BONDED ON dry-land. The Melrose High girls’ swim team enjoyed gorgeous weather before the start of their Woburn meet the Boys and Girls Club of Woburn. (courtesy photo)
Plenty of highlights in Woburn & Belmont meets
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MALDEN—The Melrose High girls swim kicked off their 2021 season with meets against Middlesex Large teams Belmont and Woburn, and while they fell shy of victory, they earned plenty of first place finishes and best times, particularly against Woburn, who narrowly edged Melrose 91-68 on Monday on the road at the Woburn Boys and Girls Club.
After a busy opening week, Melrose will have a break, until meets resume on Sept. 29.
Melrose started the season on Sept. 9 against a strong Belmont team.They earned some quality swims from Grace Haseltine and Milania Saggese. Haseltine finished first in the 200 free with teammate Demya Allen behind her. Haseltine also prevailed in 100 breaststroke. Milania Saggese took the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:12.63 and earned points in the 200 IM.
Other standout races for Melrose included the 200 yard medley event with the relay team of Saggese, Haseltine, Demya Allen and Emilia Rahilly. Madeleine Brodeur was a standout in the 50 free and Sophia Scacchi and Demya Allen scored points in the 50 and 200 free, respectively. Representing Melrose in the 200 free relay was Lilian Ladner, Emily Mistretta, Amara Otaluka and Madison Wright.
Against Woburn on Monday, Melrose had several first place finishes which kept them neck-in-neck with the Tanners. Melrose started off with a strong second place finish in the 200 medley relay behind the work of Saggese, Haseltine, Rahilly and Allen.
Saggese prevailed in the 200 yard free with a time of 2:28.50, keeping Melrose in the meet and down just 16-14. Teammate Madeleline Brodeur placed third to earn three points for Melrose. Melrose took a lead of 24-21 with a first place finish by Emilia Rahilly in the 200 IM while teammate Cate Kavanaugh had an impressive second place finish. Demya Allen had a solid second place finish in the 50 free and later prevailed in the 100 free. Grace Haseltine took the 500 free with a great time of 6:31.57. That kept Melrose in the meet, down just 53-49. Despite the Tanners pulling away in later races, Melrose clinched first place in the 100 breaststroke with a swim of 1:23.59. Melrose finished the day with a very competitive 400 free relay team of Emilia Rahilly, Demya Allen, Noelle L’Heureux and Cate Kavanaugh. Also swimming in the 50 and 100 free were Audrey Methot and Ariana Rodd.
Melrose head coach Laura McCormack says there is much she liked in the team’s season debut. Especially the flexibility that these adaptable swimmers are showing. “In our first meet, freshman Cate Kavanaugh and senior Demya Allen really stepped up for the team to take on a lot,” she says. “And in our second meet Madeline Brodeur did that for us too.”
She also welcomed the arrival of new swimmers Beth Cunningham and Amara Otaluka. “They’re brand new swimmers who have come so far in two week and already helping us in relays.”
There is a lot of season left so look for these hard working swimmers to make an even bigger splash this fall. Stay tuned.
