Swim Squad Pushed By Fast Weston Group
Perennial South-West Conference and state powerhouse Weston defeated Newtown 103-81 in High School girls’ swimming action in Newtown on September 21. Within the defeat were some individual wins for Coach Becky Osborne’s Nighthawks. The team had some SWC and state postseason qualifying times, and Osborne thought Weston’s speed helped drive her team members to succeed.
“Kids rise to good competition, so it’s good to swim against good teams,” Osborne said.
“I definitely think it brings out the best in us. We want to swim our best and swim our best times, so Weston definitely brings out the best in us,” captain Emma Riebe echoed.
Osborne mixed and matched her swimmers a bit, while keeping some of her athletes in their top events. Maddie Carter took home a first-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly race in a time of 1:03.43.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Shayna Millard, Maddie Carter, Olivia Renkert, and Caroline Mahoney was second in a time of 2:02.03.
Payton Bradley had Newtown’s best time in the 200 freestyle, placing third in 2:16.18, and Carter was third in the 200 individual medley, clocking in with a time of 2:23.74. Caroline Mahoney placed third in the 50 with a time of 26.77.
In the diving competition, Newtown’s top score came from third-place finisher Kylie Giroux with 174.53.
Mahoney was second in the 100 free, making her final touch in 58.92, and Norah Kolb placed third in 1:02.14.
In the 500, Millard was third in 5:53.87.
The 200 free relay contingent of Bradley, Renkert, Carter, and Mahoney was second in 1:49.41. Teammates Lily van der Kroef, Lianna Perazzo, Norah Kolb, and Emma Riebe came in third in 1:55.53.
Millard took second in the 100 backstroke race, finishing in 1:06.75, and Fischer was third in the 100 breaststroke event with a time of 1:18.86.
The 400 free relay of Natalie Barden, Isabel Cadoff, Grace Bertsche, and Martha Seaver was third in 4:21.47.
The Hawks were scheduled to face Joel Barlow of Redding, at Weston Middle School, on September 25, but the meet was postponed, due to flooding, to a date to be determined.