Photo by Jack Tumpowsky
By Theo Severud
Sports Reporter
The Newton South girls’ swim and dive team placed 6th in the DCL tournament and the boys’ team finished 4th, missing third place by only a single point.
The diving teams started off the DCL meet on a high note, with many boys and girls alike placing well. Jordi Boulerice earned top honors with a first-place finish for the boys, with Jonah Raisner and Shaw Miller placing 7th and 13th, respectively. For the girls, Andrea Tartaglia took 12th place, Kaitlyn Shaughnessy finished 18th, and Grace Cowhig finished 32nd.
A few individuals shined in the swimming events for Newton South. Amit Fudim had a strong meet, as he placed 13th in the 200 IM, which gave him a Sectionals qualification, and also finished 10th in the 100-yard backstroke.
Andrew D’Annolfo also had a strong meet for the boys, placing in the top 3 in both the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. Additionally, D’Annolfo was a key part of a record-breaking 200-yard medley relay along with Jack Sinclair, Rafi Dinh, and Arlen Williams.
Captain Arlen Williams commented on how D’Annolfo’s strong performances helped the team.
“He’s a big part of our team and it’s always great to see another leader step up and swim lights out,” Williams said. “It motivates everyone around him to swim faster, and I think we needed that moving forward into the postseason.”
For the girls’ swimming, Kristen Miquel had a great performance in the DCL meet, where she placed 2nd in the 200-yard IM and took 3rd in the 100-yard breaststroke. Beyond that, she also participated on the 6th place 200-yard medley relay team.
Captain Tori Miller was quite impressed with Miquel’s knockout performance.
“Kristen is one of our fastest swimmers on the team, and she truly motivates the rest of the team to swim their fastest,” Miller said. “When she qualifies for sectionals and states, it makes the rest of the girls more determined to follow her lead. This year has the most girls we have sent to sectionals and states in all of my years on NSSD, which is very exciting and makes me confident for coming years.”
Emily Ochlis also had a great 100-yard breaststroke time of 1:16.43, which qualified her for the sectional meet.
South swimmers and divers who have qualified for sectionals look ahead to the big meet this weekend.
