MVRHS swimmers earn split in opening dual meet

0

The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School swim team hosted Sandwich in the first dual meet of the season on Thursday at the YMCA pool in Oak Bluffs. The Vineyarders split, winning the girls meet, 86-81, and losing the boys meet, 109-58.

It was a team effort for the Vineyard, led by individual winners Gabby Carr, Eleanor Hyland, Olympia Hall, and Yayla DeChiara. The girls started quickly with a win in the 200 medley relay (Jillian Pyden, backstroke; captain Abigail Hammarlund, breaststroke; Delilah Hammarlund, butterfly, and Eleanor Hyland, freestyle) in 2:36.27. The Vineyard built its lead with a 1-2-3 sweep in the 200 freestyle. Gabby Carr won with a sectional-qualifying time of 2:09.14. Olympia Hall (seventh grade) finished second, and Margaret Sykes followed in third. The sweep gave the girls a lead (21-7) that they would never relinquish. Yayla DeChiara and Annabelle Brothers (eighth grade) took second and third in the 200 individual medley. The Vineyard took 1-2 in the 50 free, with Eleanor Hyland breaking 30 seconds for the first time (29.57), followed closely by Jasselle Wildanger. In the 100 fly, Gabby Carr broke the school record with a sectional-qualifying time of 1:04.14. It was only good enough for second place, because Sandwich swimmer Amelie Bouchard set a pool record with a winning time of 1:02.30. Jasselle Wildanger (second) and Eleanor Hyland (third) scored valuable points in the 100 free. In the 500 free, Olympia Hall finished first with a time of 6:38.38. In a very close 200 freestyle relay, the Vineyard got touched out to finish second (Annabelle Flowers, Yayla DeChiara, Eleanor Hyland, and Gabby Carr), but still qualified for the sectionals with a time of 1:53.77. The second relay (Abigail Hammarlund, Delilah Hammarlund, Jasselle Wildanger, and Olympia Hall) placed third. Yayla DeChiara and Annabelle Brothers finished 1-2 in the 100 backstroke, with Yayla winning in 1:08.52. Abigail Hammarlund took third in the 100 breaststroke, leaving the Vineyard with a three-point lead heading into the final event, the 400 freestyle relay. The Vineyard could clinch the meet with a win in the relay, and the team of Jasselle Wildanger, Yayla DeChiara, Annabelle Brothers, and Gabby Carr delivered with a winning time of 4:16.38.

For the boys, Ruairi Mullin was a double winner in the 50 (26.47) and 100 freestyle (58.97). Oliver Dorr was the only other individual winner, with his best time of 2:24.97 in the 200 individual medley. The Vineyard got second-place finishes from Nicholas Lytle (200 free) and Christian Flanders (eighth grader, 50 free). Captain Ryan Laslovich (200 free) and Oliver Dorr (100 fly) each took third place. In the relays, the 400 freestyle relay (Oliver Dorr, Greg Clark, Christian Flanders, and Ruairi Mullin) won with a time of 4:09.50. The 200 freestyle relay (Christian Flanders, Greg Clark, Oliver Dorr, and Ruairi Mullin) took second, and the 200 medley relay (Christian Flanders, back, Jack Crawford, breast, Ryan Laslovich, fly, and Greg Clark, free) took third.

The Vineyarders host nonconference Durfee of Fall River this Tuesday at the Vineyard Y for the last meet before the holiday break.