Vote for SHS Swimming To Be Team of the Week

Staples Boys Swimming & Diving is a nominee for FCIAC Team of the Week. Lets get the word out and get zillions of people to vote! The winning team gets 30 T shirts and bragging rights.

The voting is now open with your team as finalists for the Overtime FCIAC Team of the Week. Click to go to the Hearst News blog to vote. The ballot is open until noon on Wednesday (1/19).

Thanks,
Jeffrey Schare

Staples Places 11th at State Open, Weston 21st

By Eliot Schickler

The Staples and Weston girls swimming and diving teams finished in the upper echelons of the State Open meet Saturday at Yale University.

Staples tallied 138 points and finished tied for 11th with Branford and Weston (66) was 21st in the 66-team field. Greenwich (480) won, beating out second-place New Canaan (431.5). Wilton (371), Darien (331.5) and Trumbull (306) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The Lady Wreckers fell short of 10th-place Norwalk (197) but edged 13th place Glastonbury (128), a team they lost to at Class LL.

“It was a great end of the season,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “The girls put it together at FCIAC, states and opens. Take a look at the opens, the five top teams are FCIAC trams. I’m very happy, each girl did their best.”

The Lady Trojans almost caught 20th-place Watertown (68) and 19th-place Fitch (70) but edged 22nd-place Westhill (65), who is considered to be one of the better teams in the state.

“We do whatever we can at Opens,” Weston coach Tom Grace said. “We don’t have much left after states and whatever we do at Opens is a bonus.”

One thing the Lady Trojans can take pride in is the fact they came along way at Opens. At the beginning of the 2000s, Weston had no one qualify for State Open.

Lady Wrecker sophomore Verity Abel took third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:04.73 and sixth in the 200-yard individual medley (2:09.14).

“I was fine with how I did at Opens,” Abel said. “I tried my hardest and that is all that matters. After so many big meets, it is hard to perform as well at the last as at the first. In both of the events I just tried to keep my head in the game and stay motivated. Knowing it was the last meet of the high school season made me push myself a little harder in all of my swims.”

Also competing in the 500-free was Lady Trojan junior Olivia Clark (5:12.31), who took 12th. Clark was also 12th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:09.51).

“Opens was a really cool experience because you swim against people you don’t see in the regular season or at states,” Clark said. “I didn’t swim my best times at Opens but it was still a good experience.”

Weston sophomore Katie Johnson did well sprinting by taking 12th in the 50-yard freestyle (25.0) and 18th in the 100-yard freestyle (54.53). Moreover, Johnson improved from her Class S times in both events (25.04 in the 50-free and 54.74 in the 100-free), which doesn’t usually happen.

“Each of us wanted to perform great and fast and it was a good way to finish the season,” Johnson said. “I was really surprised my times were better at Opens. I went all out in every single race and took it one race at a time.”

Staples senior captain Gabby Wimer was 23rd in the 100-free (55.08).

Also scoring in individual events were two Lady Trojan divers. Junior Hannah Schroeder (308.8) and senior captain Julia DiMarco (289.2) were 21st and 24th, respectively.

The rest of the points were scored by the relays. The Lady Wreckers dropped time in the 200-yard medley relay (1:57.08) by placing 17th, bettering its Class LL time (1:58) by almost a second with junior Alexis Teixeira, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, senior captain Caroline Valerio and junior Rebecca Raab. The Lady Trojans were 24th in the 200-medley relay behind the quartet of senior Katie Angelidis, Clark, senior captain Catie Ledwick and senior McCall Kelley.

Staples dropped time from Class LL (1:39.98) in the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:39.72) and took fourth with Wimer, juniors Rebecca Raab and Sarah Cooperman and Abel.

“We had a nice taper on Friday and we were relaxed and ready to go,” Cooperman said. “We wanted to place where we were seeded and we were excited about it.”

Wimer said, “Everyone in our relays swam well. We worked on relay starts in practice, which is important, especially in the 200-free because it’s short. We worked on our turns and limit our breathing because breathing slows you down.”

Starting at noon was something the girls had to get acclimated with.

“It was an awkward time to swim but we put on our fast suits and swam hard,” Cooperman said.

Sophomore Dacia Gross, junior Alex Edgar, Ledwick and Johnson led Weston to 23rd in the 200-free relay (1:44.58).

Wimer, freshman Jordan Santarella, Cooperman and Abel powered the 400-yard freestyle relay to 12th place (3:42.07).

