Sports: Field Hockey’s Noone Commits to Holy Cross; Keene State’s Habelow Honored

By Leave a Comment

Photo: Senior Suzanne Noone, with Marauders’ Head Coach Jessica Smith.

Accolades for a pair of former Belmont High School Field Hockey players in the past two weeks.

Senior co-captain Suzanne Noone who finished a stellar three-year varsity career in the Marauders midfield signed a letter of intent on Friday, Nov. 14 to play field hockey with Div. 1 Holy Cross in Worcester beginning in 2015.

The two-time team MVP scored 22 goals and 39 assists as a Marauder while being named a two-time first team All-Middlesex League. She will join her sister, sophomore Catherine, on the Crusader team that plays in the Patriot League.

“I’ll really excited to play with my sister at Holy Cross where my father played baseball,” said Noone.

“But I’ll have to get into shape in the spring and summer for college field hockey so I’ll be working out a lot,” said Noone.

“Suzanne has the ability to play in the midfield or on the forward line. Her presence on the field and passing game continue to improve. A very hard worker off the ball,” said Holy Cross Head Coach Zowie Tucker.

Noone is well aquatinted with another student-athlete who signed with Holy Cross. Watertown’s all-star Emily Loprete – who never lost a game in her high school career – not only played against Noone on the pitch but was a teammate last year and this coming season on the combined Watertown/Belmont high school ice hockey team which will be a strong contender for the state Div. 2 title.

On the college side of the ledger, Keene State College senior defender Melissa Habelow was selection to the 2014 Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches’ Association Division III New England West Region First Team.

Screen Shot 2014-11-24 at 5.03.50 AM

Habelow was named to the LEC All-Conference First Team this season and selected to the Second Team in 2013.

“I think her offseason training really helped her this year,” said Owls’ Head Coach Amy Watson. “She came back ready to play and I think that made a world of difference. This was by far Melissa’s strongest season as she was key for us on both the offensive and defensive end.”

Habelow anchored the top defensive unit in the conference, ranking first with eight shutouts and in goals against average of 1.15. Habelow also contributed on the offensive side as a specialist on penalty corners, registering nine goals, including four game-winners and five assists for 23 points and ranked tied for third in the LEC with seven defensive saves.

The Owls finished the year 19-5, which included a 15-game win streak, an undefeated LEC season, a second consecutive LEC Championship and NCAA berth.

Both Noone and Habelow played for Belmont High’s current Head Coach Jessica Smith.

Students: Get Your Turkey Game Tickets at the School Store

By Leave a Comment

Tickets are currently on sale at the Belmont High School’s School Store for the annual Belmont v. Watertown Thanksgiving Day Football game.

The school store is located in the Belmont High School Café. The store is open from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. But be advised: the store will be closing at 10 a.m. on Wed. Nov. 26th

Pre-sale ticket prices are student $4, adults $6.

All tickets the day of the game are $8.

42 for 42: Chenery Football Ends Season a Success On and Off the Field

By 2 Comments

Forty-two students arrived on a sweltering August afternoon to the Chenery Middle School playground for the first day of football practice.

Two-and-a-half months later, 42 now experienced and tested players ended the first season of middle school football in Belmont in several decades with a big win over Watertown, 22-8, played at Victory Field on Nov. 5.

“The big news was that we began and ended the season with the same number of kids,” said Chenery Head Coach James MacIsaac. 

“They showed a lot of dedication and grew as a team after each game,” said MacIsaac.

The season had its ups – playing on Harris Field vs Melrose, winning more games than they lost – and downs – losing at home – but above it all, the players spent the season improved their fundamental football talents on the field and learned life skills on the sidelines.

“I received a great deal of positive feedback and the kids all seemed to have fun,” said MacIsaac.

