Swim teams bounce back with double win vs. North Attleboro

CHS swimmers in an earlier meet vs. Foxboro at Blue Hills (Photo courtesy of CHS Swim on Twitter)

It’s been a streaky start to the winter season for the Canton High swim teams, but after a recent three-meet losing skid, the Bulldogs climbed back over .500 with an exciting double win over North Attleboro at the Hockomock YMCA on Martin Luther King Day.

“It was such a great meet and I’m so proud of our swimmers,” remarked head coach Cheryl Cavanaugh, who is now in her third season with the program. “Both meets were close, and the boys meet really came down to the wire. It was so exciting and a well-deserved win for our teams.”

Now past the halfway point of the season, both Bulldog squads find themselves with identical 4-3 records and both remain firmly in the hunt for a Davenport Division title with three meets to go before the Hockomock Championships on February 2. Their results from meet to meet have also been remarkably consistent, with the boys averaging 85 points per contest and the girls averaging 86 points and both scoring wins over the same four opponents — Foxboro, Attleboro, Cohasset and NA.

Against the Red Rocketeers on Monday, the Canton girls were solid across the board en route to a 90-80 victory while the boys battled back from a late seven-point deficit to win by three, 86-83.

On the boys’ side, the meet came down to the 400-yard freestyle relay and the Bulldogs took the top two spots behind an outstanding performance from senior Colin Messinger. Messinger followed Eric Pham, Brendan Mitchell, and Chris Milne to deliver second place for the Bulldogs while the talented quartet of Devin Kelly, Matt Thompson, Javier Ferstler, and Justin Diep teamed up to finish in first.

“The boys just kept chipping away and chipping away throughout the whole meet,” said Cavanaugh, “and those two relays coming up first and second, you almost never see that. Colin had a great swim, and so many others contributed and did their part as well.”

In the individual events, Messenger added a pair of runner-up finishes in both the 500 freestyle and 100-yard backstroke, while Diep placed first and second in the 100 free and 50 free, respectively. Thompson also had a strong meet and continued his impressive rookie season with second-place finishes in the 200 free and 100-yard breaststroke. Other top performers included Mitchell in the 100 fly (2nd), Kelly in the 100 free (2nd), and Milne in the breaststroke (3rd).

In the girls meet, several Canton swimmers turned in stellar performances, led by Brianna Mitchell, Maddie Nourse, and freshman Jessie Hart. Mitchell was a double winner in the 200 free and backstroke; Hart won the breaststroke and took second in the 200 IM; and Nourse won the 100 fly and placed second in the 50 free. All three girls were also part of the winning 200 medley relay along with Emily Pham, who added a runner-up finish in the 100 free.

Other key point scorers for the lady Bulldogs were Brianna Gilchrist, who placed second in both the 200 free and 500 free; Emily Beatty, who finished third in the 200 IM and 100 fly; and Maddie Rousseau, who overtook two swimmers in the final lap of the 500 free to finish in third.

Several of Canton’s top swimmers also performed well in their prior meet against Milford; however, the team had a number of absences and depth proved to be an issue as the Hawks prevailed at home 92-78. The Bulldogs still managed to sweep the 200 free behind Mitchell, Gilchrist and Rousseau, while Nourse prevailed in the 100 free and Mitchell finished first in the 500 free.

The boys were also missing several swimmers in the Milford meet and ultimately fell short by a score of 102-66. Thompson won two events for Canton while Diep and Messinger each posted a pair of top-three finishes. Other key contributors included Brendan Mitchell, Nate Rousseau, Ferstler, and Ben Guerini.

Share This Post

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=37992