“It was a lot of fun helping the team out and it was nice to be the only freshman there,” Santarella said.

Abel said, “Our relays were great and they were a nice way to end the meet.”

Overall, the Lady Wreckers are pleased with how they finished the season.

“We were really happy,” Wimer said. “Our relays did well and our medley relay got faster. I’m happy how we swam as a whole and how the girls stepped up and swam faster.”

Reprinted from the Westport News

Lady Wrecker Swimmers Finish in the Middle

By Eliot Schickler

Finishing in the middle of the pack is usually a sign of mediocrity, but not when it comes to FCIAC girls swimming.

The FCIAC has at least six of the top 10 teams in the state. Staples showed its among the 10-15 best programs in the state by placing seventh at the 13-team FCIAC championship Saturday with 165 points, beating eighth-place Westhill (138.5), a team it lost to in the regular season.

“We did really well,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “After trials, we knew we had a chance to beat them [Westhill] and the girls were excited to do it. The girls swam very well at trials to put them in good position for finals, and they swam well at finals.”

Lady Wreckers senior captain Gabby Wimer said, “I was really pleased with us taking seventh at FCIACS. It’s the strongest conference in the state so we had a lot of competition. It was great that we were able to beat Westhill because they beat us by such a slim margin on Senior Day, so everyone was excited to race them again. Everyone did a great job coming back and swimming faster at finals which was the key to beating them.”

New Canaan (396) won it for the second straight year. Greenwich (334), Wilton (321.5) and Trumbull (233) placed second, third and fourth, respectively. Darien and Norwalk (213) finished tied for fifth.

Sophomore Verity Abel led the Lady Wreckers by winning the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:01.36.

“I was really excited to win the 500,” Abel said. “I didn’t swim it at FCIACs last year and it was kind of unexpected for me. I tried to stay at the same pace and have steady splits.”

Abel was hoping to break the meet record of 5:00 and this spurred her on.

“It was a race against the clock,” Abel said. “I just missed it this year and I hope to get it next year.”

Staples scored more points than any other team in the 500-free. Junior Sarah Cooperman (5:28.03) and freshman Jordan Santarella (5:33.20) placed eighth and 15th in it, respectively.

“I was disappointed with my 500,” Cooperman said. “The training was off because of the changed schedule, but I hope this week, my training is on-schedule and I do well at States. Verity and Jordan did well in the 500 and put a lot of effort into it. It was exciting to watch.”

Abel (2:06.69) also took second in the 200-yard individual medley.

“I had a little less confidence in the IM [than I had in the 500], but placing second was exciting,” Abel said. “It was a thrilling race and I faced great swimmers. It was nerve racking but exciting.”

She began the race with the butterfly and followed with the backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle, respectively.

“I tried to go all out in every stroke and in the backstroke, I tried to push it up and go faster,” Abel said. “I figured if I can go out and get a lead, the backstroke was the best stroke for me to do it.”

Abel also anchored the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:42.5) to fifth place and the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:43.91) to sixth. Wimer and and senior captain Caroline Valerio along with Cooperman preceded her in the 200-free relay, and Wimer, Santarella and Cooperman went before her in the 400-free relay.

Moreover, the Lady Wreckers showed fortitude in both races. Staples fell short to Trumbull (3:43.3) but edged Darien (3:43.98) in the 400-free relay, and lost to Norwalk (1:41.75) but beat Darien (1:43.42) in the 200-free relay.

The Lady Wreckers took eighth in the 200-yard medley relay (1:58.7) behind junior Alexis Teixiera, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, Valerio and freshman Stacy Kaneko.

Wimer was Staples’ top sprinter, placing eighth in the 50-yard freestyle (25.71) and 10th in the 100-yard freestyle (55.78).

“It was really important for me to get off to a fast start in both races,” Wimer said. “And then in the 100 I had to make sure that I started kicking more in the second half of the race.”

Cooperman took 11th in the 200-yard freestyle (2:01.5).

“I came out of the 200 very happy because I dropped time in it,” Cooperman said. “My coaches Mr. Laux and assistant coach Laura Bedson to kick and streamline and pay attention to my technique, which I don’t normally do and it paid off.”

LeBlanc (1:13) and junior Anita Vohra (1:13.8) were 11th and 12th, respectively in the 100-yard breaststroke. Valerio (1:03.45) placed 14th in the 100-yard butterfly, and Kaneko (1:06.3) made it to 16th in the 100-yard backstroke.