The 2014 Chenery Middle School football team included:

Ryan Hoffman, Mitchel Pereira, Joe Salvi, Peter O’Connor, Matthew Crisafi, Carlos Osgood, Robert Dolan, Jared Edwards, Frank Castagno Jack Hannibal, Avery Arno, Nareg Stapanian, Tommy Cranson, Tim Starr, Connor Estok, Rhaki Joseph, Sohail Hajri, Jake Parsons, Jason Santos, James Nally, Owen Strakowski, Joseph LaFauci, Brett Westgate, Connor Shea, Michael Alexander, Dijuan Moore, Ryan Santoro, Zachary Hubbard, Willy MacIsaac, Merrill Barnes, Parker Lutz, Emanual Clark, Thomas Brugger, Drew Finn, David Brennan, Joey Hurley, Brendan Noonan, Rafael Alejandre, Aiden Dowling, Demetri Stathadikis, Nathan Rose and Brendan Logan.

The coaching staff included MacIsaac, Robert Walker, Kevin Shea, John Arno and Mike Carew.

Blake-West Powers Belmont to Second in Div. 2 Swimming Championships

By 1 Comment

During the MIAA Division 2 State Swimming and Diving Championships held Sunday, Nov. 16 at Harvard’s Blodgett Pool, Belmont High School long-time head coach Ev Crosscup would tap his chest with his fist when greeting his squad poolside.

“Our message was that we had worked well together as a team. We’re focused, worked hard together; we’ve supported each other. I told them that we were going to take it to the next level that we, as a team, we’re one collective heartbeat today,” said Crosscup.

On the night of a record and a slew of season best times, Belmont finished second to Attleboro’s Bishop Feehan, 270 to 239, a margin of a mere 29 points.

“I could not be more pleased in the effort from everybody; they all had best times from the week before [at the North Sectionals where Belmont finished third] when they had best times. That’s almost unheard of,” said Crosscup.

“We battled all the way to the end. We gave Bishop Feehan a good run, but we didn’t quite have enough to pull it out. But second doesn’t takeaway all what we accomplished today. I couldn’t have expected anymore,” he said.

Leading the way for the Marauders was junior star Jessie Blake-West who took returned to Belmont with three state championships – all obtained within a 40-minute time period – a feat matched only by Newton North’s Amanda Graf in the Division 1 championships held earlier Sunday.

“It’s great, it’s so great,” said Blake-West, who now has five state swimming championship titles in her trophy case.

“I’m just glad I could be here to celebrate it with the coaches and the team,” she told the Belmontonian.

The highlight of the night was Blake-West’s third victory in her specialty, the 100-yard butterfly. Taking on a talented field, Blake-West opened with a 25.71 second first 50 yards to win in a state championship record time of 56.28, winning by a full two seconds over freshman Alyvia Petrozza of Central Catholic.

Blake-West was the only individual swimmer in either division to break a championship meet record Sunday.

“Setting the meet record was one of my goals this season. Ideally I would have liked to have my best time here,” she said, disappointed that she didn’t reach her target of finishing in the low 55 second range which would have given her National High School All-American status.

“But I’m very happy how I swam. I couldn’t have asked for a better meet,” said Blake-West.

Equally impressive was Blake-West’s other individual victory in the 200 individual medley. In an event demanding proficiency in each stroke – butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle – Blake-West took a one second lead after the butterfly leg and stretched her margin to win by more than three seconds, 2:08.26 to 2:11.40, over Petrozza in a personal best time.

Blake-West started the night’s action joining senior backstroke and co-captain Maya Nagashima, junior breaststroke Emily Quinn and freshman freestyle Alison Sawyer to propel the favorite Belmont 200 medley relay to victory over Bishop Stang and Bishop Feehan. Blake-West’s 25.27 for the butterfly leg distanced the other teams during the third leg.

But it was Blake-West’s final event, as anchor on the 100 freestyle relay with Sawyer, fellow freshman Ophelie Loblack and junior Solvay Metelmann that demonstrated just how dominating her performance was at Harvard. Her 24.13 leg was the fastest 50 yard freestyle not only in the event but would have won the open 50 freestyle event by .05 seconds, and pushed Belmont from sixth to fourth in 1:43.72, behind victorious Westwood in 1:41.42.

At the end of the meet, Blake-West was involved in collecting 110 of Belmont’s 239 total points.

