Conard swimming and diving defeated crosstown West Hartford rival Hall with a win in the final event of the last dual meet of the season.

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

Entering the 10th and final event of the meet, just four points separated Conard and Hall in the annual crosstown swim duel in the pool at Cornerstone.

It was the first time all season that the Red Wolves girls found themselves in a meet where the winner would be determined by the outcome in the 400-yard Freestyle Relay. They took first and third place, earning 10 points to seal the win 98-88 over the Titans.

Hall built an early lead in the meet with a win in the 200-yard Medley Relay and points from three swimmers in the 200-yard Freestyle. The relay was led by Bianca Cocco and Ann-Yee Lim who would have great individual nights. In the 200 Free, Conard’s Ciara Frewen would win the first of her two events outpacing Hall’s Madison Mayr.

The Hall lead was cut to 4 when Elise Harhay (second), Celia Filotto (third), and Hannah Krusinski (fourth) picked up a total of 9 points despite the event win for Lim of Hall. Laura Haverly (first) and Emilie O’Sullivan (third) combined for nine points in the 50-Free to tie the meet at 31 heading into diving.

From the board, Conard freshman Hannah McCarthy outshined the field winning the event by more than 80 points over her next closest competitor. But Hall was able to pick up more points overall to go back in front 40-38. That two-point lead for Hall stood up with Cocco winning the 100-yard Butterfly, but once again it was the team strength of Conard keeping them in the meet as Harhay (second), Filotto (third), and Kourtney James (fifth) picked up eight points for the Red Wolves.

Conard regained the lead in the next event – the 100-yard Freestyle – when Frewen won her second individual event and was followed to the wall by teammate O’Sullivan in second and Lucy Archambault (fifth) to give them an 11-5-point win in the event and put the Red Wolves in front by 2 points. Hall got points from Kaylin Li (third) and Maddie Corthell (fifth).

Conard would increase the lead by 2 with Laura Haverly (first) and Edith Kreitzman finishing 1-3 in the 500 Freestyle. Next up was the 200-yard Freestyle Relay and Conard’s lineup of Frewen, O’Sullivan, Filotto, and Haverly beat out Hall’s Sarah Yorgensen, Lim, Mayr, and Cocco for top spot.

Archambault of Conard was tops in the backstroke with Hall’s Teresa Le right behind her and the two teams alternated the rest of the points to give Conard the 82-74 lead with just two events remaining.

Hall’s Lim grabbed 6 points with the win, Yorgensen added 3 more, and when the event was over the meet was 88-84 Conard heading into the final splash in the pool.

In relays, no team can sweep (take 1-2-3), but there are also two fewer points available as only the top three teams score for their teams. Hall need to finish 1-2 and pick up the 12 points if they were to pull off the comeback. Conard’s powerhouse 400-yard Freestyle Relay combination of Filotto, O’Sullivan, Frewen, and Haverly slammed the door by taking first ahead of Hall’s relay of Mayr, Corthell, Samantha Roberts, and Kaylin Li. Conard took third place as well with Harhay, Hannah Kitzman, Archambault, and Krusinski.

Before the meet began both teams honored their senior members with presentations. Once again the atmosphere was electric throughout as parents, classmates, and former swim team members packed the building to show their support for both teams.

Next up for both teams will be the CCC Swimming and Diving Championships then the State Swimming Trials, Class Championships, and State Open. Divers will compete in the Class title event and the State Open.

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