“It puts us in a good position for states and we hope to finish sixth,” Laux said.

Wimer said, “We’re coming off a lot of fast swims, but we’ve also seen what else we need to work on before States. We’re ready for a strong week of training and we’re getting really excited for States and another opportunity to race Norwalk, Trumbull and Westhill.”

Reprinted from the Westport News

Trumbull Splashes Lady Wreckers

By Eliot Schickler

Despite falling short on the scoreboard at Trumbull Friday, the Staples girls swimming team has its heads held high.

Staples ended its dual meet season with a 117-69 loss and finished the dual meet season at 3-7. The Lady Wreckers fell short because Trumbull is deeper and they accrued their record because they swim in the most competitive conference in the state (five to eight FCIAC teams are expected to place in the top 10 at State Open).

“We swam well and we had some good races,” Staples coach Mike Laux said.

Lady Wreckers senior captain Caroline Valerio said, “It was a good effort. As Laux said, we have a difficult schedule and our team did the best we could. We did a good job overall.”

Sophomore Verity Abel won two events for Staples and her victories were the team’s only first-place finishes.

“That was exciting,” Abel said. “I was happy with what I achieved in both races.”

Abel’s first victory came in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:58.

“I just tried to pace myself and not go too fast [for the first 150 yards], but in the final 50, I tried to bring it hard and go as fast as I could,” Abel said.

Her other victory was in the 500-yard freestyle (5:15).

`I tried to keep my strokes long and have a regular breathing pattern, but at the same time, not take it too easy,” Abel said.

Junior Sarah Cooperman took third in the 500-free (5:40) and fourth in the 200-free (2:05.8).

The Lady Wreckers started the meet well by taking second and third in the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Alexis Teixeira, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, Valerio and junior Rebecca Raab took second (2:01) in the 200-medley relay, while freshman Stacy Kaneko, junior Anita Vohra, freshman Jordan Santarella and senior Gabby Wimer finished third.

Wimer placed second in the 50-yard freestyle (26.4) and 100-yard freestyle (57.5). Raab was fourth (27.6) in the 50-free and Kaneko took fourth in the 100-free (59.4).

The Lady Eagles swept the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly. LeBlanc (2:25) and Santarella (2:27) were four-five in the 200-IM. Valerio (1:05) and Santarella (1:07) were four-five in the 100-fly.

Senior captain Michelle Mastrianni took second in diving (159.7). Mastrianni is pleased with how the two rookie divers have done all year and freshman Olivia Crosby (147.2) and sophomore Anna Violette (144) were four-five against Trumbull.

“I was happy with myself and feel the divers came a long way and wowed everyone,” Mastrianni said.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Raab, Kaneko, Santarella and Abel took second (1:48). Wimer, Kaneko, Cooperman and Abel placed second in the 400-yard freestyle relay (3:50).

Kaneko (1:07), Teixeira (1:08.2) and Valerio (1:08.2) took second, fourth and fifth, respectively in the 100-yard backstroke. LeBlanc (1:16), Vohra (1:17) and junior Patricia Maragos (1:18) were three-four-five in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Next up for Staples is the FCIAC championship meet. Trials are tomorrow and finals are Saturday at Greenwich.

“It’s an exciting part of the year,” Laux said. “We will be ready for trials. We hope to finish in the top 10 because there are a lot of teams that are strong.”

Mastrianni said, “I just want to place well and do better than I did in previous years. I hope the other divers do well.”

Valerio said, “Championships is promising and I’m looking forward to trials.”

Reprinted from the Westport News

FCIACs Postponed

The varsity FCIAC swimming championships have been postponed. Varsity trials will be held on Thursday at Greenwich High School. There is still some confusion as to whether finals will be held on Saturday or Sunday. We will communicate the information as soon as we know.

FCIAC did not change the schedule for diving trials and finals or the JV championship.

Lady Wreckers Splash Danbury

By Eliot Schickler

It couldn’t have gotten any better for the Staples girls swimming team Wednesday at Danbury.

Staples won every event it its 101-57 victory and except for one event, the Lady Wreckers swept the top spots in raising their record to 3-6. Danbury dropped to 0-8.

“We’re very happy,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “We had a lot of kids make state cuts.”

