The New Hampshire high school state championships saw a number of state records broken, including two to Saint Thomas Aquinas junior Kyra Sarazen. She broke the 200 IM and 100 back records swimming in Division II. In that same meet, the Oyster River girls broke the 200 medley and 400 free relay records en route to a runaway state title – that medley relay mark went down twice over the weekend, with Dover first breaking it at the Divsion I meet before Oyster River took control the next day in Division II.
Oyster River won for both boys and girls in Division II, the smaller schools division. In Division I, Bedford won for girls while Exeter broke two state records to nip Bishop Guertin by just 2 points.
Division I Meet
The Bedford girls ran away with things, while the Exeter men survived a close scrape with Bishop Guertin to win by two points.
The first event kicked off in a big way, with state records on both sides of the meet. Dover’s girls team of Sarah Wydra, Ella Tesch, Julia DeGregorio and Cassidy Black went 1:53.54 to break the 200 medley relay record, while Exeter’s boys did the same with the crew of Kellen Gray, Patrick Carignan, Zachary Bishop and James Mundy in 1:38.71.
DeGregorio came off that relay to win the 100 fly for Dover, going 57.61. Meanwhile Gray went on after the boys relay to win the 100 back in 52.80.
Bishop Guertin made the most of their run through the middle of the meet, winning three titles in a stretch of four boys events. That run was started and ended by senior Jacob Moleski, who won the 50 free in 22.21 (a touchout of .02 over Exeter’s Mundy) and then took the 100 free in 48.43 (also over a close Mundy). In between, senior David Pfeifer defended his state diving title with a score of 284.85.
Moleski made it three wins on the weekend by leading Bishop Guertin’s 200 free relay to a state title in 1:31.77.
But Exeter’s team of Bishop, Ethan VanderWoude, Gray and Mundy went 3:17.55 to break a state record in the 400 free relay and win the meet in the final event.
Nashua North’s Oliver French and Concord’s Alaina Pribis swept the distance races. French was 1:45.17 winning a tight race with Exeter’s Bishop in the 200, then 4:42.70 to run away with the 500. Pribis dominated both races, going 1:55.22 in the 200 free and 5:03.85 in the 500. Both swimmers are juniors.
Other double winners were Alvirne sophomore Lauren Somers in the 50 free and 100 free and Winnacunnet junior Connar Patterson in the 200 IM and 100 fly.
Bedford was able to dominate the girls’ side towards the end, winning the final two events. Senior Natalie Giraldi went 1:08.17 to win the 100 breast before coming back to anchor the winning 400 free relay, which went 3:47.28.
Bedford also got a diving win from junior Rachel Byrne. Second-place Bishop Guertin won just one event, the 200 free relay.
There was a tie for the girls 100 back title, with Dover’s Sarah Wydra and Katherine Brennan of Merrimack both going 59.41.
Other winners were Manchester Central’s Elizabeth Aldrich in the girls 200 IM and Dover’s Brian Eldridge in the boys 100 breast.
Girls scores:
1. Bedford 246
2. Bishop Guertin 180.5
3. Dover 175.5
4. Alvirne 111
5. Timberlane 110.5
Boys scores:
1. Exeter 232
2. Bishop Guertin 230
3. Bedford 196.5
4. Pinkerton 136
5. Londonderry 101.5
Division II Meet
Oyster River picked up big wins in both genders in the small schools division. The boys were led by sophomore Matt Jones, who picked up three wins over the weekend. Jones went 52.60 to win the 100 fly and followed that up with a 53.65 win in the 100 back. He ended Oyster River’s night on the top of the podium as the anchor of the 400 free relay that went 3:32.42 to just touch out Souhegen.
The Oyster River girls only had one individual state champion, and that was in diving – senior Emily Howard scored 139.15 points to lead four Oyster River divers in the event. That’s not to say the swimmers didn’t put up points, though. Oyster River picked up the big relay points for winning the 200 medley and 400 free relays.
Tessa Oakes, Audrey Duvall, Sydnee Aubin and Haley Jones went 1:52.52 to set a new state record in a runaway medley win, while Jones, Charlotte Moore, Aubin and Oakes broke their own record with a 3:43.47 in the 400 free relay. That 200 medley broke the newly-set state record from Dover in the Division I meet the day before.
The star of the girls meet was St. Thomas Aquinas junior Kyra Sarazen, who broke a pair of state records while winning three times. Her 2:03.71 win in the 200 IM was the first record, and she added a 55.47 in the 100 back later on. That came in the very next race after her 200 free relay team claimed a state title in 1:43.87.
One more state record fell, to Derryfield senior Molly Fitzpatrick in the 100 breast. She went 1:04.89.
The boys meet was dominated by 4 swimmers who combined for all 8 individual titles. Jones from Oyster River was one, winning the 100 fly and 100 back. St. Thomas Aquinas senior Jack Gentes ruled the sprints, winning the 50 free (22.74) and 100 free (50.41) in touchouts, while Souhegen junior Tyler Howard won both the longer races, with a 1:48.23 in the 200 free and a 4:58.68 in the 500.
Howard’s teammate Alexander Bedard was the final individual winner, taking the 200 IM (1:59.67) and 100 breast (58.91).
On the girls’ side, Hanover’s Elisabeth Brechbuhl won twice, dominating the 200 free in 1:53.98 and doing the same with a 5:03.79 in the 500.
Hollis/Brookline won a pair of boys relays, the 200 medley in 1:45.25 (touching out Souhegen by a tenth) and the 200 free in 1:36.66.
Other winners were Saint Thomas Aquinas junior Sophie Kenny in the 50 free, Trinity freshman Noelle Theodoulou in the 100 fly and Derryfield freshman Emma Wagner in the 100 free.
Girls scores:
1. Oyster River 269.5
2. St. Thomas Aquinas 148
3. Hanover 122
4. Souhegan 113.5
5. Windham 90.5
Boys scores:
1. Oyster River 236.5
2. St. Thomas Aquinas 159
3. Hollis/Brookline 143
4. Souhegan 139
5. Windham 122
Thank you Mrs. Glover. Good luck to Jim and Bob at their big meets!
Way to go Oliver!
Thank you Mrs. Glover. Good luck to Jim and Bob at their big meets!