Northport Girls Varsity Swimming Loses 3 Consecutive Meets

The Northport Girls Varsity Swimming has been suffering a losing streak. Their past three meets against much larger teams Connetquot, Sayville and Sachem East have all resulted in losses ranging from 87-80 to 91-73. Despite this frustrating predicament, the girls have turned out some impressive races.

On Oct. 5, the girls headed out to their second meet of the 2012 season. Nicole Papsco won the 100 Butterfly event with a blistering time of 57.98, beginning a dominant second half of the meet for the Tigers. Shanna Haddow triumphed in the 500 Freestyle event with a 5:38.56. Nicole Papsco and Samantha Reilly snatched the 1-2 spots in the 100 Breastroke with times of 1:07.21 and 1:15.97, respectively. In the final event of the meet, Northport’s Melanie Newton, Shanna Haddow, Samantha Reilly and Nicole Papsco swept the 400 Freestyle Relay with a magnificent time of 4:01.56. However, although these individual races proved fast, Northport couldn’t rally to win the meet as a whole. The final score was 87-80 Connetquot, marking the first disappointment for the Tigers.

Northport met with Sayville on October 11th, and immediately the Tigers seemed determined to win. Sam Reilly, Nicole Papsco, Melanie Newton and Shanna Haddow took the first event, the 200 Medley Relay. Unfortunately, no time was recorded for the girls due to Sayville’s lack of an electronic scoreboard. Two other major wins were also left without times. Samantha Reilly won the 100 Breastroke event and Shanna Haddow, Melanie Newton, Samantha Reilly and Nicole Papsco swept the 400 Freestyle Relay. This relay team has been consistently winning the 400 Freestyle Relay during the entirety of the 2012 season. When stopwatches were introduced, a few important times were recorded. Nicole Papsco won the 200 Freestyle in a quick 2:12.31. Next, Shanna Haddow took 2nd place in the 200 IM event with a time of 2:42.98. No time was recorded for Melanie Newton’s smashing win in the 500 Freestyle event, but it was certainly fast! Although these races proved spectacular, Northport again couldn’t triumph totally against Sayville, a team almost twice the size of Northport. The Tigers left with a final score of 73 to Sayville’s 91.

The Northport Girls’ Varsity Swimming’s loss against Sachem East on October 16th was a thrilling meet no matter the final score. Shanna Haddow took first place in the 200 Freestyle with a time of 2:03.52; immediately following Shanna Nicole Papsco took the 200 IM in 2:08.72. Melanie Newton got second place by a narrow margin in the 50 Freestyle event with a fantastic time of 26.76, and Shanna Haddow won the 100 Freestyle in 58.35. These two times were some of the fastest of the meet. Melanie Newton again conquered the pool for Northport in the 500 Freestyle event, achieving a time of 5:35.35. Nicole Papsco and Samantha Reilly again grabbed the 1-2 positions in the 100 Breastroke with times of 1:05.89 and 1:13.53, two of the best times the girls have achieved so far in the 2012 season. The phenomenal relay made up of Shanna Haddow, Melanie Newton, Samantha Reilly and Nicole Papsco won both the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relays, with fantastic times of 1:45.75 and 3:57.49 respectively. The Northport Tigers only lost to Sachem East by ten points with a final score of 95-85, an impressive feat considering the sheer size of Sachem East’s Girls’ Varsity Swimming team. 

The Northport Girls’ Varsity Swimming team only has two meets left in the 2012 season, and the girls are feeling the weight of these three losses resting heavily on their shoulders. Hopefully they can rally to win these last meets and have a satisfying end to the season. Northport is rooting for you, girls!