The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School swim team faced off against their rivals, the Nantucket Whalers on Saturday Dec. 21: The boys narrowly took the win with a final score of 76-69, while the girls fell short 99-57.
Despite being short some key team members for the holidays, and having to overcome the tricky inter-Island winter travel schedule – consisting of two ferries each way – the Vineyard teams still delivered solid performances.
“Overall, I think both teams are looking really good this season,” said head Coach Jennifer Passafiume. “My biggest goal for the swimmers is always to push their personal growth throughout the year and watch as they are able to get stronger and faster, achieving new personal best times when racing. It’s a bonus if that also means us winning meets.”
“We already have 2 boys qualified for the post season, and hoping for some more swimmers to be able to join them. It should be a really great rest of the season,” she added.
Over the weekend, Ronan Mullin led the way for the boys team, winning the 100 fly with a time of 58.46. The time landed Mullin a qualifying spot at the Massachusetts South Sectional State Championships. Anthony Pruciano came in second, setting a new personal best of 1:36.92. On the girls side, Violet Meyers was the only one to compete in the 100 freestyle, coming in fourth place.
In the 200 medley relay, the boy’s A-team, made up of Kaua De Assis, Michael Calheta, Ronan Mullin, and Anthony Pruciano, placed second, and the B-team consisting of William Simmons, Dylan Hitchen, Max O’Brien, and Nicholas Merriam, secured third place. The girls medley relay A-team came in third place, made up of Nora Duncheva, Maybeline Brown, Sylvia Carroll, and Nora Motahari; the B-team consisting of Stella Cowen, Leah DeBettencourt, Violet Meyers, and Ondine Hitchen placed fourth.
In the 200 yard freestyle, William Simmons scored a time of 2:37.77 for second place, Max O’Brien scored 2:39.47 for third place, and Philip Purciano scored a 2:49.14 for fourth. For the girls team, Leah DeBettencourt placed in fourth with a time of 3:08.51 and Zoe Higgins, with a new personal record, came in fifth place for a time of 3:24.74.
In the 200 yard individual-medley, Anthony Pruciano was the only boy competing and he set a new personal best of 3:02.71, earning himself second place. For the girls team Nora Motahari was third place with a time of 3:25.01, followed closely by teammate Maybeline Brown in fourth with a time of 3:28.71.
In the 50 yard freestyle, for the girls, Sylvia Carroll took first place with a time of 28.47, Zoe Treitman came in fifth with a time of 32.73 and Leah Debettencourt placed sixth with a time of 35.94. For the boys squad, Kaua De Assis finished second with a time of 23.95, Ronan followed closely for third with a personal best of 24.96 and Nicholas Merriam placed fifth with a time of 30.45.
In the 100 yard freestyle Sylvia Carroll also took first place with a time of 1:03.94, again followed by Tretiman in fifth with a time of 1:16.88 and Ondine Hitchen in sixth with 1:24.54. On the boys side, Michael Calheta came in third with a time of 1:06.41 and Clovis Smith came in fifth with a time of 1:49.16.
In the 500 yard freestyle race, the boys’ William Simmons took first place with a time of 8:10.13 and Dylan Hitchen followed closely behind in second with a time of 8:18.78, both of the boys earned personal bests times. For the girls team, Nora Duncheva placed third with a time of 7:51.67, followed by Maybeline Brown with a time of 8:14.90.
In the 200 yard freestyle relay, the boys Ronan Mullin, Anthony Purciano, William Simmons, and Kaua De Assiss placed second, and on the girls side Sylvia Carroll, Nora Matahari, Noe Treitman, and Leah DeBettencourt placed third.
In the 200 backstroke Michael Calheta placed second for the boys with a time of 1:22.25, Nicholas Merriam placed closely behind in third with a time of 1:22.87, both hitting personal best times. For the girls, Stella Cowen placed third with a time of 1:32.50, followed closely by Nora Duncheva with a time of 1:33.36 for fourth place, both girls also hit personal best times.
The last event was the 400 yard relay, both the girls team made up of Zoe Treitman, Nora Motahari, Zoe Higgins, and Maybeline Brown, and the boys team made up of Kaua De Assis, Philip Pruciano, Nicholas Merriam, and Michael Calheta finished in first place to end the meet.
The Vineyard swim teams next meet is at home on Jan. 8, against Nauset Regional High School.
