Stingrays swim team successful at silvers, states, and age groups

The Connecticut River Valley Stingrays, the swim team at the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center here, recently completed a very rewarding winter season.

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2017-04-12 / Sports Stingrays swim team successful at silvers, states, and age groups SPRINGFIELD — The Connecticut River Valley Stingrays, the swim team at the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center here, recently completed a very rewarding winter season. The Stingrays grew this year and were lucky enough to have three coaches for three different levels of ability. The Stingrays participate in the New Hampshire Swim League in the winter, as there is no Vermont winter swim league. On the weekend of March 25, 26 Stingrays swam their hearts out and scored 288 points at the New Hampshire Swim Association State Swim Meet in White River Junction, Vermont. Many first-year Stingrays made their mark. Newcomer Savannah Rose, 8, was a big point earner for the Stingrays. Collecting an impressive 20 points while taking off seven, three and two seconds in her individual events and placing in the top 10 in the 100 individual medley and 25 butterfly. Alani Andino, 10, took off more than three seconds in her 50 freestyle. Sarah DeLorenzo, 10, bested her freestyle and backstroke times. Elizabeth DeLorenzo, 11, had personal bests in the 50 freestyle, 50 backstroke and 50 breaststroke. Emily Bemis-Terault, 11, bested her 50 breaststroke time by a second. Cameron Driscoll-Page, 10, dropped over seven seconds in the 50 backstroke and had two more personal records in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Zach DiZoglio, 10, swam a personal best in the 50 freestyle. Charlie Kiefer, 11, shaved off time in the 50 freestyle. Zenia Muhammad, 14, dropped an impressive four seconds in the very tough 100 butterfly race. Jaina Read, 12, swam personal bests in the 50 freestyle and 50 backstroke and took off eight seconds in the 100 freestyle. Gwen Roundy, 14, had two personal bests in the 100 free and 100 backstroke taking off seven seconds in the latter. Veteran swimmers, and fellow breaststrokers, Samantha Mirra, 17, and Nic Potter, 16, earned 23 and 19 points, respectively. Mirra placed in the top 12 in the 200 IM and 50 freestyle and swam to sixth place in the 100 breaststroke. Potter placed fifth in the 100 breaststroke and 10th in the 200 breaststroke. Because of other school commitments, Grace Johnson, 16, only swam in one event, but she shredded her 500 freestyle time by an unheard of 21 seconds! Katelyn Ferris, 10, and Hayden Avard, 9, had great meets, swimming in three events each, and were caught on the sidelines being awesome team cheerleaders. Alyson Lantz, 10, dropped significant time in both the 50 freestyle and 50 breaststroke. Miles Garvin, 12, swam a personal best in the 100 free and placed 11th in the 50 breaststroke while earning eight points. Noah Jones, 11, earned seven points for the team while dropping time in the 50 freestyle, 50 breaststroke and placed 11th in the 50 fly. Lacey Perry, 8, placed ninth in the 25 backstroke and 10th place in the 25 freestyle earning 16 points for the team. Being the trooper that Perry is, she continued to swim the 50 freestyle even after her goggles fell off on her very first dive off the starting block. Alyssa Ferris, 14, had personal bests in the 50 freestyle and 200 backstroke and collected nine points. Adding another seven points for the team, Alex Hutchins, 13, placed in the top ten in the 100 breaststroke and swam on two relays despite having the flu. Lily Jones, 14, placed seventh in the 50 freestyle and bested her 200 freestyle by dropping four seconds and earned 17 points for the team. Berkley Hutchins, 11, placed 11th in the 50 breaststroke and earned 15 points for the team by swimming personal bests in all of her races knocking off an incredible 21 seconds in the 200 freestyle! Janie Thompson, 11, earned 26 points with two personal records and placed eighth, ninth and 11th in the 50 breaststroke, 50 fly and 50 free. Ari Cioffi, 11, was the top point earner with 39 points, getting two personal bests with third, fifth and ninth-place finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyle and the 50 butterfly. Relays are always the most fun and exciting part of a big meet. The Stingrays swam in eight relays. The 13/14-year-old girls’ team of Jones, A. Hutchins, Ferris and Muhammad had the top finishes with a seventh and 10th place in two nail biting relays. The 11/12 girls’ team of E. DeLorenzo (second relay), Read, B. Hutchins, Thompson and Cioffi had two come-from-behind exciting races while taking off an impressive 21 seconds. The 11/12 boys’ team of DiZoglio, Garvin, Jones, Kiefer and Avard (second relay) took off an astounding 30 seconds combined. The 9/10 girls’ relay of Andino, Lantz, S.DeLorenzo, and Ferris took off seven seconds in their medley relay. Eight Stingrays swam at The Silvers Championship Meet at the Upper Valley Aquatic Center on the weekend of March 18th. Silvers is a huge meet that encompasses teams from all over New England. Janie Thompson, Nic Potter, Sam Mirra, Lily Jones, Berkley Hutchins, Alex Hutchins, Miles Garvin, and Ari Cioffi all attended the big meet. Some of these events had upwards of 80 swimmers and our small contingent scored as high as fifth and 10th place and many personal records were achieved. Age Group Championships were held at Boston University on March 11. Qualifying for “Age Groups” is a significant achievement for a swimmer. In 2017, one Stingray, Ari Cioffi, qualified to compete and placed 35th in New England in the 50 freestyle. Congratulations to all the Stingrays. Your hard work, dedication, time, and effort (not to mention all those endless yards in practice) paid off. Swimming is a lifelong sport that not only keeps the body physically healthy, it also teaches discipline and promotes character. The Edgar May Health and Recreation Center would like to invite anyone interested in joining the swim team to call for more information 802-885-2568 or visit www.myreccenter.org.