The Brookfield girls swimming and diving team pushed reigning champion Pomperaug to the limit while being edged by Newtown in the SWC Championship held at Masuk on Monday night. Despite having no divers on their team, the Lady Bobcat swimmers came up one-point short of the runner-up position, maintaining striking distance of the top spot throughout the meet.
Led by junior Maddy Smart, who set two SWC records, Brookfield was actually within eight points of the Lady Panthers through 10 of 12 events despite the fact that Pomperaug had tallied 50 points in the diving competition held on Saturday.
Brookfield was able to overcome that obstacle but could not hold on when they entered only one swimmer in the five-heat 11th event, the 100 Breaststroke. Pomperaug was able to pull away from Brookfield en route to the championship while Newtown moved back in front of the Lady Bobcats by seven points heading into the final event, the 400 Freestyle Relay.
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Needing a first place finish to take second place, Brookfield was edged at the line by Pomperaug while Newtown secured the runner-up spot with a fifth place finish.
“This team’s great,” Brookfield head coach Brandt Nigro said of his young team that is in the middle of a two-year plan. “Next year we want to win SWCs, we knew this year wasn’t our year to win it but we could develop and put people in the right position.”
Find out what's happening in Brookfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Smart was named the Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Championship for the second straight year. Smart shattered the SWC Record in the 200 Freestyle by nearly a full three seconds when she posted a time of 1:51.98. She then broke her own record in the 100 Freestyle from a year ago with a time of 52.34. Smart now owns the SWC records in the 50 Free, 100 Free and 200 Free.
Smart was also part of the 400 Freestyle Relay team that finished second and the 200 Freestyle Relay team that finished first.
Brookfield had strong performances from up and down their roster, with 13 of their 19 swimmers earning points to help keep them in contention.
Sam Palicz, Stephanie Ferrarie, Anna Brown and Katie Dixon all joined Smart by earning points in four different events. Megan Contarino and Jackie Letizia scored points in three events while Andrea Jelaska, Kelly Lappin and Erica Dembowski collected points in two events. Shea Westlake, Anna Fernandez and Rebecca Almeida were the other swimmers who grabbed much need points.
Palicz finished second in the 50 Freestyle and third in the 100 Backstroke while being a part of the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay. Ferrarie finished second in the 500 Freestyle by going neck-and-neck in what may have been the most dramatic race of the night. She also took 6th in the 200 IM and was part of the 400 Freestyle Relay and the 200 Medley Relay that finished sixth. Brown took sixth in the 100 Free, fifth in the 100 Backstroke and was a part of the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay teams.
Other top finishes for the Lady Bobcats were Jelaska, with a third in the 200 Free and fifth in the 500 Free, and Contarino, with a sixth in the 100 Backstroke. Contarino, Letizia and Dixon rounded out the sixth place finishing 200 Medley Relay team.
“To be one point off from second, I’m shocked,” Nigro said of his team that was up to the challenge all season long and will now set their sights on the Class M State Championships. “I’m so happy, I was on the verge of tears talking to the team.”
Combined Team Scores
- Pomperaug 424
- Newtown 379
- Brookfield 378
- Lauralton Hall 334
- Weston 280
- New Fairfield 268
- Joel Barlow 202
- Bunnell 144
- Masuk 121
- New Milford 96
- Oxford 69
- Stratford 59