“Jessie’s was remarkable tonight truly remarkable,” said Crosscup.

For the second-year running, Belmont brought the best contingency of breaststrokers to the meet as the Marauders took four of the first nine places in the 100 breaststroke final.

Leading the way was Quinn who stayed with the leaders for the entire distance and crept up a place in the final yards to finish 3rd in 1:08.41, behind upset victor junior Sienna Lapalme of Bishop Stang who defeated Bishop Feehan senior and Costa Rican national swimming member Marisa Reidmeister, 1:07.32 to 1:07.61.

Senior Klaudia Nagrabska finished fifth in 1:09.59, knocking three-and-a-half seconds off her season’s best, and senior Sarah Osborne took 9th in 1:12.86. The surprise for Belmont was sophomore Dervla Moore-Frederick. Swimming in the heat before the final, Moore-Frederick took two-and-a-half seconds off her qualifying time to finish in 1:12.26 in 8th.

The quartet brought Belmont 50 points.

Events where the Marauders also picked up multiple points were in the 500 free with senior co-captain Eunice Lee and juniors Sara Noorouzi (14th, 5:40.61) and Elizabeth Levy (16th, 5:42.17), Nagashima (7th) and Quinn (11th) joined Blake-West in the individual medley and the youngsters Sawyer (12th), Metelmann (14th) and Loblack (16th) in the 50 free sprint.

Crosscup pointed to the “outstanding effort” of Lee in the 200 free (2:05.36 in 15th) and the “marathon” 5o0 free in which she overtook two swimmers in the final 50 yards with a 32.96 second final lap to finish 10th in 5:36.48, an improvement of 13 seconds from her qualifying time.

Swimming her final event wearing a Marauder cap, fellow co-captain Nagashima took home seven points with a 10th (1:02.47) in her speciality, the 100 backstroke, while Loblack was one of only three freshmen in a flight of 22 swimmers to swim the 100 free final, coming in 13th in 57.75.

And those Marauders who didn’t earn points took in the experience of a state championship while bringing down their season bests. Noorouzi and Levy took a second off their 200 free times while sophomores Molly Thomas (50 free and 100 backstroke) and Allie Beecroft (500 free) improved on their qualifiers.

Over at the diving area, amidst the noise and ruckus of the swimmers, Belmont’s junior Cynthia Kelsey stayed in the lead group for the entire meet as she accumulated points with dives that brought 9s and 8 1/2 scores. The school’s record holder placed third with an 11-dive total of 437.20 points.

Interestingly, Kelsey finished behind the event’s repeat winner, junior Hannah Phelan (who broke the meet record this year with 537.05 points). Yet unlike last year when she dove for Walpole High, Phelan earned the 20 points for her new school – and Belmont’s rival – Bishop Feehan.

Despite the great swimming and diving throughout the meet, Belmont trailed Bishop Feehan by two points with the Shamrocks the heavy favorite in the meet’s final event, the 400 free relay.

With Belmont’s quickest swimmers having reached their four-event participation limit and the Marauders sending out three underclassmen (Loblack, Metelmann and Noorouzi) and Lee, the only realistic chance for a Belmont state title would have been from a false start or a disqualification by Bishop Feehan.

That did not occur as Belmont took 11th (in 3:53.25, a five second improvement from their season’s best) and Feehan finished on the top spot for both the relay and the team championship.

Yet the cheers and smiles were just as joyful on the Belmont side of the pool as the team hoisted their runner-up plaque for all to see.

Sports: Belmont Football’s Streak Reaches 3 with 21-2 Win Over Boston Latin

By Leave a Comment

It’s official; Belmont High School Football is in the midst of a winning streak.

In the penultimate game of the 2014 season, senior running back Max Jones scored three touchdowns while the defense created four turnovers as the Marauders have run off three-consecutive victories by defeating visiting Boston Latin, 21-2, on Friday night, Nov. 14.

“I’m really proud at the defense who had the shut out [the two-point safety late in the fourth quarter was scored against the offense] because they stepped up as the offense was having a hard time moving forward,” said Belmont Head Coach Yann Kumin.

