SOUTH HADLEY — Nonleague swim meets accomplish different goals for different teams.
Larger, deeper teams like Northampton can asses its depth and try new strokes.
Smaller schools like South Hadley lock in on individual events for focused improvement.
The Blue Devils and Tigers met in the Michael E. Smith Middle School pool Tuesday. Northampton won the boys meet 68-21 and the girls meet 55-39.
“They were doing some events that weren’t their favored events and were still doing well,” Northampton boys coach Molly McLoughlin said.
Brendan McBride won the 500-yard freestyle in 5 minutes 57.83 seconds, a Western Massachusetts-qualifying time.
“He’s normally more of a sprinter,” McLoughlin said.
Northampton also received strong showing from its junior leaders Quinn Nortonsmith and Nick Whitcomb.
They swam legs on the winning 200 medley team (1:52.59) and 400 freestyle relay (3:47.92). Each also won two individual events. Nortonsmith took first in the 200 individual medley (2:11.16) and 100 breaststroke (1:06.24), while Whitcomb won the 100 freestyle (51.45) and 100 backstroke (56.31).
“My goal was to take it out easy and bring it back hard, work on my back-half speed,” Whitcomb said. “I came back as fast as I went out, which doesn’t usually happen.”
Nate McClure gave South Hadley its only boys event win in the 100 butterfly. He finished in 55.6 seconds.
“I focused on my underwaters and just getting up and racing, not really thinking too much about my form, really thinking about letting it all out and seeing what happens,” McClure said.
On the girls side, South Hadley managed wins in two of the three relays and one individual event.
The Tigers took the 200 medley relay in 2:09.8 and the 400 free relay in 4:30. Reese Carey won the 100 free in 1:07.97.
“These first three nonleague meets don’t matter in terms of winning and losing,” South Hadley coach Eric Castonguay said. “We’re about what we’re trying to do and keep getting better individually.”
Lilly Etlinger, Abigail Murphy and Ruby Gottlieb all won two individual events for the Blue Devils.
“People did a lot of really fast swimming in their off events,” Northampton girls coach Jacob Wingfield said. “We’re trying new things, and people are doing well.”
Northampton hosts Easthampton at 4 p.m. Tuesday at JFK Middle School, while South Hadley travels to Westfield.
Boys swimming & diving
Northampton 68, South Hadley 21
at Michael E. Smith Middle School
200 medley relay — (N) 1. Cameron Miller, Quinn Nortonsmith, Nick Whitcomb, Brendan McBride, 1:52.59. (SH) 2. Cameron Barnish, Will Gagne, Nathan McClure, John Parenteau, 2:03.59; 200 free — (N) 1. Avery Cirincione-Lynch, 2:09. (SH). 3. Barnish, 2:47.74; 200 IM – (N) 1. Nortonsmith, 2:11.16. (SH) 3. Bryan Wolf, 3:40.44; 50 free — (N) 1. B. McBride, 24.82. (SH) 3. Wolf, 40.46; 100 fly — (SH) 1. McClure, 55.6. (N) 2. Miller, 1:05.2; 100 free — (N) 1. Whitcomb, 51.45. (SH) 2. Parentau, 1:03.3; 500 free — (N) 1. B. McBride, 5:57.83. (SH) 2. Gagne, 6:18.87; 200 free relay — (N) 1. Cirincione-Lynch, Liam McBride, Asa Geller, Liam McBride, 1:49.82. (SH) 2. Gagne, Barnish, Wolf, McClure, 2:07.01; 100 back — (N) 1. Whitcomb, 56.31. (SH) 3. Parenteau, 1:12.81; 100 breast — (N) 1. Nortonsmith, 1:06.24. (SH) 3. Gagne, 1:20.96; 400 free relay — (N) 1. Cirincione-Lynch, Whitcomb, Nortonsmith, Miller, 3:47.92.
