NAUGATUCK — The Naugy swim team’s depth has been a work-in-progress. Last Friday, the ‘Hounds showed strides have been made.
The Greyhounds overcame no divers in their lineup and outlasted the Hawks in a 97-85 win. The meet left both coaches pleased with how their swimmers performed.
“In a close meet, you can’t give up a touch. Their girls did a nice job, but to our girls’ credit, they swam well,” Naugy coach Jim McKee said.
The Greyhounds recorded 30 best times and grabbed first place in 10 events. The difference, however, was how Naugy earned points beyond taking the top spot.
Addison Best and Cara Rotatori each won two individual events for Naugy. Best took the top spot in the 200 and 500 free events, while Rotatori won the 100 free and 100 backstroke.
But, it was the second, third, fourth and fifth-place finishers that gave Naugy much-needed points. For example, Faith Tuscano took third (2:42.85) in the 200 IM and beat her best time by nearly 4 seconds.
The 200 IM was won by Naugy’s Alexandra Silva (2:39.63), who beat out Woodland’s Emma Sardinskas (2:42.31). Tatinana Lynn (2:18.41) and Veronica Dergachev (2:22.53) finished second and third respectively in the event to give the Hawks an early lead.
In the next event, Naugy picked up four points in the 50 free, thanks to a first-place finish from Tathiana Serrano (28.04) and a third-place finish by Erica Spino (28.48). Serrano narrowly finished ahead of Woodland’s Sarah Bryden (28.38), who missed out by less than a half-second with a lifetime best time.
Lauren Lombardo, Sara Fowler and Alexandra Byczko took first, second and third to sweep the diving event for Woodland.
Sardinskas (1:15.41) won the butterfly, and Woodland was boosted by a nice finish from freshman Kyla Drewry, who took second in 1:18.26.
“Kyla’s time is a byproduct of the way she has practiced,” Woodland head coach Mike Magas said. “We’re going to hear a lot of good things about her in the years to come.”
Naugy’s versatility came through in the seventh event, the 100 free. Rotatori took first with a season-best time of 1:00.23, Serrano placed second (1:01.41) and Tuscano was fourth (1:06.56). Bryden took third for Woodland, but Naugy gained eight points.
“It’s nice to win races, but you have to have people that can finish third, fourth or fifth,” McKee.
In the 500 free, Naugy gained more points thanks to Meghan Lauer (6:45.79) and Elizabeth Tuscano (6:50.59), who finished fourth and fifth respectively. Elizabeth Tuscano touched out Woodland’s Taylor Amore (6:51.77).
Earlier in the meet, Amore placed fourth and beat out Elizabeth Tuscano in the 200 free with a finish of 2:30.67. Elizabeth Tuscano finished in 2:30.94.
Naugy took first and third to gain six points in the 200 free relay. The team of Silva, Faith Tuscano, Best and Spino placed first, while Meghan Messier, Erin Brown, Elizabeth Tuscano and Olivia Filanowski.
The team of Lisa Thrasher, Lombardo, Dergachev and Lynn finished second for Woodland.
Naugy picked up four more points in the backstroke thanks to Rotatori and Lauer finishing 1-2. The ‘Hounds won the next event with Silva’s first-place finish and Amanda Rinadli’s third-place spot.
“We’ve been swimming so well in practice that good things we’re going to happen,” McKee said.
Despite the loss, the Hawks came away with over 30 best times.
“We compete to win,” Magas said. “If there’s such a thing as a good loss, everyone gave everything that they had. They left it all in the pool. We just got beat by a better team.”
The Hawks (5-4) swam past Suffield Wednesday 93-87. Woodland will host Sacred Heart on Friday.
Naugatuck fell to Sacred Heart 92-77 Oct. 7. The Greyhounds will be back in action Friday when they host St. Paul.