Kumin pointed to a play late in the fourth quarter as an example of the team’s ethos in the past three games. After a Wolfpack receiver caught a quick pass and ran by the sophomore defensive back Ben Jones towards an apparent touchdown. But Jones ran down the receiver and wrestled the ball from him at Belmont’s five-yard line, making the recovery.

“[Jones] could have given up on the play but he caught [the receiver] and stripped him. That’s what we talk about when we say ‘Next play, big play’,” said Kumin.

The game was hardly an easy go for the Marauders as Boston Latin’s defensive front line caused problems for Belmont’s running backs Jones and junior Mekhai Johnson.

In response, Kumin looked to the passing arm of sophomore quarterback Cal Christofori who went 12 for 25, going to juniors Justin Wagner and Robby Aiello and long-threat senior Jaehmar Paul who caught passes of 40 and 26 yards.

Belmont got on the board with three minutes left in the first quarter with Jones rushing 10 yards up the middle of the field in the end zone. The score occurred after junior defensive lineman Justin Arroyan caused and recovering a fumble.

Jones second TD was a 40 yard romp off the right side in the third quarter and a 60 yard sprint in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Jones, who scored three touchdowns in last week’s game against Salem, ran for 185 yards.

The Marauders are now off for nearly two weeks before the annual Thanksgiving Day game vs. Watertown.

“We’ll have time to rest up guys who are dinged up and target some areas that need to addressed before we meet a very good Watertown team,” said Kumin.

Sports: Fall Season Ends with a Bang on the Gridiron, Park and Pool

By Leave a Comment

It’s only appropriate with the return of frost to town that the fall athletic season is wrapping up. For Belmont, it does so with a bang as Belmont teams and individuals will be seeking glory on this final weekend.

• Belmont High School Football will be in search of something they have not accomplished in years; a winning streak. A victory over visiting Belmont Latin – the game gets underway tonight, Friday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. at Harris Field – will give three wins in a row and give the Marauders a 3-7 record going into the traditional Thanksgiving Day game against Watertown High.

• Junior Leah Brams will be competing in her third consecutive Division 1 All-State Cross Country meet, held this year in historic Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m. With temperatures not expected to break freezing, Brams will have, at least, a physiological advantage over the other runners: while they retreat indoors for the winter track season, Brams takes to the trails as one of the region’s most accomplished youth Nordic skiers.

• Just by past times posted this season, it is likely to be a big night for Belmont High School’s Girls’ Swimming and Diving Team Sunday, Nov. 16, at 7:30 p.m. at Harvard University’s Blodgett Pool as the Marauders seek to take the Div. 2 State Championship title. Belmont’s junior star Jessie Blake-West will be seeking to gain National High School All-American status in her favorite event, the 100-yard butterfly, and is the favorite to win state titles in the 200 individual medley and as a member of the 200 medley relay. With a great quartet of breaststroke swimmers, junior diver Thea Kelsey and young members who are getting faster with each meet, Head Coach Ev Crosscup could be heading for a dip into the pool at the end of the meet.

 

Sports: Belmont Boys’ Soccer Playoff Run Ends With Loss to Concord-Carlisle

By Leave a Comment

The Belmont High School Boys’ Soccer walked off the pitch at Chelmsford High School Thursday night, Nov. 13, knowing they weren’t cheated out of a chance for victory against Concord-Carlisle Regional High School.

“They were by far the best and most complete team we played all season. They were one of the few teams that put us back on our heels,” said Brian Bisceglia, Belmont’s first-year head coach after the 1-0 loss to the number-one seed in the Division 2 North Sectional semifinals.

“You gave it your all, and you should be proud of that effort,” Bisceglia told the team after the game.

But that didn’t make the defeat any less hard to take for the team, especially for the dozen seniors who played their final game in the Belmont kit.

“No regrets,” said senior Luke Gallagher, one of four co-captains (along with Peter Berens, Norman Kilavatitu and Ben Lazenby) who led the team to an impressive 15-4-2 season.

