Hoosac Girls Ninth at State Swim Meet
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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- After romping through the Berkshire County swimming dual meet schedule, the Hoosac Valley High School swim team closed out strong at the state championships last weekend at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The Hoosac squad, a cooperative that includes swimmers from Drury and Mount Greylock, placed ninth among 42 teams at the MIAA Division 1 championships on the strength of two top-six finishes in relay events.
The Hurricanes were fifth in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet of Emma Whitney, Cori Ghidotti, Alyssa Bush and Ellie Field finished in 1 minute, 53.37 seconds, taking more than two seconds off their seed time.
Hoosac's 200 MR finished about seven seconds behind Westford Academy, which set a state record with a swim of 1:46.39.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Hoosac finished sixth with a time of 1:45.78 turned in by Michaella Vecchiarelli, Elizabeth Bernardy, Whitney and Ghiodotti.
A third relay -- Julia Whitney, Bernardy, Bush and Field -- was 13th in the 4-by-100 free.
Hoosac was joined in the D-1 meet by Berkshire County rival Monument Mountain, which placed 14th.
Spartans junior Maeve Wilber swam to an eighth-place finish in the 100 backstroke and contributed legs on Monument's eighth-place 4-by-100 relay and ninth-place medley relay quartets. Wilber was also 10th in the 200 individual medley.
In the girls Division 2 meet, St. Joseph freshman Jesse Tobin finished fifth in the state in the 500 freestyle, swimming a time of 5:15.12, nearly 3.5 seconds better than her seed time. Tobin also finished seventh in the 50 free.
At the boys D-2 meet, Taconic senior George Sommerville placed seventh in the 100 backstroke and ninth in the 50 freestyle.
Monument's boys competed in the Division 1 meet, where their day was highlighted by freshman Brandon Louison, a 15th-place finisher in the 100 back, a 27th-place finisher in the 100 fly and a contributor on the Spartans' 200 free and 400 free relays, which placed 23rd and 22nd, respectively.
In the Division 1 girls meet, Hoosac Valley also stood out in the individual competition as well as the relays.
Emma Whitney was ninth in the 100 butterfly, where Field was 14th and Bush was 17th out of 27 competitors statewide.
Field was 11th in the 200 freestyle, where Bernardy finished 17th out of 31 swimmers. Julia Whitney was 25th in the 200 individual medley. Vecchiarelli was 33rd in the 50 free. In the 100 free, Ghidotti was 16th. Emma Whitney was 14th in the 100 back.
Four Hoosac swimmers competed in the 100 breaststroke. Ghidotti finished ninth with Bernardy, Julia Whitney and Elizabeth Bartlett placing 14th, 19th and 32nd, respectively.
Other individuals for Monument at the state meet included Rowan Rice (200 IM and 100 breaststroke), Emma Wilber (200 IM and 100 fly), Caroline Bissaillon (100 free and 11th in 50 free). William Palmer joined Louison on the Monument boys team, competing in the 50 free and 100 free. John Collingwood and Zachary Richardson joined Palmer and Louison on the Spartans' state-qualifying 200 free relay; Richardson, Palmer, Louison and Dominic Roy swam the 400 free relay for Monument.
Junior Gillian Campbell represented Taconic in the 50 freestyle in the girls Division 2 meet.
St. Joe's Tobin was joined by teammates Katie Nugai, Teresa Kirsimagi and Aileen Archembault in the 200 MR and 200 free relay.