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WESTON, Conn. The challenge for the Weston girls swimming team in the rugged South-West Conference was to stay focused on the big prize at seasons end. The Trojans powered through the Class S championships and on Tuesday earned their second straight state championship.
Coach (Tom Grace) always tells us not to think about the league meets as something thats important. Its more about how thats a step in getting to states. We are able to look past that," said senior JoJo Korsh, one of 10 seniors on the Weston team.
Weston struggles to compete against many of the conference's teams, which come from bigger schools. Still, the Trojans captured the state crown with 604 points, two points ahead of Lauralton Hall. Weston lost to Lauralton Hall, of Milford, 102-84 during the regular season.
Because we won last year, there was the hope that we could repeat, senior Charlotte Berger said. We just wanted to work really hard and prove to ourselves we could have a great season. Winning states would be a bonus.
The meet was tight throughout. Grace told the team beforehand that one point might decide the meet. There wasnt any point in the meet where we thought definitely were going to win, senior Katie Angelidis said. We knew if that thought came into our heads we wouldve lost.
Olivia Clarks victory in the 100 breast was the one win for Weston. Westons team victory was not secure until the final 400-free relay, when Angelidis, Alessandra Edgar, Clark and Katharine Johnson finished third. Lauralton Hall won the race.
We were just praying that we had had enough points, Catie Ledwick said. We were lining up when they announced the scores and we were all holding hands. We were excited, but very nervous, too.
Westons seniors end their careers with two state championships, one second place finish and one third in the Class S championships. Their consecutive titles are the first time Weston has repeated since 1986-87. With a strong class behind them, the Trojans are once again of the top programs in its division.
It feels good to know that we have a strong enough team to win in two years in a row, Carlye Rosen said. Repeating is incredible. It was a team effort and everyone counted. We all did it together.
Weston will return to the pool Saturday for the State Open, where it again will face the larger schools. The Trojans might have individual successes, but know they cannot compete with the larger schools. They realize, though, that they have accomplished their primary objective.
Our main focus all season is states and trying to repeat, Carolyn Figliola said. It feels great to do it again.
Westons state champions swim team includes Kate Angelidis, Charlotte Berger, Ilana Berger, Emily Clark, Julia Clark, Olivia Clark, Nupur Dapatardar, Julia DiMarco, Alessandra Edgar, Lauren Ferguson, Carolyn Figliola, Meredith Gosnell, Dacia Gross, Andrea Janis, Katharine Johnson, McCall Kelley, Jillian Kleban, JoJo Korsh, Catie Ledwick, Clare Murray, Brenna Nimkoff, Emily Olin, Maren Panzirer, Rachael Roberts, Carlye Rosen, Keturah Sarno, Hannah Schroeder, Lauren Solinsky, Lucy Watson, Olivia Watson, Anna West and Juliet Zim.
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