“Tonight I saw how far we’ve come this year and how much each and every player has developed, I’m proud of these guys,” said Gallagher.

“Every single day, at practice and in games, we put everything on the field. [Concord-Carlisle] won, but we didn’t lose it,” said Kilavatitu.

“The unfortunate part of a competition is that one team has to go home unhappy. But I’d rather play and risk that than to be afraid to experience losing,” Bisceglia told the team.

The Patriots – undefeated through the regular season with a 19-0-1 record – came into the game having rolled over Arlington (3-0) and Northeast Metro (8-0) looking as strong as their recent results would suggest. Strong, quick and disciplined, Concord-Carlisle’s midfielders made it difficult for Belmont to generate a sustained attack.

And the Marauder defense – headed by standout senior center back Amar Fernald and backstopped by Middlesex League All-Star goalkeeper Berens – was under sustained pressure in the first half as the Patriots used their height advantage to flick-on headers into dangerous positions on set pieces such as free and corner kicks.

Belmont’s best chance in the first half came when the Marauders had a free kick 25 meters from the Concord-Carlisle goal. The resulting attempt sailed by Patriot goalkeeper Bryce Talbot-Dion well over the bar.

On the other end of the field, Berens twice raced off his line to stop streaking Patriots who slipped containment.

Just as it appeared the game would enter the half scoreless, Concord-Carlisle went ahead with a minute remaining in the first 40 minutes. A steal at midfield found the ball 30 meters out where senior co-captain Garrett Leahy put a pass at the feet of forward Andrew Verrilli coming down the left who slotted a well-paced shot by Berens into the right side of the net.

Belmont was fortunate to stay down by one as a shot from Verrilli whacked the crossbar on a one-time blast four minutes into the second half.

Bisceglia made a series of tactical changes to free up his midfield but Lazenby, Kilavatitu and Danny Rizzo found it hard sledding to push up field with possession, especially as the big Patriot midfielders played with greater defensive purpose.

“I think some formation changes and coaching decisions could have been better, to put our players in better spots,” said Bisceglia.

Belmont got close with less than three minutes remaining in the game. A Patriot miscue allowed Gallagher to possess the ball deep on the right side. He swung the ball into the center of the pitch; the ball was toed by Lazenby requiring a Concord-Carlisle defender to clear from the goal mouth. The resulting Belmont corner was cleared.

Two minutes later, the final whistle blew and with it, the end of a great post and regular season.

“It was a pleasure coaching them,” said Bisceglia, who nearly did not that the head coaching job due to personal events happening this year.

“I didn’t want to do it if I couldn’t fully commit to this team. And the seniors were why I made the choice,” said Bisceglia, having coached them four years ago as freshmen on an undefeated junior varsity team.

“I knew how special they were, not just as players but as people. They are just good guys,” he said.

“In fact, even if we had won a state championship, I probably would still feel the same sense of sadness seeing them leave,” said Bisceglia.

While Belmont will have a strong core of players returning next season including Trevor Kelly, Tokio Kobayashi, Daron Hamparian, Edward Stafford and Marvyn Dorchin, the team will miss the leadership and skills of its senior core: Berens, Gallagher, Kilavatitu, Lazenby, Rizzo, Fernald, Gavin Denison, Alex Berets, Charles Frigo, Andrew Eurdolian, Luke Perotta, Sami Belkadi, Matt Lawson and Nick Andrikidis.

 

Field Hockey’s Coach Smith Name to Alma Mater’s Hall of Fame

By Leave a Comment

When asked to describe her field hockey coach, Belmont High School senior co-captain Suzanne Noone said that Jessica Smith “is one of the most important adults I’ve had in my life.”

“She taught me so much, yelling at me to keep my stick down,” laughed Noone, who was recently named a Middlesex League All-Star and will likely play college field hockey next fall.

“Jess is a big reason I’ve been successful on and off the field.”

Smith, at the helm of the successful field hockey program for the past 11 season, has earned almost universal praise from players and parents as a mentor and supporter to the students who take up the crooked stick as their athletic pursuit. Many times with her three, small children in tow, Smith is on the sidelines at games or practice yelling encouragement to her charges.

