Div. 2 swimming: Wellesley girls dominate for another title
CAMBRIDGE — Depth has been the calling card for the Wellesley girls swimming and diving team over its recent stretch of dominance, but on the biggest stage, the stars made sure to leave their mark for yet another state title Saturday morning.
The Raiders took gold in six events and silver in three more in the Div. 2 state championships at MIT, pacing 426 points they used to win a third straight state title — their fourth in five seasons. Runner-up Chelmsford finished with 229.5.
Anna McGrew led the way as a double-winner in the 50-yard freestyle (23.58 seconds) and 100-yard freestyle (51.53) individual events, and competed on the 200-yard freestyle (1:40.44) and 400-yard freestyle (3:42.00) relay teams that also took gold. Add the 200-yard medley team’s winning time of 1:51.59 to mark a sweep in the relays for a second straight year, and Elena Dudkina’s win in the 200-yard individual medley (2:13.34) rounded out the program’s top finishes.
Wakefield took third with 219 points, Belmont was fourth with 195 points, and North Andover (184) placed fifth.
“When you have combined depth and star power, it’s a pretty lethal force — especially with the relays,” said Wellesley coach Doug Curtin, who credits the build of the program to former longtime coach Jen Dutton. “(Sweeping the relays) is a huge deal for points and everything else like that. And we have seniors leading the charge. We have a couple freshmen, sophomores, juniors that are first time in the spotlight, but they know they’ve got the seniors to have their backs. It’s a team effort.”
“Just coming here with the support of my team, it made (another title) really special,” McGrew added. “We’re just so proud of each other.”
In Dutton’s final year (2021), the Raiders needed just one event crown to take the state title because of a bevy of top-five finishes. Every relay team soared to wins in last year’s championship, though, while Naomi Boegholm stole the show as a senior double-winner.
That paved the way for McGrew to see what’s possible, and she ran away with it for her first individual championships to set another example of how success is passed on through the Raiders program.
“There are girls who are working day in and day out to be the best,” she said. “Having people like Naomi on the team has at least shown me the possibilities of this sport when you apply yourself. Being on a team with (this) depth, it shows girls who might not have thought of themselves as athletes … to be able to do something if they work hard.”
The only other double-winner of the girls’ meet was North Andover’s Hannah Wieczorek, who took the 200-yard freestyle (1:54.76) and the 100-yard backstroke (56.17). She won the events in 2021 as well, but took last year off during the recruitment process.
“Coming back as a senior is a different perspective, but it’s really exciting,” she said. “I was just trying to have fun, mainly.”
The Milton boys won their first title in the same meet with 225 points, edging North Andover’s 184 points. Jackson Wagner was a double-winner in the 100-yard freestyle (48.06) and the 100-yard backstroke (56.47).