Records: Northampton (2-0), South Hadley (0-2)
Belchertown 131,
Pope Francis 25
at Pope Francis
200 medley relay — 1. (B) Chris Chumbley, Cameron Wright, Bruce Douglas, Matthew Soja, 1:59.50; 200 free — 1. Ben LaClair (B), 1:51.43; 200 IM – 1. (B) Dennis Lelic, 2:15.13; 50 free — 1. (B) Jarred Veroneau, 26.53; 100 fly — 1. (B) Douglas, 1:13.59; 100 free — 1. (B) Soja, 1:02.39; 500 free — 1. (B) Jonah Scudere-Weiss, 6:01.72; 200 free relay — 1. (B) Hichul Chung, Joshua Bronson, Lelic, LaClair, 1:52.09; 100 back — 1. (B) Chumbley, 57.51; 100 breast — 1. (B) Aaron Almeda, 1:13.76; 400 free relay — 1. (B) LaClair, Kagan Sherson, Veroneau, Almeda, 3:50.75
Records: Belchertown (1-0) Pope Francis (0-1)
Amherst 111, Palmer 61
at Palmer
200 medley relay — 1. (A) Solomon Albertine, Andrew Ni, Noah Labrich, Won-Ho Lee, 1:56.33; 200 free — 1. (A) Antonio Polino, 2:08; 200 IM – 1. (A) Yanatan Ben-Chaim, 2:19.86; 50 free — 1. (A) Labrich, 23.22; Diving — 1. (A) Luca Brashear, 219.09; 100 fly — 1. (A) Ben-Chaim, 56.57; 100 free — 1. (A) Polino, 58.27; 500 free — 1. (A) Albertine, 6:06.17; 200 free relay — 1. (A) Ni, Austin Xiong, Polino, Ben-Chaim, 1:48.99; 100 breast — 3. (A) Xiong, 1:21.65; 100 back — 1. (A) Labrich, 56.83; 400 free relay — 1. (A) Ben-Chaim, Albertine, Polino, Labrich, 3:43.57
Records: Amherst (1-0) Palmer (0-1)
Girls swimming & diving
Northampton 55, South Hadley 39
at South Hadley
200 medley relay — (SH) 1. Jayde Thomas, Eilis Hellyar, Allison Bergeron, Anna Hellyar, 2:09.8. (N) 2. Emily House, Eva Gerstle, Maggie Miller, Rachel McGrath, 2:19.79; 200 free — (N) 1. Abigail Murphy, 2:14.57. (SH) 2. E. Hellyar, 2:27.02; 200 IM – (N) 1. Lilly Etlinger, 2:31.45. (SH) 2. A. Hellyar, 2:45.34; 50 free — (N) 1. Ruby Gottlieb, 27.67. (SH) 3. Reese Carey, 29.16; 100 fly — (N) 1. Murphy, 1:07.8. (SH) 3. Thomas, 1:14.56; 100 free — (SH) 1. Carey, 1:07.97. (N) 2. House, 1:10.28; 500 free — (N) 1. Gerstle, 5:54.07. (SH) 2. Bergeron, 6:24.06; 200 free relay — (N) 1. Murphy, House, Caitlyn Richmond, Gerstle, 1:57.00. (SH) 3. A. Hellyar, Carey, Luiza Guberow, Sydney Mercier, 2:02.07; 100 back — (N) 1. Etlinger, 1:10.28. (SH) 2. Thomas, 1:15.2; 100 breast — (N) 1. Gottlieb, 1:15.45. (SH) 2. E. Hellyar, 1:20.6; 400 free relay — (SH) 1. A. Hellyar, E. Hellyar, Bergeron, Thomas, 4:30. (N) 3. McGrath, Kayla Haskins, Miller, Murphy, 4:41.72.
Records: Northampton (2-0), South Hadley (0-2)
Belchertown 112,
Pope Francis 45
at Pope Francis
200 free — 1. (B) Brooke Podsiadio, Wiktoria Kaczor, Jasmine Cooper, Mi Choi, 2:10.75; 200 IM – 1. (B) Nicole Beaumont, 2:16.37; 50 free — 2. (B) Ashley Herrick, 35.80; 100 fly — 1. (B) Haley Synan, 1:02.46; 100 free — 2. (B) Aubrey Endress, 1:01.09; 500 free — 3. (B) Hale, 6:10.26; 200 free relay — 1. (B) Podsiadio, Mary Zina, Kate Wrona, Synan, 1:55.96; 100 back — 1. (B) Endress, 1:38.59; 100 breast — 2. (B) Choi, 1:27.23; 400 free relay — 1. (B) Beaumont, Wrona, Cooper, Endress, 4:22.83
Records: Belchertown (1-0) Pope Francis (0-1)
Amherst 116, Palmer 44
at Palmer
200 medley relay — 1. (A) Regan Thibault, Maggie Thibault, Anah Hannessy, Vianka Acosta-McKenzie, 2:07.37; 200 free — 1. (A) Acosta-McKenzie, 2:11.95; 200 IM – 1. (A) M. Thibault, 2:25.73; 50 free — 1. (A) Sophie Schilling, 29.28; 100 fly — 1. (A) Hannessy, 1:10.75; 100 free — 1. (A) R. Thibault, 1:02.99; 500 free — 1. (A) M. Thibault, 5:51.76; 200 free relay — 1. (A) Acosta-McKenzie, Aiden Thomas-Paquin, Johanna Hartman, Schilling, 1:58.22; 100 back — 1. (A) R. Thibault, 1:07.78; 100 breast — 1. (A) Acosta-McKenzie, 1:17.48; 400 free relay — 1. (A) M. Thibault, Hannessy, Schilling, R. Thibault, 4:21.67
Records: Amherst (1-0) Palmer (0-1)