So it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that Smith learned about leading a team when she was an accomplished young high school athlete two decades ago.

That past athletic prowess was recognized Saturday, Nov. 8 as Smith and 15 others were inducted as the first-ever class into the Joel Barlow High School Athletic Hall of Fame in Redding, Connecticut. (Smith was not the only Massachusetts field hockey coach honored as she entered with Salem High School’s Wizzie Crocker Phelps.)

“She was an incredible teammate, a remarkable athlete, as well as an outstanding academic student,” read the announcement of the honor.

Screen Shot 2014-11-13 at 8.36.01 AM

A member of the class of 1994 (and then known as Jess MacLellan), Smith played field hockey for the Falcons throughout high school, was a captain her senior year and was named the team’s MVP as a junior and senior. She was on the All-Western Connecticut Conference (WCC) team from 1992 – 1994, and was 1st team All- State in 1993 and 1994. She led the Falcons to the WCC tournament championships in 1993.

Smith was also a standout in tennis. During her four years at Barlow, the Falcons won the Class S State tournament in which she played first singles her final three years. She was a team captain and competed in the quarterfinals of the state individual tournament as a senior.

At Tufts University in Medford, Smith continued to play field hockey and pursued lacrosse where she became a captain of both sports and MVP during her senior year. In field hockey, she was All-American, First-Team All-New England, and All-NESCAC. In lacrosse, she was All-New England and All-NESCAC. In 1998, she won the Hester L. Sargent Award as Tufts’ outstanding female athlete.

Always the athlete, Smith has ran the New York City marathon in 3 hours, 20 minutes and the BAA marathon in 3:25.

Smith was hired as an occupational therapist by the Belmont School District in 2002 and currently covers the Winn Brook, Butler, High School and Wellington pre-school. She lives in Charlestown with her husband and their three rambunctious children.

At the induction ceremony, Smith said she often thinks of Karissa Niehoff, her field hockey coach, who made practice fun and instilled the values of hard work and fitness.

Belmont’s Brams Takes 6th in Eastern Div. 3 X-C Championships, Girls’ Place 9th

By 1 Comment

Belmont High School junior Leah Brams finished in sixth place at the Div. 3 Eastern Massachusetts championships held Saturday, Nov. 8 in Wrentham, matching her placement from a year ago.

Brams 18 minute, 54.9 seconds over the five-kilometer (3.1 mile) course earned her a third consecutive trip to the Div. 1 state finals being held this year at historic Franklin Park in Boston on Saturday, Nov. 15.  Junior Samantha Coletti of Whitman-Hanson Regional won the race in 18:18.7.

This year’s meet also saw the girls’ team earn a top-ten ranking for the first time in more than 15 years as the Marauders finished an impressive 9th with 264 points, bettering their 333 points and 13th place finish last year.

Belmont’s juniors Sophia Klimasmith and Meredith Hughes barely missed the 30th place cutoff to join Brams at the state championships as the pair finished in 34th (20:09) and 38th (20:16) respectively. They would have had to beat 20:00.9 which the 30th finisher achieved to have qualified.

Freshman Camilla Carere finished her first championship in 85th (21:42) followed by junior Emma Chambers (101st, 22:25) and junior Carly Tymm (22:36).

Belmont’s high ranking was achieved with one of its varsity runners, sophomore Elisabeth Silletto, out with an injury and a team made up entirely of underclassmen, one of only a handful of squads racing Saturday which could make that claim.

On the boys side, the team finished 19th in the Div. 3 section with 492 points, led by senior Ari Silverfine who raced home in 30th in 17:17, as he prepares for the indoor and outdoor track season in his speciality, the 800 meters. Following Silverfine was fellow senior Charles Smith in 80th (17:55), sophomore Wilder Manion (107th, 18:25), junior Mike Ferrante (124th, 18:41), Ian Bowe (151st, 19:30), Noah Miller-Medzon (159th, 20:02) and Connor Quinn (161st in 20:07).

