THE WARRIORS had multiple strong performances at the sectional and state meet over the last two weekends to end their terrific season. Pictured from left to right is Laila Atoui, Audrey Cook, Elie Wagner, Allie Degray, Carolyn Cote and Samantha Bordonaro. (Courtesy Photo)
By CASSIDY SILVA
CAMBRIDGE — After the Middlesex League Meet, the Wakefield Memorial High School girls’ swim team stared down the most daunting, the most selective, and the most competitive meets of the season. These past two weekends, six members of the team traveled to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then to Boston University to match up against, as Wakefield’s coaches said, “the fastest competition they’re gonna have,” in the 2024 MIAA Fall North Sectional Championship and the 2024 MIAA Fall D2 State Championship.
These are no ordinary meets. As the last meets of the season, “it’s evidence in and of itself that they made it,” according to assistant coach Tash Brown. “No matter what happens, they made it here so they should all be very proud regardless of what happens.”
But the swimmers still had something to prove, to the team cheering them on, to the parents in the stands and to themselves. They had to prove that they had what it takes to finish off a strong season with an even stronger ending.
“I was just impressed with how well they dug in for a Sunday night meet and the placements were better than what we even expected,” says head coach Laura McCormack. “They came in high placement in the 200-yard Medley Relay to start the night off well and we just kept the ball rolling.”
Nothing could be more true for the Warriors as in both Sectionals and States, they wildly outperformed expectations and medaled early. At Sectionals, a team of freshman Carolyn Cote, senior captain Audrey Cook, sophomore Allie Degray and senior Samantha Bordonaro took 5th in heat 2 and 6th overall in the 200 medley relay. The next weekend, a team of Cote, Cook, Degray and freshman Elie Wagner took 2nd in both their heat and overall with an impressive time of 1:56.10.
The team had two qualifications for both Sectionals and States for the 200-yard Freestyle from Cook and Wagner. At Sectionals, the girls swam side-by-side finishing with a 7th and 8th place finish in their heat and an 11th and 15th place finish overall from Cook and Wagner respectively. At States, the two followed up with another win for Wakefield with Elie placing 8th in heat 3 and 11th overall. Cook pushed to end her season personal record on a high note. She placed 6th in both heat 3 and overall while slashing nearly half a second off her personal best.
Degray represented Wakefield in the 50-yard Freestyle at both Sectionals and States. She clinched medals both nights with a 6th-place finish in heat 4 and an 8th-place finish overall at Sectionals. She followed up with an electric 5th-place finish in both her heat and overall at States. While also accepting a medal at States, she also set a new season best at an insane 25.49 seconds.
Both meets had a short break before Degray was joined by senior captain Laila Atoui on the starting blocks in the 100-yard Butterfly. There, Wakefield saw four more incredible races in both Sectionals and States. In Sectionals, Atoui took 4th in heat 2 and 20th overall while following up with another impressive performance at States, taking 6th in heat 1 and 15th overall. Degray pushed for a 5th-place finish in heat 4 and a 6th-place finish overall at Sectionals with a new season best of 1:02.89. Then, a weekend later, she cropped another 0.31 seconds off her pr for a 3rd-place finish both in her heat and overall to take home another medal.
Wagner was the swimmer to take on the monstrous 500-yard Freestyle. Possessing the intricate natural talent and the sought-after determination to endure and prevail, she faced down lap after lap with incredible countenance. At Sectionals, she took 7th in her heat and 9th overall. At States, she took 8th in her heat and 9th overall to propel Wakefield into the 200-yard Freestyle Relay.
The 200-yard Freestyle Relay was one of the best relay events for the Warriors. At Sectionals, a team of Bordonaro, Atoui, Cote, and Wagner swam a new team record of 1:51.25, taking 6th in their heat and 14th overall. However, the Warriors weren’t done yet with the event. At States, a team of Cook, Atoui, Bordonaro, and Degray pushed for yet another team record of 1:48.01. While achieving such an incredible personal win, they also clinched a 1st-place finish in their heat and effectively slid themselves into 8th place overall, taking home another Wakefield medal.
Cote was up next for Wakefield in the 100-yard Backstroke. She worked for an 8th-place finish in heat 2 and 16th overall at Sectionals before jumping into States to place 7th in heat 1 and 15th overall. Cook took up the mantle next for the last individual race of the night: the 100-yard Breaststroke. At Sectionals, she took 3rd place in both her heat and overall while also cutting her season best by half a second for a new time of 1:10.44. A week later, she took 5th in both her heat and overall at States to take home another medal.
The meet closed with the 400-yard Freestyle Relay where a team of four each sprint 100 yards which encapsulates the entire night’s fire. At Sectionals, Degray, Wagner, Atoui, and Cook placed 1st in their heat and 6th overall while slashing the team record to 3:56.33. At States, the race held an entirely new charge: it was the last race of the season and for some, of their high school swim career. A team of Bordonaro, Atoui, Cote, and Wagner finished off the Wakefield swim season with an 8th-place finish in their heat and a 9th-place finish overall.
As the final two meets of the season, Wakefield pulled through with 10th place at Sectionals with 115 points and 7th place at States with 150 points. But the story of this season never laid within any final score, any points record, or any statistic crunched.
Instead, it’s a story of a team’s triumph through fatigue, endless practices and for the freshmen, new beginnings.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better season,” notes coach McCormack. “It’s really fun to coach kids that want to swim.”
“It’s been so fun, this is my first time coaching high school swim and I can’t imagine a better way to start,” said coach Brown.
Although the Wakefield girls’ swim team’s season closed on Sunday, the dedication and accomplishments of both the underclassmen and the graduating seniors can’t be forgotten. Congratulations to captain Audrey Cook, captain Laila Atoui, Samantha Bordonaro, Teagan Norton, Gabby Padilla and Deyalin Medina: the leaders of the 2024 Wakefield Memorial High School girls’ swim team.