The Lady Wreckers began the meet by going one-two in the 200-yard medley relay. Junior Alexis Teixeira, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, senior captain Caroline Valerio and junior Rebecca Raab (2:01.78) won and freshman Stacy Kaneko, sophomore Danleigh Wang and Jocelyn Krim and freshman Layne Crowder (2:12.23) took second.

Teixeira also won the 200-yard individual medley (2:27.44) and 100-yard backstroke (1:07.71).

“It feels great,” Teixeira said. “It’s been a long season and we’ve had long practices, but it’s paying off. In the IM, coach Laux and I are working on it and it’s working out.”

Following Teixiera in the 200-IM were juniors Patricia Maragos (2:37.27) and Anita Vohra (2:38.29), while Kaneko (1:09.24) and freshman Haleigh Donovan (1:18.12) were two-three in the 100-back.

Lady Wrecker senior captain Gabby Wimer won the 200-yard freestyle (2:07.98) and 100-yard freestyle (48.93).

“Everybody did a good job cheering and it spurred me on,” Wimer said. “I knew Jordan in the next lane tried to make states and I figured by swimming fast, it would make her swim fast.”

Wimer was referring to freshman Jordan Santarella, who took second in the 200-free (2:08.55) and qualified for states. Sophomore Sara Banbury (2:27.44) was third in the 200-free, while Krim (1:06.88) and Wang (1:08.36) were two-three in the 100-free.

The only event that wasn’t a sweep was the 50-yard freestyle. Raab (27.41) won, Krim (29.62) took third and edged out Crowder (29.71), who placed fourth.

Senior captain Michelle Mastrianni (155.62) led a sweep in diving. Freshman Olivia Crosby (142.2) and sophomore Anna Violette (139.8) followed.

Valerio (1:05.84) led a sweep in the 100-yard butterfly with freshman Claudia Landowne (1:14.19) taking second and junior Phoebe Corde (1:15.45) placing third. LeBlanc won the 100-yard breaststroke (1:17.68) and was followed by Vohra (1:18.56) and Maragos (1:21.40). Junior Sarah Cooperman (5:35.61) ruled the 500-yard freestyle while sophomore Lucy Slater (6:44) and junior Isabel Gasway (7:14.18) were two-three.

“We went in pretty excited because we wanted to come out with a win,” Cooperman said. “Being around positive energy made me ready to go.”

Cooperman anchored the 200-yard freestyle relay (1:50.15) and 400-yard freestyle (4:28.22) teams to victory. Raab, Santarella and Wimer preceded Cooperman in the 200-free relay, while Santarella, freshman Malin Hovstadius and Crowder went before her in the 400-free relay.

Reprinted from the Westport News

Staples Swimmers Lose Nail Biter on Senior Day

By Eliot Schickler

Despite turning in great performances, the Staples girls swimming team lost 95-91 at home to Westhill on Senior Day Friday.

“They beat us fair and square,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “We swam well and a lot of kids had their best races of the season and made state-qualifying times, but Westhill won all of the close races. You can’t ask our girls to swim better than their bests.”

Westhill ended its regular season at 8-2. The Lady Wreckers dropped to 2-5.

“We have the toughest schedule in the state,” Laux said. “We face Greenwich, Darien, Wilton, New Canaan, Norwalk, Trumbull and Westhill and all seven teams will finish in the top 10 at State Open.”

If Staples and the Lady Vikings flip flopped, just two of the close matchups, the outcome would have been different.

The meet began with Westhill winning the 200-meter medley relay with a time if 2:12.5, edging the first Lady Wrecker foursome of freshman Stacy Kaneko, sophomore Gabbie LeBlanc, freshman Jordan Santarella and junior Rebecca Raab (2:12.61). Staples took third (2:13.80) behind juniors Alexis Teixiera and Anita Vohra, senior captain Caroline Valerio and freshman Jessi Taets.

“I can’t fault the kids for not taking first because they all had great times and were right there,” Laux said. “At that point, I thought `Oh my God, we’re swimming phenomenally.’ It was really a great meet.”

Sophomore Verity Abel (2:16.26) then won the 200-meter freestyle. Junior Sarah Cooperman (2:21.12) and senior Emily Greene (2:34.09) took second and fifth, respectively.

Westhill was one-two in the 200-meter individual medley. LeBlanc (2:41.54), Santarella (2:45.36) and junior Patricia Maragos (2:51.83) were three-four-five in the 200-IM and the meet was tied, 23-23.