Sports: Girls’ Swimming Preps for State Championships with 3rd in Sectionals

By Leave a Comment

The feature photo is of the winning 200 yard medley relay squad in the 2014 North Sectionals from Belmont High School: (from left) Alison Sawyer, Maya Nagashima, Jessie Blake-West and Emily Quinn. (Ginny Blake photos).

The Belmont High School Girls’ Swimming team dove into the pool with the big girls of Massachusetts swimming this weekend and gave them more than they could handle.

Coming off winning the Middlesex League Meet the previous week, the Marauders’ took home third place in the team event in the MIAA North Sectional held Sunday, Nov. 9 at Wellesley College.

In competition against powerhouse Division 1 schools – including Acton-Boxborough (second) and Andover (first) – with nearly twice as many students to recruit to winning swimming programs, the Marauders compiled 217 points, finishing higher than strong teams as Chelmsford, Central Catholic and league rival Lexington.

Belmont’s performance – up a place from last year’s fourth in the sectionals – augurs of another epic battle between the Marauders and Bishop Feehan High School of Attleboro for the Div. 2 State Championships taking place this Sunday.

Last November, the Shamrocks won the title with Belmont the runner up.

Leading the Marauders was their junior ace Jessie Blake-West who took home three sectional victories; the 200-yard medley relay (with senior Maya Nagashima, junior Emily Quinn and freshman Alison Sawyer in 1:53.36), the 200 individual medley (2:11.57) and her speciality, the 100 butterfly.

In the race, Blake-West powered through the 100 yards in 57.20 seconds, winning by a remarkable 2.37 seconds in a contest usually decided by tenths of seconds.

With her 6th place in the 200 freestyle relay – with Sawyer, junior Solvay Metelmann and freshman Ophelie Loblack (1:45.30) – Blake-West helped account for just about half of Belmont’s point total.

The Marauders’ impressive breaststroke trio of junior Emily Quinn and seniors Sarah Osborn and Klaudia Nagrabska took three of the top eight spots in the race, with Quinn taking second by dipping under 1 minute, 10 seconds (1:09.82) with Osborn fourth (1:11.68) and Nagrabska seventh (1:13.05).

In the scoring column, Nagashima was fourth in the 100 backstroke (1:04.06) and seventh in the individual medley while Quinn took 13th (2:23.54) in the IM. Also taking a fourth was junior one-meter diver Cynthia Kelsey who finished in the top tier with 448.40 points. The frosh Sawyer also scored points with a 12th in the 50 free in 26.30 while on the opposite end of the distance spectrum, junior Sara Noorouzi‘s 5:42.22 was good for 13th in the 500 free. And contributing 12 points was the 400 free relay of Loblack, sophomore Dervela Moore-Federick, senior Eunice Lee and Metelmann coming in 11th in 3:58.80.

But it wasn’t just those scoring points who swam well; in fact, nearly all the Belmont swimmers made impressive appearance in the sectionals.

Belmont’s distance swimmers – Lee in the 200 free (21st in 2:07.95), sophomore Allie Beecroft (19th in the 500 dropping her time 5:49.81 by nearly 10 seconds) while Noorouzi (22st in 2:08.03) and junior Elizabeth Levy (24th 2:09.39 in the 200 and 17th in the 500 in 5:47.00) taking on the gut busting 200/500 double – and the sprint free squad – in the 50, Metelmann (26.68), Loblack (26.73) and sophomore Molly Thomas (26.78) took 18, 19, and 20th while Loblack and Sawyer broke the minute mark in the 100 free – all showed a great amount of improvement in their pre-meet times.

In the IM, Moore-Federick put in a great 37.30 second 50 yard butterfly segment in her 2:27.04 for 21st while fellow 10th grader Katerena Nalbandian finished 20th in the breast stroke in 1:16.69.

Lee placed 24th in the butterfly; while in the backstroke, Thomas in 20th brought home sophomore Grace Newberry (1:08.25 for 22nd) and Metelmann (24th in 1:08.58).

Next up, the state championships.