Naugy swims to 17th in Class M

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MIDDLETOWN — The Naugatuck girls swim team concluded the season Nov. 15 with a 17th-place finish at the Class M state championship meet at Wesleyan University.

Naugatuck, which scored 94 points, was represented in the 50 freestyle, the 500 freestyle, the 100 backstroke and all three relay teams in the 21-team field.  Brookfield took home the championship with 688 points.

“We did as well as expected,” Naugatuck head coach Jim McKee said. “Our seniors Addison (Best) and Olivia (Filanowski) did a nice job and all year long have been our leaders and top performers.”

Best finished 20th in the 500 freestyle (5:52.68), six seconds off her third-place pace at the NVL championship. Filanowski took 21st in the 50 freestyle (27.14), placing one second out of the top ten.

Young swimmers have made an impact for Naugatuck this season, and that was the case again last week. Freshman Molly Kennelly finished 20th in the 100 backstroke (1:08.40), three seconds out of the top ten.

“We had a bunch of new girls come out this year and really contributed,” McKee said. “We have a strong group of sophomores helping us to build a strong foundation. Now we need to work with that and try and develop some depth. These things go in cycles and hopefully we have a few more girls to add come next season.”

The three Naugatuck relay squads all broke into the top 20.

The 200 medley foursome of Kennelly, Filanowski, Maria Guimares and Francesca Spino finished 14th (2:09.79), four seconds better than their seventh-place NVL championship time.

The team of Brin Battisti, Katie Brown, Best and Filanowski finished 14th (1:54.95) in the 200 freestyle relay. Meghan Messier and Emily Sarmiento were part of the foursome in the qualifying preliminaries.

The 400 freestyle relay squad of Elizabeth Tuscano, Kennelly, Filanowski and Best came in 13th (4:13.29).

“Building a team as the season goes along is a process,” McKee said. “I’m pleased at the effort the girls gave this year and it’s certainly something we can build on for next season.”