High school notebook: Amherst girls swimming nearing state qualification in 4x400 free relay

Amherst’s Rowan Albertson competes in the 100-yard backstroke against Monson  in Amherst earlier this season.

Amherst’s Rowan Albertson competes in the 100-yard backstroke against Monson in Amherst earlier this season. PHOTO BY DAN LITTLE

By RYAN AMES

Staff Writer

Published: 01-16-2025 6:26 PM

The Amherst girls swimming team’s 400-yard freestyle relay squad knows what it takes to win.

Two years ago, the Hurricanes’ 400 relay team came up clutch during the Central/West meet. Needing to win the event to claim the title for a second straight season, Amherst’s quartet blazed through the event 20 seconds faster than its seed time to help the Hurricanes seal the come-from-behind win.

Two swimmers from that relay team are still with Amherst in Rowan Albertson and Finnley Chambers, and this year, Caprial Dibartolomeo, Sadie Cyr and Emory Albertson have all seen time with the relay team at some point.

“I rotate around all the relays,” Amherst head coach Denise Leckenby said. “But because we haven’t gotten that state’s cut yet, we did stack that relay [Tuesday], because we’re just going to try and get it. Once we get it, we can all relax a little bit and put different people in all three relays.”

Assistant coach Jane Denenberg added there’s a strategy element to rotating the relay teams because once the sectional and state meets come around, the team wants to be able to get as many points as possible.

Against Easthampton on Tuesday, the Hurricanes’ 400 relay was half a second slower than the state qualifying time. Despite that, Rowan Albertson feels the chemistry within the group will help them achieve their goals moving forward.

“One of the swimmers in the relay was my sister, so that relationship is pretty much built,” Rowan Albertson said. “But all of us have been swimming for years, since we were kids. We’ve all been on the high school team for forever, so it’s kind of already built in, which is amazing.”

Relays also bring out another side to swimmers that they don’t necessarily tap into when competing in their individual events, per Amherst’s junior swimmer.

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“I think it’s definitely different,” Rowan Albertson said. “Swimming is often perceived as such an individual sport and the relay, especially in the high school season, is just so much fun because it really feels like a team. You’re not just swimming for yourself, you’re swimming for the relay.”

Amherst’s next chance to earn its way to the states will come during a meet against Springfield Central on Friday, Jan. 17.

Mt. Institute Ski League Begins at Berkshire East

The first meet of the Mt. Institute Ski League was completed on Wednesday at Berkshire East Mountain Resort. Area skiers from local prep schools, including Williston Northampton, competed, which was a two-run slalom for the boys and girls races.

Northfield Mount Hermon won both varsity races while each Williston team finished in fourth place.

Emmett Gould was the top finisher for the Wildcats’ boys team, earning 14th place with a combined time of 99.92 seconds across both runs.

On the girls side, Williston had consecutive finishes in Elise Edminds and Sierra Grandonico, who finished in 20th and 21st place. Edminds combined time was 123.99, followed closely by Grandonico’s time of 126.02.

Pope Francis Girls Hockey Check-in

At the halfway point of the Pope Francis girls hockey team’s season, the Cardinals have a winning percentage of exactly .500 with a 5-5 record.

Assistant captain Giada Musa leads the Cardinals with six goals and is tied in points with Natalia Elson with seven.

Amherst native Felix Goeckel has compiled 143 saves in net for Pope Francis and has only surrendered five goals on the year.

The Cardinals will host Algonquin next at Smead Arena on Friday at 7 p.m.