Bobcats swim to 3rd place finish at the 2013 SWC Championships - by Michael Palicz

A 17 year SWC record fell during the very first event of the SWC meet - the 200 Yard Medley Relay.   Weston and Brookfield both swam past the record time of 1:52.80, set back in 1996.  Brookfield’s Deadly Medley team of Anna Brown, Emily Mendelson, Samantha Palicz and Rachel Brown finished in 2nd place with a time of 1:51.57, clinching a new Brookfield High School record.   

Next up was the exciting 200 Freestyle as the Bobcats grabbed both 1st & 2nd place with Senior Samantha Palicz winning and clocking in at 1:57.26 and  sophomore teammate Rachel Brown in 2nd at 1:57.42.  Freshman Celia Weinstein also earned points for the team, finishing 14th.  In the 200 IM, Senior Stephanie Ferrarie finished 3rd with a life-time best time of 2:17.60, while Freshman Emily Mendelson touched in 8th and Junior Megan Contarino in 15th.   In the 50 free Anna Brown sprinted to a 13th place finish.   Competing in the Diving event, Sophomore Dana Sherr added to the team’s success by placing 16th.  Up next, the 100 Butterfly saw Mendelson finishing a strong 6th with a time of 1:04.21 while Palicz hit the wall in 8th .   Stephanie Ferrarie won the 500 Free with over a 6 second lead in the time of 5:15.56.   Weinstein touched 10th followed by Senior Kelly Lapin in 12th.  Swimming to a 6th place finish in the 200 Free Relay, was the team of Freshmen Gabby Tamer and Delaney Adams and Seniors Katie Dixon and Steph Ferrarie.   Senior Anna Brown placed 2nd in the 100 back, with sister Rachel Brown touching third, and Contarino 15th.  In the 100 Breast, Sophomore Ali Bowers swam to 15th with a time of 1:16.83.   In the final event of the evening - the 400 Free Relay- the team of Ferrarie, Adams, A. Brown & R. Brown captured 3rd.   

Also swimming strong for Brookfield at the SWC Conference Championship were Kayla Downs, Marilyn Duong, Anna Fernandez, Ana Kavanagh, LeAnna Murphy, Carly Palicz, Bibi Phadnis, Sam Russo, and Brie Wurst.

Earning All Conference 1st team honors were Samantha Palicz and Stephanie Ferrarie.    Named to the All Conference 2nd team were Anna Brown, Rachel Brown and Emily Mendelson. 

 Overall, the Lady Bobcats finished in 3rd place against a strong field of 13 schools in the always challenging SWC Conference.