Senior captain Gabby Wimer (29.41) led Staples in the 50-meter freestyle and took second. Raab (30.47) and Taets (30.89) were three-five in the 50-free and the meet was tied, 31-31.

The Lady Vikings inched ahead in diving by grabbing the first two spots. Lady Wrecker senior captain Michelle Mastrianni (175.6) took third and was just short of second place. Sophomore Anna Violette (153.45) and freshman Olivia Crosby (151.25) took fourth and fifth in diving.

“Senior Day was a little disappointing because it was so close,” Mastrianni said. “I lost by a couple of points and Gabby lost by a fraction of a second. There were a lot of close but no cigar races.”

Mastrianni was referring to the 100-meter freestyle, where Westhill took the top two spots and Wimer (1:03.75) was third, only .03 short of second place. Kaneko (1:05.22) was fourth in the 100-free.

Abel won the 100-meter butterfly (1:09.54). Santarella (1:14.56) and Valerio (1:14.72) were four-five in the 100-fly. Cooperman won the 400-meter freestyle (4:55.17) and Greene (5:19.72) was fourth.

In the 200-meter freestyle relay, the Lady Vikings (1:56.51) eked out a win even though Wimer, Raab, Taets and Abel (1:57.03) almost set a new school record. Sophomore Jocelyn Krim, freshman Laine Crowder, junior Molly Rubidge and Cooperman 2:08.07).

Kaneko (1:12.92) was touched out in the 100-meter backstroke and took second. Westhill (1:12.19) won the 100-back by less than a second. Valerio (1:14.81) and

Teixiera (1:14.90) were three-four in the 100-back.

LeBlanc (1:22.03) and Vohra (1:25.15) were two-three in the 100-meter breaststroke. In order for the Lady Wreckers to tie it, they needed to go one-two in the 400-meter freestyle relay, which is a tough feat against a good team like Westhill.

Wimer, Cooperman, Santarella and Abel (4:16.85) won it but Staples fell short of tying it because Raab, Valerio, LeBlanc and Kaneko (4:32.12) settled for third.

“It was really difficult losing by such a small margin, but the good thing about losing is it tells you what you need to work on,” Wimer said. “Everyone who was at the meet saw how evenly matched we were with Westhill and seeing which races could’ve made a difference tells us what we need to work on going into championships.”

Valerio said, “The loss was upsetting, but we all swam the best we could and that’s all we can ask of our team. I think with a few flip flopping of swimmers we could have gotten closer to a win, but I think overall on Friday, Westhill was the stronger team.”

Staples dropped to 2-6 Monday with a 101-80 home loss to Wilton. Abel won the 400-free (4:38.49).

Reprinted from the Westport News

Darien Splashes Lady Wrecker Swimmers

By Eliot Schickler

Going into its home meet with Darien Friday, the Staples girls swimming team knew getting a win would be extremely difficult.

Darien is one of the five best teams in the state and knowing that, Staples coach Mike Laux continued to focus on his midseason training and preparing his girls for the postseason meets. As expected, the Lady Wreckers dropped to 2-3 in its 101-77 loss to the Darien Lady Blue Wave (4-1), but nevertheless, Staples was pleased with its performance because it took many positives from the meet.

“We swam all right for midseason training,” Laux said.

All of the Lady Wreckers swam hard against a superior team. One major positive sign for them was the return of sophomore Verity Abel, who missed four meets because she had mono.

“It felt very nice to be with my team and it was nice to swim with them,” Abel said.

Although Abel delivered two victories, it wasn’t easy for her because she’s still regaining her strength.

“I felt a lot more tired than I normally did,” said Abel, who remained undeterred by her adversity. “Since it was my first meet back, I tried to do as much for the team as possible. I was excited and I had a lot of energy in my races.”

Abel’s first victory came in the 400-meter freestyle with a time of 4:40.86.

“In the 400, I just tried to pace myself as well as I could and stay even or pull ahead of the girl next to me,” Abel said. “I guess I wanted it.”

Only one event took place in between the 400-free and 100-meter backstroke, which gave her very little time to rest in between events. Nevertheless, Abel was undeterred and won the 100-back (1:08.62).

“I was actually not expecting a good result in the 100-back because I was tired from the 400-free,” Abel said. “I just tried as hard as I could and pushed myself.”

