West Hartford’s girls swimming and diving teams met at Cornerstone Aquatics Center, with Conard defeating Hall 101-85.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Fifty-one times swimmers and divers from Hall and Conard high school’s girls teams have gone head-to-head in the pool. Some rivalries play themselves out over time, but not this one.

A packed Cornerstone Aquatics Center witnessed another classic that was close throughout, and was decided by the depth of the Red Wolves. “In 51 years of Conard swimming, this is the first bunch that can say they went undefeated and untied,” said head coach John Smachetti of Conard.

The Titans – who came in with just a single loss on the season – opened with wins in the first three events. The relay team of Lexi Dominguez, Mindy Zhao, Claire Culmo, and Ziggy Edney won the opening 200-yard medley relay by just over six seconds and picked up another two points by also taking the third spot.

Senior Miriam Youel cruised to a win in the 200-yard freestyle for Hall, followed by Conard’s Kayla Lowney and Lucy Pincince. Bianca Coco of Hall was fourth and Conard’s Celia Filotto took fifth.

Hall held an 18-12 advantage heading into the 200-yard individual medley. Zhao would take the IM for Hall with Echo Jo (second), Rosie Alonzo (third) and Ellie Harhay (fourth) all grabbing points for Conard while Ann-Tee Lim followed for Hall.

The next event was the fastest event of the night – the splash and dash of the 50-yard freestyle. Conard took 11 of the available 16 points with Gracie Lowney winning in 26.00 and teammates Claire Haverly finishing third (26.96), and CC Peck fourth (27.37). Ziggy Edney was second for Hall with teammate Culmo going fifth.

Conard had its first lead of the night heading into diving, where the Red Wolves were expected to do well. Gabbie Alekshun and teammate Mia Rosario went 1-2 for Conard, taking 10 of the 16 points. Julia Arias was best on the board for the Titans with her third-place finish and the Conard lead was now 42-36.

Claire Nordquist took the top spot in the 100-yard butterfly, earning Hall six points, but Rachel Mathews and Jo went 2-3 for seven points for Conard. Hannah Fink and Dominguez added three more points for Hall, cutting the deficit to four points.

In the next event, Layla Harhay, Claire Haverly, and Pincince went 1-3-4 for the Red Wolves for 11 points, while Edney (second) and Cocco (fifth) combined for five.

The night’s longest event saw Youel cruise to a win in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5.21.22, but once again it was Conard going 2-3-4, allowing them to out-point Hall, 9-7.

A win in the 200-yard freestyle by Hall helped them take eight of the available 14 points, but Conard earned 11 of 16 points in the 100-yard backstroke behind Gracie Lowney’s second win on the night, and Alonzo (fourth) and Peck (fifth) coming in behind Hall’s Nordquist (second), and Dominguez (third).

With just two events remaining, they had to grab as many points as they could if they hoped to tie or win the meet. Zhao of Hall topped Conard’s Lyla Harhay by a little more than two seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke with Lim and Hannah Fink going 3-4 and Conard getting one more point from Madeline Mancini’ s fifth-place finish.

Entering the night’s final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Hall could have won if they went 1-2, and could have forced a tie if they went 1-3. It is a similar situation to what the Titans faced in 2016 when they needed to go 1-2 in the relay to steal the meet, but after taking first, Conard out touched Hall for second – and the win. Wednesday night, Conard put the pedal to the metal and took both first and second place, meaning they picked up 12 points, leaving just two for Hall and making it a 101-85 final.

“Before the meet, I told them to do something special,” said Smachetti, on what was also Senior Night for both teams.

Conard finished 8-0 overall and 4-0 in CCC West competition, while Hall ends 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the conference. “We had a good year overall,” said Hall coach John McClure, who is in his 50th year of coaching for Hall. “But when we got to the end of the races, we faded too many times and lost on the last lap.”

After the opening five events, McClure believed Hall was in a good spot to win the meet. “I thought it was set up perfectly for us after diving. If we had held our places, it would have been a different story.”

Smachetti – who gave the honor of being tossed in the pool after the win to his co-coach and daughter Jen Pollard – said his team’s success was largely a result of swimming and winning a tough schedule and working hard in practice to gain speed. He also praised the culture that his athletes – especially the seniors – created. “When they come in, the upperclassmen embrace them as a team. It’s a great culture,” he said.

Since 2009, either Hall or Conard has won the CCC West title when it was competed for (There was no season during COVID.) This year’s win is Conard’s fifth, along with a shared title with Hall in 2022. Hall has won the girls CCC West on nine occasions.

Both teams are now set to have swimmers compete in the CCC Championship (East and West), and then the state qualifier and finals.

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