Seekonk Girls Swim Team Caps Undefeated Season with SCC Title

SEEKONK - The first swimmer in the water Thursday afternoon was Seekonk’s Addison Abreu, who stepped to the blocks to swim the first leg of the 200-yard Medley Relay. Korryn Cartwright, Natalie Kach and Jayla Pina waited behind Abreu as the official sounded the buzzer to not only start the race, but to kick off the South Coast Conference Championship Meet at the Ellis Mayers Natatorium.

It took the Warriors less than 2 minutes to show the rest of the SCC how dominant they were. 1:59.77 to be exact.

Abreu, Cartwright, Kach and Pina went on to set a new meet record in the first race of the competition and the girls swim team never looked back. When the dust settled after about three hours, the girls were crowned SCC champions after finishing first in 10 of 12 events, and posting second-place finishes in the other two.

“We won all our meets this season, so we went in with a pretty positive attitude,” Seekonk senior captain Abigail Tenreiro said after the victory. “We knew the other teams were strong and we were going to have to work really hard, but we did it.”

The Warriors scored 474 points on Thursday, almost as many as second-place Old Rochester (269) and third-place Apponequet (213) combined.

“Our girls team, collectively all season, it’s one girl steps up this meet, one girl steps up the next,” Seekonk coach Brian Cameron said after the meet. “Today, a lot of them stepped up. It was a good, all-around performance.”

The Seekonk boys team did the best it could against Old Rochster and Apponequet. The boys team, which had only six swimmers in the water Thursday afternoon, won five of 12 events and placed third overall with 232 points.

“They did a great job. It’s nice to see them compete with only six,” Cameron said. “They stepped up and did a good job.”

The conference meet capped the regular season for both swim teams. Up next for the Warriors are the sectional and state meets next month.

REPORTERTODAY.COM MVP: In a meet in which the girls team dominated from start to finish, Pina was the hottest swimmer in the water. She was part of three new meet records (200 Medley Relay in 1:59.77, 400 Freestyle Relay in 3:51.60, and her winning 100 Freestyle in 55.19) and added a first-place finish in the 500 Freestyle (5:34.96) for four first-place finishes in four events.

DIVING MASTER: Seekonk’s Finn Paterson capped the best diving season the school has ever seen with an outstanding performance on Thursday, setting a new meet record by more than 40 points. After six dives Thursday to start off the meet, Paterson totaled a new meet and school record of 287.50. He already had the school record after breaking Jacob Hopkins’ mark on Jan. 14. After setting a new mark in the diving, Paterson went out and was on the second-place teams in the 200 Medley Relay and 400 Freestyle Relay. “Finn, his diving and swimming were right on target,” Cameron said. “Probably a little ahead of where we anticipated.”

GIRLS SUCCESS: Abreu, Cartwright, Kach and Pina opened the swimming competition with a new meet record, and they finished the afternoon the same way it began. The last event of the meet, the 400-yard Freestyle Relay, saw the four smash the old record by almost three seconds with a 3:51.60. They won the event by more than 20 seconds over second-place Old Rochester. Abreu joined Paterson and Pina with individual meet records with her dazzling 2:18.85 in the 200 Individual Medley in the fifth event of the afternoon. Also claiming first-place finishes for the girls were Cartwright in the 200 Freestyle (2:03.60) and 100 Backstroke (1:04.43); Kach in the 100 Butterfly (1:04.73); the 200 Freestyle Relay team of Hannah Baldassi, Emily Riebrn, Lyla Carvalho and Tenreiro (1:54.75); and Rieben in the 50 Freestyle (38.31). “Everyone worked really hard. It was definitely a team effort,” Kach, a senior co-captain with Tenreiro, said after the meet. “I’m so proud of everybody.”

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY: The Boys team only had six swimmers in the water (Paterson, Aaron Pincence, Blake Anderson, Matthew Boutin and Robert and Chris Strycharz, but the short-handed Warriors made the most of what they had with some strong performances. Anderson and Robert Strycharz won two events each with Anderson tops in the 50 Freestyle (22.12) and 100 Butterfly (57.25) and Strycharz taking the 200 Individual Medley (2:01.90) and 100 Backstroke (57.65).

QUICK HITS: The Warriors will be back in the pool on Feb. 8 and 9 for the state sectional meet at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston. The following weekend is the state championship meet at Boston University. “We’re going to try to do better than we have the last couple of years,” Cameron said. “This year, if we can finish in the top 5-7 at sectionals then 5-7 at states, that would be a good season for us.” … Winning an SCC championship is starting to become a habit for the Seekonk girls. This year is the fourth straight SCC crown. … The Old Rochester girls team was disqualified in the 200 Freestyle Relay, giving the Warriors a 1-2 finish. … The Seekonk girls posed for pictures and celebrated with a plaque commemorating the conference championship. “We have swimmers who have improved so much over the season,” Tenreiro said. “Everyone on this team has worked really hard. I’m so happy for them.” … The Natatorium is named after Ellis Mayers, the first aquatics director for Seekonk High School and the founder of the Seekonk Dolphins swim team. … A large crowd filled the stands, and after three-plus hours of swimming and diving, most of the crowd was still there at the end to cheer on the Warriors, Lakers and Bulldogs. … “I’m just really proud of the kids,” Seekonk girls coach Brooke Michaud said after the meet. “They had some real solid swims today.”

