Winchester Takes Fourth at Middlesex Swim Meet

The Winchester High girls swim team turned in a respectable performance and swam its way into fourth place overall at the two-day Middlesex League Championship meet held Wednesday at Belmont and Thursday at Bentley College.

The Sachems netted 187 points from all events at the meet.

"They did unbelievable," said head coach Diana Mathews. "I was really proud. Our goal was that I hoped we would get to today and we'd be proud of what he had done, both in and out of the pool."

Mathews, who just completed her first year as varsity coach at Winchester, inherited a program with strong senior leadership, and she was quick to credit her captains with helping to make this a successful season.

"Kelly McCarthy, Kate Wendell, Julia Breckwoldt and Sarah Barnabei ...," said Mathews. "They have led the team with so much class and pride. They definitely deserve a shout out."

Standouts for Winchester at the meet included Wendell and McCarthy, who finished third and fourth in  the 50-yard freestyle with times of 26.88 and 26.93 respectively, and the 200-yard (Wendell, Laney Laghetto, Olena Kowal, McCarthy) and 400-yard (Wendell, Kowal, Julia Baynes, McCarthy) freestyle relay teams, who scored times of 1:52.57 and 4:08.00.

The Sachems 200-yard medley relay team also performed well, winding up in fifth place by virtue of a 2:12.33 time. The 200 medley team consisted of Anasophia Gartner, Rachel Acaro, Baynes and Laghetto.

As happy as coach Mathews was with her team's performance at the league meet, she is equally excited about the upcoming season, as she has liked what she has seen from the freshman so far.

"Our freshman did unbelievable," said Mathews. "We had four freshman who won varsity letters. We're super excited for next year."

With a respectable finish at the championship meet, and a strong infusion of new blood mixed with some strong returning letterwinners, there is no reason why optimism shouldn't be running high around Winchester going into next season.