Girls' Swimming: Changing of the Guard As Belmont Sweeps Past Reading

Friday afternoon's girls' swim meet in Belmont's Higginbottom Pool was to be an epic duel between powerhouse Reading High School Rockets and upstart Belmont High Marauders which upset the perennial Middlesex League champions last year in their pool.

The meet, held Friday, Oct. 4, was eagerly anticipated by everyone to be a nail-biting clash that would go down to the touch in the final race, the 400-yard relay.

But the battle turned bust. Before the final two races, the refs came over to the scoring table and said they would not be tallying the points in the meet's final two races. Reading would automatically receive the maximum 25 points.

Belmont, it was decided, was so far ahead that the remaining contests were moot in determining a winner. 

In a meet that could foretell a changing of the guard in the Middlesex League, the Marauders earned a convincing victory, 86-79, as Belmont's depth along with season-best performances allowed a young Marauder team to push by the once-dominate Rockets.

"I am beyond excited. Nothing can explain this moment right now," said senior co-captain Taylor Coutinho after the final score was announced and the entire team celebrated in an explosion of screams and a collection of hugs.

"It was a nice swim," said a rather subdued Everett Crosscup, Belmont's long-time head coach, already thinking about the meet for the Middlesex League championship in three weeks at Lexington High School. (So it wasn't surprising that a Lexington coach was scouting the meet with stopwatch in hand.)

"Reading has a great program and we have had our battles with them over the years. Today we were fortunate to pull out a win," said Crosscup.

Belmont's stellar victory was determined by a series of 2-3-4 finishes that deadened wins by some of Reading's powerful swimmers.

"Our depth was solid. Reading had a lot of first places but we came in right behind," said Crosscup.

And that series showed up in consecutive events; the 200 (all distances are in yards) individual medley and 50 freestyle. In the 200, Jessie Blake-West (swimming the second of four events) led Maya Nagashima and Taylor Coutinho behind Reading's Kasey Lamb and taking nine points to the Rocket's seven points. In the 50, Belmont's Anastasia Pulak, Molly Thomas and Reina Nagashima took nine points with their 2-3-4 placements following the Rocket's Kat Smith.

But it was in the races Belmont swimmers won where the strength of Belmont's second and third swimmers showed their dominance. After the pair of nine-point races, Belmont would grab 11 points to Reading's five in the 100 butterfly (won by Blake-West in a fast 1:00.56) as Eunice Lee and Reina Nagashima grabbed the three, four slots in just over 1:08 while Pulak (1:01.00) and Thomas (1:02.07) took third and fourth behind Marauder Solvay Metelmann whose winning time dipped below the minute mark (59.80).

After Metelmann's victory, the meet's sixth race, Belmont led 60 to 34, which was never challenged. 

That is not to say Belmont was beref of outstanding performances, led by its top swimmer Blake-West in her speciality, the 100 butterfly. Other winners included Haruka Uchida in the 500 free (5:36.84) and 200 free (2:07.12) and Maya Nagashima winning in the 100 backstroke (1:04.02) by more than two seconds.

And sophomore diver Thea Kelsey comes ever closer to the pool's record, receiving her highest score with her most difficult dive, a forward two somersault tuck that earned a 6.5 and a 7 for 29.7 points of her total of 219.52.

"It's great to see everyone's great work paying off and I know that this is another step to winning the league and then the sectionals but we have to stay focused and keep working hard," said co-captain Uchida.

Despite this memorable victory, Crosscup is still concerned with the strength of his freestylers as he approaches the match with one-loss Lexington on Friday, Oct. 25 at the pool at Minuteman Tech. 

"Our times are still not there," he said.

"We need to do a lot of improving there. We really have only one outstanding sprint freestyler and we need two or three if we want to go any place in the sectionals and states and even at Lexington. I am sure that will be a real battle," said Crosscup.