On Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 20 and 21, Bromfield swimmers and divers closed out their season at the Division 2 Massachusetts High School State Championships at Agganis Arena at Boston University. The boys placed 18th out of 42 teams with 34 points, and the girls achieved an impressive 12th place out of 44 teams with 59 points.
Although they dropped four places—from 14th place in 2015 to 18th place this year—the boys did remarkably well, competing without power-swimmer James Allen, who graduated in 2015, or the diving of Trevor Brown, who did not dive this year. Raymond Li broke his record in the 100-yard breaststroke again, this time by one-third of a second. In addition, the boys team of Trevor Brown, Li, Jared Magno, and Connor O’Shea came within 0.19 seconds of breaking the school record in the 200-yard medley relay, achieving the time of 1 minute, 45.48 seconds.
Important contributors among the boys included team captain Josh Marinelli, who netted the team 19 points with his placements of seventh in the 200-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100-yard backstroke, and Sam Tonole, who made a strong contribution by placing sixth in 1-meter diving, earning the boys 13 points.
The girls did exceedingly well at the state meet, rising from 23rd place in 2015 to 12th place and going from 26 to 59 points. Catherine Cooper, a junior, worked hard in both the relays and individual events to give Bromfield an edge. In the 50-yard freestyle, she placed fourth, improving her seed time (her fastest previous time) by 0.23 seconds. She improved her seed time in the 100-yard freestyle as well, placing seventh with an improvement of 0.38 seconds.
Captain Alyson Codner also contributed, finishing 11th in the 500-yard freestyle, a notably difficult event to complete in, and 15th in the 200-yard freestyle. In the 500-yard freestyle, she showed careful pacing through her times in her laps and improved by 0.89 seconds. In the 200-yard freestyle, she dropped her seed time by 0.25 seconds. But the Bromfield girls didn’t earn their placement only through the individual events; the 200-yard and 400-yard freestyle relays secured the team an additional 12 much-needed points.
The boys and girls closed their swim season on a high note, and they broke school records throughout the season and showed marked improvement both as a group and as individuals. They will be back next winter, ready to win.
Boys
- 200-yard medley relay—18, Bromfield A (Trevor Brown, Raymond Li, Jared Magno, Connor O’Shea), 1 minute, 48.45 seconds
- 200-yard freestyle—7, Josh Marinelli, 1:49.56
- 200-yard individual medley—25, Li, 2:09.46
- 1-meter diving—6, Sam Tonole, 443.10
- 100-yard backstroke—10, Marinelli, 57.44
- 100-yard breaststroke—15, Li, 1:03.71
- 400-yard freestyle relay—20, Bromfield A (Marinelli, Brown, Christopher Clark, Li), 3:34.34
Girls
- 200-yard medley relay—33, Bromfield A (Jessica Russell, Kayla Lem, Emily Brown, Caroline Noyes), 2:08.02
- 200-yard freestyle—15, Alyson Codner, 2:03.70
- 50-yard freestyle—4, Catherine Cooper, 24.94
- 100-yard freestyle—7, Cooper, 55.13
- 500-yard freestyle—11, Codner, 5:29.59
- 200-yard freestyle relay—10, Bromfield A (Codner, Noyes, Brown, Cooper), 1:45.93
- 400-yard freestyle relay—12, Bromfield A (Codner, Noyes, Brown, Cooper), 3:52.70
Kate Selig is a freshman at the Bromfield School.