Freshman Stacy Kaneko (1:14.75) and junior Alexis Teixeira (1:17.33) placed third and fifth, respectively, in the 100-back.

Unfortunately for Staples, those were the only events it won.

Senior captain Gabby Wimer took second in the 50-meter freestyle (29.79) and 100-meter freestyle (1:05.04). Kaneko was fourth in the 100-free (1:06.05).

The Lady Wreckers opened the meet by finishing second in the 200-meter medley relay (2:12.81) with Kaneko, freshman Jessi Taets, Abel and Wimer. Their 400-meter freestyle relay team (4:21.16) of Wimer, freshman Jordan Santarella, Kaneko and Abel also took second.

Darien took the top two spots in the 200-meter freestyle relay. Taets, Santarella, junior Rebecca Raab and senior captain Caroline Valerio led Staples’ 200-free relay team (2:03.01) to third place.

In the 100-meter breaststroke, sophomore Gabby LeBlanc (1:25.67), junior Anita Vohra (1:25.89) and Taets (1:27.16) finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Santarella (1:15.77) and Valerio (1:16.03) were three-four in the 100-meter butterfly. Senior captain Michelle Mastrianni took third (170).

The Lady Blue Wave swept the 200-meter freestyle and 200-meter individual medley. Senior Emily Greene was Staples’ top swimming in the 200-free (2:35.65) and junior Patricia Maragos led the Lady Wreckers in the 200-IM (2:53.27) with both garnering fourth-place finishes in their respective events.

Reprinted from the Westport News

Lady Wreckers Lose to NC in the Pool

By Eliot Schickler

Going in, the Staples girls swimming team knew winning at New Canaan last Wednesday was a stretch.

New Canaan has more depth, and in matching up both teams on paper, the Lady Rams are faster than Staples. Although the Lady Wreckers lost 94-82 to drop to 2-2, they were satisfied with their performance against a deeper Lady Ram (3-1) squad.

“We had some good races,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “I was happy with some of them. We were in [the middle of our] midseason training, and we’ve been working hard, and no one rested for the meet. You don’t go fast when you’re in midseason training because you’re working hard.”

Laux had his team in midseason training because going in, he knew it would be tough getting the win and was thinking about the big picture.

“We knew going in they were loaded and didn’t taper for the meet,” Lady Wreckers senior captain Gabby Wimer said. “We practiced all the way through so by the time championships come along, we’ll be in that much better shape.”

Proof of New Canaan’s dominance is that it won every race. The closest Staples came of striking gold was in the 100-yard freestyle, where Wimer took second with a time of 58.88 seconds, placing second by .01 second.

When the race ended, there was a doubt on who won it.

“I thought I out-touched her, and everyone on my team thought I out-touched her, but when I looked at the board, I saw she won,” Wimer said.

Overall, Wimer was pleased with her performance despite settling for the silver by the smallest of margins.

“I tried to stay with her the whole race, and I made sure I kicked a lot and kept my arm speed up,” Wimer said.

Staples started out the meet by taking second in the 200-yard medley relay (1:57) behind freshmen Stacy Kaneko, Jessi Taets and Jordan Santarella and Wimer. The Lady Wreckers’ B-team of Alexis Teixeira, Gabby LeBlanc, Caroline Valerio and Rebecca Raab took third (2:06.01).

Proof of New Canaan’s dominance is its sweep in the 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and diving. Patricia Maragos (2:34.34) and Raab (27.85) were Staples’ top swimmers in the 200-IM and 50-free, respectively. Freshman Olivia Crosby (146.55) led the Lady Wreckers in diving by taking fourth and Anna Violette (144.35) was fifth.

The Lady Rams also took the top two spots in the 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relays. Wimer, Taets, Raab and Cooperman comprised Staples’ top quartet in the 200-free relay (1:51.14), which finished third; while Wimer, Cooperman, Santarella and Kaneko were the third-place squad in the 400-free relay (4:01.98).

Sarah Cooperman took third in the 200-yard freestyle (2:07.10) and 500-yard freestyle (5:41.58), respectively. Valerio 1:07.22) was third in the 200-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly.

Kaneko (1:09.98) and Teixeira (1:11.85) placed second and third respectively in the 100-yard backstroke, and LeBlanc (1:18.20) and Anita Voorha (1:18.29) were two-three in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Although the Lady Wreckers didn’t have their ideal meet, they fulfilled their mission towards accomplishing their long-term goals.

