Westfield senior Hope Walsh competes in the 200 freestyle at the WMass championships at Springfield College. Walsh continued her sensational postseason with another strong effort at Saturday’s state championships at MIT. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
CAMBRIDGE – The lights may have been brighter and the stage bigger – despite a smaller venue – but the Westfield High School girls’ swim team’s strength and focus never waned.
On Saturday, Westfield claimed fourth place in the Division I state girls’ swimming championships at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Bombers (131 points) finished behind Westford Academy (320), Lincoln Sudbury Regional (211), and Beverly (168).
Westfield senior Hope Walsh had the team’s most productive swim outing, finishing runner-up in one event, claiming fourth in another, and providing the backbone to a pair of Bombers’ relay teams.
Walsh finished second in the 500 freestyle by posting a season-best time of 5:09.99. Masconamet sophomore Carlyn Soares won the event in 5:01.79.
In the 200 free, Walsh was fourth (1:56.15). She was also the anchor to two fourth-place relay teams – the 200 medley relay (1:53.33) and 400 free relay (3:43.89) – pairing up with Kelsey Johnstone, Erin Lewis, and Lauren Longley on both for season-best efforts.
Johnstone placed fifth in the 100 backstroke (58.71) and 100 free (55.49). Longley also managed to crack the top 10 with an eighth-place standing in the 100 fly (1:01.82).
STINEHART LEADS BOYS: Westfield senior Jimmy Stinehart was the most productive Bomber in the boys’ portion of the swim meet on Sunday. Stinehart placed seventh in the 50 free (22.39) and teamed up with John Dolan, Tim Kwarcinnski, and Nicholas Rosso to capture third in the 200 medley relay (1:40.06).
The Westfield boys’ team finished ninth overall (66.5 points). St. John’s Prep won the event with 400.5.
TRACKING DOWN MORE RESULTS:The state indoor track championships at the Reggie Lewis Center at Northeastern University Sunday produced a smattering of top 10 finishes from Westfield High, including: sophomore Morgan Sanders (55 hurdles/6th/8.9), Nick Jacques (300 meters/4th/36.73), Ben Doiran (2-mile run/5th/9:44.85), and Cheyenne Grabiec (1000 meters/6th/2:36.02).
