South Sectionals swimming: Superior depth carries Duxbury to championship

WORCESTER — Duxbury only had a single individual winner on Saturday at WPI’s Sports & Recreation Center, but the Dragons’ swimming depth was pivotal.

The Dragons won a pair of relays but it was their consistency in scoring points through the rest of the events that propelled them to a 214-165 margin over second-place Seekonk at the South Sectionals.

It was sweet redemption for coach Krysten Davis’ team, which saw a sectional title slip through its fingers in the final event last year.

“The girls had the mindset to come out and swim their best and not really worry about the points,” Davis said. “We weren’t really even paying attention to it until later on and we looked up and realized we were in the lead.”

The Dragons did most of their damage thanks to wins in the 200 (1:41.52) and 400 free relays (3:41.95). The 400 was especially dominant as the team won by over 10 seconds to seal away the title.

Freshman sensation Anna Szafran provided Duxbury’s only individual win when she out nipped Medfield’s Jill DePiero in the 50 free. Teammate Alli Brown added third places in the 200 free (1:55.31) and 500 free (5:11.01) to become the Dragons’ only other top three finisher.

“Anna can swim just about anything we ask her to and Alli came up with a couple of big swims for us,” Davis said.

After taking the team lead following the 100 free, the Dragons steadily built from there to turn a close meet into a 35-point lead (160-115) over Attleboro in just two events.

Attleboro’s Zuri Ferguson was one of the individual stars as she blasted the field in the 200 IM (2:04.36) and came back later to win the 100 breaststroke (1:06.57).

Feining Huang of Sharon was the other double winner as she took the 100 free (53.09) and followed up with the 100 backstroke (57.96) win.

Seekonk’s Lydia Craft had a pair of second places in the 200 IM and the 100 backstroke. Canton’s Annie McLean also had a solid day with a win in the 100 butterfly and a third in the 50 free.

Attleboro’s Addison Abreu added a win in the 200 free and a second in the 500 free. Bishop Feehan’s Leah Walden was second in the 200 and won the 500.

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