Northport Girls' Varsity Swimming Loses First Meet, Wins Second

On September 18, the Northport Girls’ Varsity Swimming team headed out to their first meet of the season against Smithtown. Despite the fact that Northport’s team is less than half the size of Smithtown’s, the girls only lost the meet by nine points; their final score was 84 points to Smithtown’s 93.

The meet started with a bang. Northport took second in the 200 Yard Medley Relay, with Katie Dennin, Olivia Smith, Zoe Greenwood and Avery Ersboll earning a time of 2:16.15. Melanie Newton went on to take second place in the 200 Yard Freestyle with a blistering time of 2:07.37. Next, Nicole Papsco won the 200 IM with a time of 2:09.77. Northport’s Shanna Haddow took third in the 50 Freestyle, sprinting the event in 27.00 seconds; Mara Nolan and Victoria Porter also swam strongly, with times of 31.4 and 33.79 seconds, respectively. Courtney Canfield, Northport’s sole diver, took home the win, earning 179.70 diving points. Katie Dennin took second in the 500 Freestyle with a quick time of 6:12.57, nearly making the time needed for Counties. 

As the meet came to a close, Melanie Newton won the 100 Backstroke in 1:08.08, and Nicole Papsco took the 100 Breakstroke with a 1:07.39. Finally, the Northport girls earned first and second place in the 400 Freestyle Relay. Although Northport did not win the meet, it cannot be considered a loss - there were too many great races!

Northport Swimming got its revenge on October 4, facing West Islip. The girls took first and third place in almost every event. In one of the most spectacular races of the meet, Zoe Greenwood chopped a huge 7 seconds off her 100 Butterfly, earning a new time of 1:15.99. The girls won the 200 Medley Relay in 3:03.08, as well as the 200 Freestyle Relay in 1:52.78. Melanie Newton was victorious in the 200 IM with a time of 2:24.38. 

Later in the meet, Katie Dennin took the 100 Backstroke in 1:10.03, and Nicole Papsco again placed first in the 100 Breastroke with a time of 1:08.65. At the end of the exciting meet, Northport had a firm hold over West Islip. It only took a smashing second place in the 400 Freestyle Relay to secure that winning margin. Allergra Neglia, Shanna Haddow, Mara Nolan and Nicole Papsco made a great time of 4:17.95. With that second place, Northport Girls Swimming was able to pull to a 55-47 win over West Islip. Revenge is sweet! Here’s to a great rest of the season!!