McLean, relays power Bulldogs at Hock Swim Championships
By Jay Turner
Both CHS swim teams have had a lot to celebrate this winter. (Charlie Smith photo)
Senior standout Annie McLean captured her third career individual league title while the Canton boys team continued its stranglehold over the rest of the Davenport Division in a memorable weekend for the CHS swim program.
While they could not quite match the success of last year’s Bulldog squads, both the boys and the girls teams held their own against a competitive field of Hockomock foes, placing fourth and sixth, respectively, out of 12 league schools at the Milford High pool.
Kicking things off with the boys’ competition on Friday, the Bulldogs, fresh off an unbeaten regular season and a Davenport championship, combined to score 265.5 points — the best mark in the division and fourth best overall behind only Kelley-Rex Division powers Milford (324), Franklin (296) and Sharon (289.5).
The relays led the way for the Canton boys, highlighted by a runner-up finish for the 200-yard freestyle team of Anderson Lee, Ronin Ricks, Timothy Tseng and Ryan Hickey and a third-place showing for the 200 medley team of Aidan Pham, Ricks, Maddox Carbone and Hickey. The Bulldogs also reached the podium in the 400 freestyle relay, placing fifth overall behind a team of Tseng, Benjamin Howe, Lee and Pham.
In the individual events, Hickey continued his breakout season with a pair of top-six finishes in the 100 free (fifth) and 50 free (sixth), while Lee did the same in the 200 free (fifth) and 100-yard breaststroke (sixth). Also earning a medal for Canton was Pham with a sixth-place finish in the 100 backstroke.
On the girls’ side, McLean, one of the most decorated swimmers in program history, successfully fended off a challenge from Franklin senior Kseniya Baghdasaryan to claim gold in the 100 fly while also nabbing a silver in the 50 free and a bronze as part of the 200 free relay alongside teammates Caitlyn Reynolds, Julianne Gilchrist and Keira Yu.
McLean now heads to the MIAA south sectional championships, set for February 8 at MIT, where she will look to repeat as the 100 fly champion while also setting her sights on a first career state title after placing second in the event a season ago. McLean’s winning time of 58.82 seconds at Hocks was a new season best and positions her as the top overall seed out of 24 qualifying swimmers. She also enters as the No. 5 seed in the 50 free with a best time of 26.03 seconds and is likely to compete in at least one of the Bulldogs’ qualifying relays: the 200 free, which is seeded 13th out of 22 teams, and the 400 free, which has the 12th best mark out of 19 qualifiers.
Also likely to join McLean in the relay events are fellow seniors Gilchrist and Amy Murphy as well as Reynolds, one of the top swimmers from the CHS Class of 2026.
Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=130892
Posted by Jay Turner
on Feb 6 2025. Filed under High School, Sports.
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