SEEKONK SCORERS
Girls 200-Yard Medley Relay
First: Addison Abreu, Korryn Cartwright, Natalie Kach and Jayla Pina, 1:59.77, 32 points
Boys 200-Yard Medley Relay
Second: Aaron Pincence, Finn Paterson, Blake Anderson, Matthew Boutin, 2:00.02, 26 points
Girls 200-Yard Freestyle
First: Korryn Cartwright, 2:03.60, 16 points
Third: Hannah Baldassi, 2:31.78, 12 points
Fourth: Lauren Turenne, 2:38.31, 11 points
Sixth: Alaina Fortin, 2:47.76, 9 points
Boys 200-Yard Freestyle
Fourth: Chris Strycharz, 1:59.40, 11 points
Girls 200-Yard Individual Medley
First: Addison Abreu, 2:18.85, 16 points
Third: Abby Rickard, 2:46.75, 12 points
Fourth: Mackenzie Carlsten, 2:48.54, 11 points
Fifth: Madison Sirois, 2:49.43, 10 points
Boys 200-Yard Individual Medley
First: Robert Strycharz, 2:01.90, 16 points
Girls 50-Yard Freestyle
First: Emily Rieben, 28.31, 16 points
Third: Lyla Carvalho, 29.23, 12 points
Sixth: Caroline Turenne, 33.12, 9 points
Ninth: Sydney Desmastro, 37.22, 4 points
Boys 50-Yard Freestyle
First: Blake Anderson, 22.12, 16 points
Fourth: Matthew Boutin, 28.14, 11 points
Girls 1-Meter Diving
Second: Ashlet Silveira, 150.60, 13 points
Boys 1-Meter Diving
First: Finn Paterson, 287.50, 16 points
Second: Matthew Boutin, 211.20, 13 points
Girls 100-Yard Butterfly
First: Natalie Kach, 1:04.73, 16 points
Third: Abigail Tenreiro, 1:05.86, 12 points
Fifth: Isabella Gerardi, 1:09.41, 10 points
Seventh: Abby Rickard, 1:15.45, 7 points
Boys 100-Yard Butterfly
First: Blake Anderson, 57.25, 16 points
Girls 100-Yard Freestyle
First: Jayla Pina, 55.19, 16 points
Fourth: Hannah Baldassi, 1:07.05, 11 points
Fifth: Lyla Carvalho, 1:07.34, 10 points
Sixth: Lauren Turenne, 1:11.20, 9 points
Boys 100-Yard Freestyle
Fourth: Aaron Pincence, 1:01.08, 11 points
Girls 500-Yard Freestyle
First: Jayla Pina, 5:34.96, 16 points
Second: Abigail Tenreiro, 5:59.96, 13 points
Third: Isabella Gerardi, 6:04.84, 12 points
Sixth: Mackenzie Carlsten, 6:54.66, 9 points
Boys 500-Yard Freestyle
Third: Chris Strycharz, 5:24.47, 12 points
Girls 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
First: Emily Rieben, Lyla Carvalho, Hannah Baldassi and Abigail Tenreiro, 1:54.75, 32 points
Second: Caroline Turenne, Abby Rickard, Lauren Turenne and Mackenzie Carlsten, 2:04.70, 26 points
Boys 200-Yard Freestyle Relay
Third: Robert Strycharz, Chris Strycharz, Matthew Boutin and Aaron Pincence, 1:42.95, 24 points.
Girls 100-Yard Backstroke
First: Korryn Cartwright, 1:04.43, 16 points
Second: Natalie Kach, 1:08.55, 13 points
Fifth: Caroline Turenne, 1:24.18, 10 points
Sixth: Alaina Fortin, 1:31.15, 7 points
Boys 100-Yard Backstroke
First: Robert Strycharz, 57.65, 16 points
Seventh: Aaron Pincence, 1:26.24, 7 points
Girls 100-Yard Breaststroke
Second: Addison Abreu, 1:15.61, 13 points
Fourth: Emily Rieben, 1:21.92, 11 points
Sixth: Madison Sirois, 1:27.31, 9 points
Seventh: Sydney Delmastro, 1:36.73, 7 points
Boys 100-Yard Breaststroke
Fourth: Finn Paterson, 1:13.66, 11 points
Girls 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
First: Korryn Cartwright, Addison Abreu, Natalie Kach and Jayla Pina, 3:51.60, 32 points
Boys 400-Yard Freestyle Relay
Second: Blake Anderson, Finn Paterson, Chris Strycharz and Robert Strycharz, 3:34.55, 26 points.