Print      
Westford girls steal the show
Grey Ghosts easily outdistance field
By Brian Mozey and Nathaniel Weitzer
Globe Correspondents

The Westford Academy girls’ swimming and diving team continued its dominance on Saturday afternoon, repeating as the Division 1 state champion while capturing its fifth title in the past six years.

The Grey Ghosts racked up 325 points to outdistance runner-up Masconomet Regional (177) and Beverly (173) at Boston University’s FitRec Center.

Senior Ali Kea and sophomore Tiffany Tseng were integral to the Westford victory in their individual events, while also propelling the first-place 200-yard freestyle relay to a meet record time of 1:37.48. The pair, along with junior Emily Rudiman and Isabella Xu, were one second shy of being considered for All-America honors.

“It was great to finish my senior year with a state championship and jumping into the pool with all my best friends,’’ said Kea, who also registered runner-up finishes in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles.

“I couldn’t be prouder of all the swimmers that stepped up to earn this victory.’’

Kea had a second-place finish in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles.

Her favorite moment came in her finale, when she anchored the same foursome to a win in the 400 freestyle relay (3:32.47).

Tseng also turned in a dominant performance, winning the 200 individual medley (2:07.05) and placing third in the 100 backstroke.

Westford won the 200 medley relay (1:50.47) behind Tseng, freshman Emily Blatt, sophomore Jessica Leong, and junior Katherine Pawlak.

Blatt also stepped up with a runner-up finish in the 100 breaststroke, beating out four other swimmers who had registered better times entering the meet.

“It’s been a great run over the last six years and all the credit is given to the swimmers,’’ Westford coach Caitlin Click said. “They work so hard throughout the season and seeing them finish this way is a dream come true.’’

Franklin junior Ashley Loomis continued to impress, winning her fifth and sixth individual titles with wins in the 200- and 500 freestyle, by 1.36 seconds, respectively.

Loomis, a junior at Franklin High School, continued her individual success winning her fifth and sixth first-place titles. She won the 500-yard freestyle by 0.36 seconds and the 200-yard freestyle by a second.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to win these state championships and continue improving my times each year,’’ Loomis said. “The goal for my senior year is to break the state record in the 200 free and 500 free and the training starts next week for reach that goal.’’

Division 2

Over the last decade, the Duxbury High girls’ swimming and diving team has consistently competed for a Division 2 state title, but fallen short with top-eight finishes in nine consecutive seasons.

Yet from the opening race on Saturday night, the Dragons made it clear they weren’t finishing second to anyone.

Led by a state-record finish (1:46.31) in the 200-yard medley relay as well as an individual state record (1:02.08) from Mary Buckley in the 100-yard breaststroke, Duxbury edged runner-up Weston, 250-242, to clinch the school’s first state championship.

First, junior Grace Ali combined with her sister, freshman Julia Ali, and juniors Mary Buckley and Anna Jamieson to best the state record in the 200-yard medley relay by a mere .08 seconds.

Grace Ali also took home first place in the 100-meter butterfly and 100 free to vault Duxbury into first place midway through the competition.

In the penultimate race, Buckley hit the afterburners in the 100-yard breaststroke, smashing a 10-year-old state record (1:03.39) by 1.3 seconds to give Duxbury 210 points, but a strong showing in the diving pool paced Weston to 210 as well, setting up a dramatic finish in the final event.

But with the pressure on, Duxbury’s fantastic foursome came through with a first-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.