“The girls did what they needed to do to get better,” Laux said.

Wimer said, “I was really proud with how we did in the meet.”

Reprinted from the Westport News

Lady Wreckers Splash Ridgefield

By Eliot Schickler

After suffering a home loss to Norwalk two weeks ago, the Staples girls swimming team wanted to make a statement Friday.

Staples bounced back Friday with a 101-80 home victory over Ridgefield (1-2) to raise its record to 2-1. Making the Lady Wreckers’ victory even more special is that they did it without their best swimmer, sophomore Verity Abel, who missed the meet as well as the loss to Norwalk because she is sick.

“We have a really good team and a lot of depth,” Staples coach Mike Laux said. “We’re just not as good as some of the best teams in the FCIAC. It was a good meet and I was happy to see six different girls win individual events, which was cool and it highlighted our depth.”

The Lady Wreckers also won all three relays and began the meet by finishing one-two in the 200-meter medley relay. Freshman Stacy Kaneko, sophomore Gabby LeBlanc, freshmen Jordan Santarella and Jessi Taets won the relay with a time of 2:15.50, and the relay team of Alexis Teixeira, Anita Vohra, Caroline Valerio and Rebecca Raab (2:16.19) took second, edging Ridgefield’s top relay team (2:16.75).

Sarah Cooperman won the 200-meter freestyle (2:20.23).

“I was pretty excited going into the meet because we wanted to come out victorious,” Cooperman said. “We have a really good support network, and I received a lot of support from my teammates.”

Gabby Wimer (2:22.26) grabbed second, and Emily Greene (2:31.63) took fourth in the 200-free.

Although Staples didn’t win the 200-meter individual medley, it outscored the Lady Tigers 9-7 in it. LeBlanc (2:44.16), Santarella (2:46.85) and Maragos (2:51.52) placed second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 200-IM.

Taets won the 50-meter freestyle (31.24) and Raab (31.66) grabbed second.

Michelle Mastrianni (150) won diving and led a sweep in it. Freshman Olivia Crosby (137) took second and sophomore newcomer Anna Violette (135) was third.

“It was a good meet,” Mastrianni said. “I didn’t expect us to go one-two-three and I’m glad we did. The new girls improved a lot and it’s a testament to what we accomplished in a short amount of time. I’m very happy with how the divers did.”

Valerio triumphed in the 100-meter butterfly (1:12.26).

“I worked on my stroke the day before in practice,” Valerio said. “I saw I was close midway, and I wanted it up and beat her.”

Wimer won the 100-meter freestyle (1:04.40).

“It was [a matter of] making sure I picked it up and went faster in the second 50,” Wimer said. “I made sure I brought my kick into it.”

Kaneko (1:06.15) took second in the 100-free.

Staples didn’t win the 400-meter freestyle but ended the event with an 8-8 tie to Ridgefield, courtesy of its depth. Cooperman (4:51.64) and Santarella (5:08.95) took second and third, respectively, and Greene (5:29.16) was fifth.

Wimer, Raab, Taets and Cooperman won the 200-meter freestyle relay (2:03.38).

Kaneko grabbed first in the 100-meter backstroke (1:14.75). Valerio (1:17.55) and Teixeira (1:18.29) were three-four in the 100-back.

Ridgefield won the 100-meter breaststroke and if the Lady Wreckers would have won the event 9-7 if they didn’t swim it unofficially. LeBlanc (1:23.81), Vohra (1:26) and Maragos (1:29.38) had the second, third and fourth best times in the 100-breaststroke.

Wimer, Santarella, Cooperman and Kaneko comprised of the fastest 400-meter freestyle relay team (4:29.77).

“It’s pretty exciting beating Ridgefield because they are a middle of the pack team and it’s a good win for us,” Valerio said. “We showed we have a good core and will take a lot from it as a team.”

Wimer said, “We had awesome races and we want to be in the top half of FCIACs. We need to beat Ridgefield in order to accomplish this.”

Getting the win without Abel lifts the team’s spirits. Staples would have had a better chance of defeating Norwalk if Abel was in the lineup.

“I think it’s great beating Ridgefield without Verity and it boosts our confidence,” Mastrianni said.

Cooperman said, “It’s a little daunting losing a key member of the team but it also motivates us because we want to pick up the slack from not having one of our best swimmers in the lineup. We look forward to having Verity back.”

Reprinted from the Westport News

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