymour, 1:10.57; 6. Katherine Webb, Sheehan, 1:11.87.

400 Yard Freestyle Relay: 1. Seymour (Katrine Oleary, Sophia Velleco, Kelti Johnson, Olivia Velleco), 3:37.15; 2. Lauralton Hall (Ashlyn Blessey, Caroline Begg, Claire Kehley, Vivian Freitas), 3:37.66; 3. Weston (Katherine Franco, Alexandra Bradley, Sarah Franco, isabella Gary), 3:39.32; 4. Jonathan Law (Lily Baldieri, Brooke Nabors, Athena Homorodean, Emma Savoie), 3:45.86; 5. East Catholic (Jenna Swist, Paige Sciarra, Emma Wojnarowski, Tahlia Crowley), 3:49.03; 6. Berlin (Kelly Chmielewski, Julia Arcila, Bailey Baclaski, Madeline Palmese), 3:53.17.