Lindsay Wagner, Max Reich Break Records at NH State Meet

2018 New Hampshire Swimming And Diving State Championships

New Hampshire awarded four state championship trophies from February 9th-11th at the University of New Hampshire: boys and girls’ titles for both Division I (the state’s bigger schools) and Division II (the state’s smaller schools).

Division I

Division I saw a pair of runaway victories, with both the boys’ and girls’ meets being decided well before the last races of the day. In the women’s meet, it was Exeter who won by 79.5 points over runners-up Bedford. The boys’ meet was equally-as lopsided – Bishop Guertin beat Exeter by 78 points.

The Bishop Guertin boys broke the only State Record of the Division I meet – and it came in the closing event of the day, the 400 free relay. There, they swam a 3:12.96, which broke their own record of 3:15.12 set at last year’s meet. They returned 3 of the 4 swimmers last year, with the exception being the 2nd leg Josh Puksta. The members of the relay were Matthew Lashua (48.84), John Puksta (48.45), Matthew Rantala (48.07), and Mark Zoda (47.60). The relay will take a stab at the record again next year: Zoda, the anchor and fastest leg, is the only swimmer from this year’s foursome who is graduating.

Bishop Guertin swept the days relays in dominant fashion. They won the 200 free relay in 1:29.39 – almost a 5-second edge over Exeter – and the 200 medley relay in 1:37.63 – half-a-second clear of runners-up Exeter. They also won 5 individual races, including a double from Zoda. He first won the 50 free in 21.57, and then won the 100 breast (by almost 4 seconds) in 58.50. That 100 breast sealed the meet for Bishop Guertin, as they finished 1-3-4.

The Exeter girls won 2 of the 3 relays, both of which came by huge margins. In the 200 medley, the team of Mackenzie Patch (27.70), Hannah Lord (31.67), Reagan Lord (27.27), and Erin Madden (26.51) combined for a 1:53.15 – more than 3 seconds better than the rest of the field. They book-ended that race in the 400 free relay with the same four swimmers this time finishing in 3:44.81 – including a 54.64 from freshman Reagan Lord. Hannah Lord is a junior, and the other 3 swimmers are all freshmen.

Even without those 4 stars, they still had enough to take 4th in the 200 free relay, though Keene won thanks in part to a 22.96 anchor from freshman Teresa Ivan. Individually, she won the 200 free (1:52.87), but swam a 3rd relay instead of a 2nd individual.

Exeter won just 2 individual events to go with their 2 relays. Hannah Lord took the 200 IM in 2:09.36, besting the field by almost 9.93 seconds; and her sister Reagan Lord won the girls’ 100 fly in 59.07 – a much-narrower margin of just .19 seconds. Reagan’s win came over another freshman, Kaitlin Witkop of Londonberry, which sets up a long rivalry between 2 young swimmers.

Top 5 Men’s Teams – Division I

  1. Bishop Guertin – 350
  2. Exeter – 272
  3. Bedford – 173.5
  4. Pinkerton – 110
  5. Dover – 102

Top 5 Women’s Teams – Division I

  1. Exeter – 291.5
  2. Bedford – 212
  3. Dover – 177
  4. Nashua South – 106
  5. Pinkerton – 97.5

Division II

The small schools meet was slightly more competitive, with Hanover coming away in a title sweep. The boys’ team won with 201 points, just 28 ahead of runners-up Oyster River, while the Hanover girls topped St. Thomas Aquinas by 35 points.

Among the double winners for the Hanover boys, who didn’t win any of the meet’s 3 relays,  was junior Erik Hansen. He opened his meet with a win in the 200 free in 1:47.48, and followed it up with a 4:45.45 in the 500 free. He took over both crowns from his older brother Kristian, who won both races and set state titles as well at last season’s state meet before matriculating to the University of Minnesota.

Division II tends to have a lot of dominant double winners, with a small group of elite high school swimmers sitting at the top of the standings. That was the case with St. Thomas Aquinas’ Maxwell Reich. He won both the 200 IM (1:54.15) and the 100 breaststroke (56.62) in new State Records. The latter beat Andrew Disco’s old record-setting time from 2011 of 57.55 by over a second.

The Hanover girls focused on the free relays and came away with wins in both (and with both relays being made entirely of underclassmen). In the girls’ 200 free relay, they swam 1:44.05, just holding off a 23.78 anchor from Oyster River senior Eleanor Zwart as she clawed back from over a 3-second deficit.

Hanover had a much-easier go in the 400 free relay, finishing in 3:43.113 – almost 5 seconds better than runners-up Souhegan.

Individually, the Hanover girls racked up big points with a 1-2-3 finish in diving (there were only 4 competitors). That was their only individual event win to go with the relay titles.

Derryfield junior Lindsay Wagner broke her own State Record in the 100 back, swimming 54.60. She swam 55.44 at last year’s meet, which was the old record. She also won the 50 free, albeit in a non-record 23.42, as part of a Derryfield 1-2 finish.

Top 5 Men’s Teams – Division II

  1. Hanover – 201
  2. Oyster River – 183
  3. Windham – 179
  4. Winnacunnet – 133
  5. Lebanon – 118

Top 5 Women’s Teams – Division II

  1. Hanover – 207
  2. St. Thomas Aquinas – 162
  3. Derryfield – 135
  4. Souhegan – 130
  5. Portsmouth – 122

 

 

 

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Matthew Lashua
6 years ago

I have always wanted to be on swimswam. We work really hard at our highschool practices and we are so grateful and hyped that we won. We got a great team together and trained incredibly hard

Steve Nolan
6 years ago

“Max Reich” as a phrase just feels anti-Semitic.

“Iiiiiiiiif you thought the first three were something, wait ’til we turn it up to the MAX.”

Jay Ryan
6 years ago

Lindsay Wagner—bionic

NH swimming superfan
6 years ago

I believe that Lindsey’s state record was actually in the 100 backstroke, not the 100 fly.

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Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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