SPRINGFIELD ― The Falcons were crowned back-to-back sectional champions on Sunday, fueled by a dominant performance from Olivia Parent.
The Falcons’ freshman clinched two first-place finishes to help power Minnechaug girls swimming to its second straight MIAA Central/West Sectional title at Springfield College.
The Falcons scored 272 points as a team, 40 of which came from their first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:56.07). Emma Grzebieniowski, Nicole Grabowski, Chelsea Ortega and Caroline Euber earned the win after Amherst was disqualified.
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“That was a time that actually exceeded what I thought they could do,” Minnechaug swimming coach Erik Mandell said. “So we got off to a good start.
“Amherst had some misfortune in the first relay, which we don’t wish upon anybody, but that did open the door (for us).”
Parent picked up her first victory in the next event, winning the 200-yard freestyle (1:55.24), winning by over three and a half seconds.
Kay Dickson (sixth) and Caroline Euber (10th) also earned key points with their top-ten placements in the same event for the Falcons. Nicole Grabowski placed ninth in the 200-yard IM.
Chelsea Ortega placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly (1:01.44) and was later followed by Parent’s second first-place finish, winning the 500-yard freestyle (5:00.33) by over five seconds.
“Going into (today), I was very nervous, but at the end, I was very happy with my times… it was just an honor to do this for my team,” the Falcons’ freshman said. “… I try to not focus on putting much pressure on myself, thinking about other people in their races. I try to just swim my race and the results are what (they) are.
“It was just a great opportunity to have this experience with such a good group of girls and have thee support from my coaches and my team.”
Grzebieniowski earned a seventh-place finish in the same event. The Falcons’ 200-yard freestyle relay team placed fifth before Grzebieniowski placed seventh again, this time in the 100-yard backstroke.
Nicole Grabowski and Emma Balog’s fifth and sixth-place finishes in the 100-yard breaststroke put the Falcons on the precipice of victory, but they still needed a strong finish in the final event to fend off a late comeback from Amherst.
Ortega, Dickson, Grzebieniowski and Parent placed third in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:45.21) to secure the sectional title.
“It’s just exciting to see what we did because going into this meet, we were very nervous about everything, but the end result was just amazing to see,” Parent said. “Hearing our names in first place was probably one of the most exciting (moments) we’ve had all year.
“Going into states, we’re trying to keep the same positive attitude and like always have a positive and safe space for all of us.”
Amherst rallies and places second
A disqualification in the first event of the day set the Hurricanes back significantly on the board. Such a stumble could have wrecked their entire meet.
But the Hurricanes recovered, rallying throughout the day and placed second overall with 248 points.
The Hurricanes’ comeback is without an individual first-place finish, but is instead riddled with top-three finishes. Rowan Albertson, Finnley Chambers, Teagen Demers and Audrey Spiridopoulos each earned multiple top-three finishes to lead the way for Amherst.
Emory Albertson also picked up key points with top-five finishes in the 200-yard IM (fourth) and the 100-yard backstroke (fifth) and Caprial Dibartolomeo placed eighth in the 100-yard butterfly.
But most of all, it was their responses in the relays that brought the Hurricanes back, placing third in the 200-yard freestyle before winning the 400-yard freestyle (3:42.34), defeating Longmeadow by just five-hundredths of a second.
“It was a full-team effort… they looked to one another, leaned on one another and then we completely shifted our perspective,” Leckenby said. “We knew we were seeded very well and we shifted our perspective to become the underdogs… we’re just going to be scrappy.
“Completely motivating and complete momentum for this team, I feel like they proved a lot to themselves and one another about what they can do as individuals and as a team, they just gel together… for an individual sporrt, which swimming sometimes can be, today was the epitome of how swimming can be a team sport.”
Lilah Doherty earns two first-place finishes
Longmeadow placed third on Sunday with 236 points, falling just short of Amherst after battling with the Falcons and the Hurricanes for much of the day.
Lilah Doherty led the Lancers with two first-place finishes. She narrowly won the 50-yard freestyle (23.76), defeating Rowan Alberston by just .21 seconds. The 100-yard butterfly (56.69) she won by a comfortable, winning by nearly four seconds.
“I’ve been working for this whole season to do well at this meet, so it’s really just a testament to my hard work the whole season,” Doherty said. “I’m training the whole year round, in club and in high school, to do well at this meet. I look forward to this meet more than my club meets.
“This is so much fun, to be able to perform well for my team and for our region in Western Mass. and at states, it really means a lot to me to be able to (earn) first place.”