Field Finds Success at Every Stop in County Swim League
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- Next year, Hoosac Valley senior Ellie Field will be wearing the colors of Roger Williams University.
College will be a new experience. Changing colors? For Field, that’s old hat.
On Saturday afternoon at Simon’s Rock, Field swam her final events at the Berkshire County Individuals wearing the third swim cap she has sported at the event.
After racing for her own school, Field swam last year for the St. Joseph co-operative that absorbed the Hurricanes’ program after the 2015 season. Then, when St. Joe’s closed last spring, Field and her fellow former Crusaders ended up in another co-op, Wahconah, whom she is representing this winter.
“I think it’s one of the best experiences any swimmer could have,” Field said of her diverse high school swimming career. “You get to meet so many new swimmers. You get to see so many new coaching styles. And I think that really helped.”
It was a smooth move to Wahconah this winter, Field said.
“This transition was probably one of the easiest transitions we’ve had just because Wahconah has been so welcoming,” she said. “A couple of our swimmers had known their swimmers, and we were just really excited to improve.”
Field swam to a pair of individual victories on Saturday. She took the 50-yard freestyle in 25.41 seconds, seventh-tenths ahead of Mount Anthony’s Marion Page (26.12). Field earned a convincing win in the 100, touching in 55.82 seconds to beat Page (1:00.31).
Monument Mountain’s Asa Stone also was a double-winner on Saturday, taking the 200 individual medley (2:22.67) and the 500 freestyle (5:31.49).
Her Monument Mountain teammate, Anna Rubino, won the 100 backstroke (1:07.91). And Monument Mountain won all three relays.
A highlight for the Spartans came in the day’s first event, the 200 medley relay, where Stone, Olivia Raifstanger, Aubrey Blanchard and Jordyn Louison teamed to finish in a state meet-qualifying time of 1:59.77.
The Monument quartet of Louison, Blanchard, Anna Rubino and Olivia Rubino later posted a state time of 1:48.34 in the 200 free relay.
Pittsfield’s Szofia Lewis, already a state qualifier, won the breaststroke (1:14.30), and her teammate Jordan Bradford won the 200 free in 2:06.23.
Taconic’s Delaney Ivas qualified for next weekend’s Central/Western Mass meet with a time of 1:08.29 in the 100 butterfly.
On the boys side, Monument Mountain’s Nick Dillon was a double-winner, taking the 50 freestyle (24.26) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.12). His teammate Harry Albert won the 500 free in a sectional-qualifying time of 5:33.03.
Wahconah’s boys got wins from Noah Schweitzer in the 200 free (2:04.61) and Jacob Kunzmann in the 100 back (1:07.14).
Pittsfield’s Liam Moody won the 100 fly (59.67) and swam the anchor leg on PHS’ winning 400 free relay (3:52.96).
Mount Anthony’s boys won the other two relays and got individual wins from Anthony Mazzola in the 200 IM (2:49.61) and Zachary LaForest in the 100 free (54.14).