Darien, Greenwich swim to CIAC crowns; Opens set for Sat.

Written by Bob Greeney
Friday, 16 November 2012 16:42

Greenwich and Darien each won team championships while many FCIAC competitors were individual champions in two of the state class girls swimming and diving championships that concluded on Nov. 14.

FCIAC teams seized the top three spots in the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class L Girls’ Swimming and Diving Championships at Southern Connecticut State University.

Darien, which won its second FCIAC championship in the last four years on Nov. 6, added its Class L crown eight days later. The deep and balanced Blue Wave racked up 942 points for the victory. New Canaan was runner-up with 707 and Wilton placed third with 567.

Olivia Leunis won two events and fellow senior Caroline Orem had a victory and a third-place finish in individual events to lead Darien.

Leunis won the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2 minutes, 6.96 seconds and then she won the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.63. Leunis won the breaststroke and was runner-up in the IM at the FCIAC Championships.

Orem got her victory in the 100 backstroke (58.58) and she placed third in the 200 IM.

Senior diver Caroline Ashcroft won her specialty with 423.95 points.

Also for Darien: junior Amanda Bieler and sophomore Courtney Ferreira tied each other for second place in the 200 freestyle (1:54.65), Bieler placed third in the 100 free and Ferreira was third in the 500 free.

Maddie Rusch, a senior, and junior Jenna Egan, each had an excellent Class L meet to lead New Canaan to second place.

Rusch and Egan both won two individal events and swam legs on two freestyle relay teams that set meet records.

Rusch won the 50 free in 23.63 and the 100 butterfly in 55.68. Egan won the 100 free (52.87) and 200 free (1:53.87). Rusch and Egan teamed up with junior Alex Aliapoulios and freshman Libby O’Hare to win the 200 free relay in 1:36.22. Moments later Rusch, Egan and Aliapoulios team were joined by freshman Megan Egan on the 400 free relay team and got another relay meet record of 3:30.9.

Also for New Canaan: senior Erin Dunstan was runner-up in both the 200 IM (2:10.49) and 100 breaststroke (1:07.15), O’Hare placed second in the 50 free (24.63) and third in the breaststroke, while sophomore Kylie Towbin (395.85 points), senior Ariana Ross (385.05) and senior Meredith Jonker (359.80) secured places 2-4 in the diving.

Wilton senior Caroline O’Brien and junior teammate Stephanie Moriarty each had a runner-up individual finish and were teammates on the victorious 200 medley relay team to lead the Warriors. O’Brien placed second in the 100 fly (57.73), Moriarty was runner-up in the 100 free (53.65), and they teamed up with sophomore Linsay Cooney and senior Grace Hendee to win the 200 medley relay in 1:49.44. Wilton junior Kristen Moss placed second in the 100 backstroke (59.67).

Greenwich, which placed second to Darien in the FCIAC Championships, romped to the Class LL championship with 816 points. Cheshire was second with 555.

Katie Evans won two individual events and was on two winning relay teams while senior Madeline Dunn and junior Kim Hill each had a victory and a runner-up finish in individual events and were on two record-setting relay teams to lead Greenwich’s Cardinals.

Evans won the 200 IM in 2:06.32 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.11. Dunn won the 50 free with a meet record time of 23.89 and she placed second in the 100 free (52.46) to her teammate Hill (52.08), who earlier was runner-up in the 200 free (1:54.04).

Christina Frias, a junior, was runner-up in the 100 fly (56.98) and third in the 200 free. Senior diver Megan Mahoney placed second with 359 points and freshman Riley Ennis placed third in the breaststroke for Greenwich.

Hill, Frias, Evans and Dunn teamed up to win the 400 free relay with a state record time of 3:30.16. That nipped the old record of 3:30.17 that Greenwich set last year.

Dunn, Frias, sophomore Porter Carlson and Hill also nipped an older Greenwich record when they won the 200 free relay with a meet record time of 1:38.74. The 2009 Greenwich team had the previous record of 1:37.81.

Greenwich got off to a good start in the first event when sophomore Isobel Walker, Ennis, Evans and Carlson won the 200 medley relay in 1:48.92.

There were 20 teams in the Class LL meet and all six teams from the FCIAC placed among the top 11.

The McMahon/Norwalk cooperative team placed sixth with 346 points, Trumbull took seventh (320.5), Staples was eighth (292), Westhill/Stamford placed 10th (241) and Ridgefield was 11th (195).

Verity Abel, a superb Staples junior, swept the two longest freestyle events. Abel won the 200 free with a 1:51.88 that broke the meet record of 1:52.1 that Greenwich’s Keira Heath set eight years ago. Abel later won the 500 free in 4:59.18.

Rachel Burston, an excellent freshman diver for Westhill/Stamford, won her specialty with 429 points.

McMahon/Norwalk senior Stephanie Czulewicz was runner-up in the 200 IM (2:10.12) and third in the 100 backstroke, while sophomore teammate Olivia Haskell placed third in the 50 free.

The State Open championship meet is scheduled for this weekend. The diving was scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. on Friday at Plainville High School and the swimming races were to begin at noon on Saturday at Yale University.