Sports

Bobcats Swimming & Diving Start Season Undefeated 3-0

Brookfield High School Girls Swimming and Diving team off to a strong start.

One week into the season and the Brookfield girls swim and dive team holds a 3-0 record, with victories against Stratford, New Milford and rival Newtown. It just might be the beginning of a special season for the Lady Bobcats.

The team opened their season last Wednesday night with a tri-meet against New Milford and Stratford. In their season opener, Brookfield swam their way to a 97-57 win against Stratford and defeated New Milford 109-71. Brookfield started the meet and their season in line with their goals, getting strong team contributions across the board with a 1, 2 team finish in the 200 Medley Relay; a 1, 2, 3 finish in the 200 Freestyle (Steph Ferrarie, Andrea Jelaska and Kelly Lappin); followed by a 1, 2 finish in the 200 I.M. (Rachel Brown and Sam Palicz).

Strong swims were seen across the board, highlighted by the upperclassmen: Seniors Maddy Smart 1st place in the 50 Freestyle and 2nd place in the 100 back; Senior Andrea Jelaska with a 2nd in the 200 Free and 500 Free; Junior Steph Ferarrie 1st in both the 200 and 500 Freestyle; Junior Anna Brown 1st in the 100 Freestyle and 100 Back; Junior Sam Palicz 2nd in the 200 IM and a 3rd in the 100 Fly; Junior Katie Dixon 2nd in the 100 Free; and Junior Kelly Lappin 3rd in both the 200 and 500 Free.

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Sophomore Megan Contarino came in 3rd in the 100 Free and 100 Back; Freshman Rachel Brown had a first place finish in the 200 I.M. and a 2nd in the 100 Fly; and Freshman Ali Bowers finished 2nd in the 100 Breast with Freshman Carly Palicz coming in 3rd.

Swimming on the first place Medley Relay team was Smart, R. Brown, Contarino and Sam Russo and on the 2nd place team was A. Brown, Bowers, S. Palicz and Dixon. The 200 Free Relay team of S. Palicz, R. Brown, Dixon and Ferrarie finished 1st as well, as did the 400 Free Relay team of A. Brown, Contarino, Marilyn Duong and Bowers. Placing 2nd was the 400 Free relay team of Ferrarie, Jelaska, LeAnna Murphy and Lappin.

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In the Diving competitions, Kat Brooks, Francis Grieco, Ana Kavenaugh and Dana Sherr all competed well and look to be off to a solid start in helping Brookfield rebuild its diving component this year.

Rival Nighthawks

On Tuesday, in a key SWC match up, Brookfield took on Newtown in what is always an exciting and close meet.  Brookfield won in a nail biter: 95-91.

The win was a total team effort and could position Brookfield for a strong season. 

The 200 Medley Relay team of A. Brown, S. Palicz, R. Brown and Smart kicked off the meet with a 1st place finish, with the team of Contarino, Bowers, Fernandez and Dixon capturing 3rd. Ferarrie and Jelaska swam to 1st and 4th place finishes respectively in the 200 Freestyle, then in the 200 IM R. Brown came in 1st, Letizia 4th and Contarino finished 5th, capturing key team points. In the 50 Freestyle, Smart came in 1st, with Dixon touching in at 3rd.

Kavenaugh and Sherr scored some much needed points on the diving board for the Lady Bobcats. At the end of Diving, the meet was tied 39-39 at the meet midpoint.

After the break, R. Brown when on to win the 100 Fly with teammate Fernandez placing 5th. In the 100 Freestyle, all three Brookfield swimmers scored points, with S. Palicz in 2nd, A. Brown in 4th and Dixon in 5th. In the 500 Freestyle all three Brookfield swimmers once again scored points, with Ferrarie charging the wall for 1st and Lappin and Jelaska finishing 4th and 5th, respectively. The 200 Free Relay team of Palicz, Dixon, R. Brown and Ferrarie placed 2nd, while the team of Russo, Duong, Letizia and Jelaska grabbed third.

When the Brookfield backstrokers, A. Brown, Palicz and Contarino took to the pool next, the score was Newtown 72 - Brookfield 68, so the pressure was on Brookfield to close the meet strong. With their 1, 2, 4 finish Brookfield took the lead 80-76.  Smart then went on to win the 100 Breast, with Bowers taking 5th.

Going into the final meet event, the 400 Free Relay, the score was Brookfield 87 - Newtown 85. The 400 Free Relay team of Smart, A. Brown, Ferrarie and Contarino clinched the victory with an exciting, come from behind win to end the meet: Brookfield 95 - Newtown 91.

The undefeated Lady Bobcats take on Weston Thursday at 4 p.m. in an away meet.


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