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Girls' Div. 2 Swimming and Diving Championships

Wayland goes to great depths to beat Weston

By Braden Campbell
Globe Correspondent / February 22, 2010

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Wayland’s swimmers are drowning in championships.

A day after the boys beat the field, the girls devastated the competition to take their fifth consecutive Division 2 state title yesterday at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool.

“I’m real proud of these girls, they performed really well today,’’ coach Mike Foley said. “We hung on and held off Weston once again, and they just keep charging at us.’’

Wayland amassed 223 points, while Weston finished second with 202. Marblehead (115), Duxbury (112), and Northampton (95) rounded out the top five.

The Warriors’ sole event victory came in the 200-yard freestyle relay, as Emily Wright, Emily Downs, Megan Pierce, and Michelle Cunningham finished in 1:38.46. However, tremendous depth enabled them to score points in every event, including a dozen top-five finishes.

“We don’t have that person who’s just going to automatically win two events at a meet like this,’’ said Foley. “We need everyone to just pick up the slack.’’

A 3-4-5 finish in the seventh event, the 100 freestyle, by Wright, Downs, and Cunningham, enabled Wayland to extend its lead to double digits.

“All our meets with [Weston] this year have been very similar,’’ Foley said. “We knew they’d be hanging with us for a while.’’

“[Wayland] swam very, very well,’’ said Weston coach Claude Valle. “We knew Wayland was going to win this meet and our goal was to swim well and be a strong second, and we succeeded with that.’’

Weston star Bianca Tocci said numerous meets with their Dual County League rivals over the years have created a climate of support between the teams.

“If we win, they’d be cheering for us. When they win, we’d be cheering for them,’’ Tocci said. “So it’s really just great to have them there; they’re a great team.’’

Tocci won the 100 butterfly in 57.38, and was part of the winning 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. She also placed third in the 50 freestyle (24.45).

Two girls qualified as All-Americans - Holyoke’s Meriza Werenski with her 2:04.70 time in the 200 individual medley, and Longmeadow’s Sara Li with her 51.05 in the 100 freestyle.