Bristol’s three girls swimming and diving programs got together for the annual city series meet on Saturday night at the Dennis Malone Aquatics Center.
Bristol Eastern won the meet against Mum City foes Bristol Central and St. Paul. The Lancers were led by Noelle Bruce, Julia Michaud, Brianna Ogonowski and Chelsea DeMarest, who “set the tone” according to a tweet from John Stavens on the Bristol Eastern athletics Twitter account.
Here’s a little bit about each team:
Bristol Eastern
The Lancers have gotten some strong contributions from Taylor DeMarest, who is only a freshman. Ogonowski and Michaud are two of the seniors that coach Alyson Phelan counts upon in each meet, along with junior Chelsea DeMarest. Bruce is just a sophomore and is part of a large crop of young competitors, including Taylor DeMarest. Eastern has a pair of strong junior divers in Emily Mulcunry and Rachel Gorneault.
Bristol Central
Like the Lancers, the Rams are having a tough season as far as wins and losses go. Central has a record-breaking diver, however, in senior Erin Petke. Petke already had the school record in her possession with a score of 187 entering an Oct. 5 home meet at the Malone Center against Plainville. She finished the Plainville meet with a score of 202.45, shattering her previous mark.
Senior Rachel Wolf and junior Mackenzie Pina are key swimmers for the Central, who like Eastern are a young team. Sophomore Camille Attle is part of that Ram youth movement, along with fellow classmates Ailey Driscoll, Madison Sheridan, Sarai Leonardo and Ana Ptak. Among the key freshmen for Central this season are Christina Tomcak, Alayna Lawson, Emma Lewis, Sam Chapman and Brianna Lamothe.
St. Paul
The Falcons had seniors and freshmen compete well for them in a Naugatuck Valley League loss to Seymour on Friday. Seniors Molly MacAllister and Emily Haase combined with freshmen Amelia Bradzioch and Abby MacAllister for a win in the 400 freestyle relay. Bradzioch took first place in the 100 backstroke while Haase was tops in the 100 breaststroke. Seymour had gone exhibition in the meet by the 100 backstroke, but that didn’t stop these St. Paul swimmers from putting together some strong efforts.
St. Paul usually struggles in dual meets because of its small team size, but the Falcons barely lost to Naugatuck 89-88 on Sept. 28 at Naugatuck High School. Molly MacAllister won the 200 individual medley and 500 freestyle during that meet while junior Miranda Grustas finished first in the 100 freestyle. Bradzioch and Haase won the backstroke and breaststroke during the Naugatuck meet, and the 400 freestyle relay combo of Molly MacAllister, freshman Devin Meurer, senior Julia Sosnowski, and Haase was victorious for the Falcons.
