Freshman phenom
Mount St. Charles freshman swimmer Frankie Arnold had quite a day at the Div. II meet
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BRISTOL – According to Mount St. Charles head coach Bill Evans, no one is more driven than freshman distance freestyle phenom Frankie Arnold in her quest for excellence.
She exhibited a lot of that quality at the R.I. Division II Girls Swimming Championships at the Roger Williams
University natatorium on Saturday.
Arnold not only captured second in the 200-yard freestyle with a lifetime-best clocking of 2:02.22, but did
the same in the 500-yard freestyle (high school-best l5:33.83).
“Frankie’s such a competitor; that time was 8.5 seconds faster than her previous best with me,” Evans stated. “First, her technique is excelent, and her training is solid fwith both us and her (USA Swimming, Inc.-affiliated) club team Kingfish Aquatics. The thing about her, she just hates to lose.”
It was a perfect way for Arnold to prepare for the upcoming state meet, slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. at Brown University. “I think she’s going to place gin the top eight in both, maybe higher in the 500, where she’s stronger,” he said. “She lost to Emily Aliota (a Classical junior) in the 200 by a half-second. Katie Idskou (a Cranston East senior) won the 500 at 5:22.60, so that would take a significant time drop. Frankie still swam extremely well.”
For that matter, so did senior co-captains Emi English and Rachel Breitenbach. English managed seventh in the 200 individual medley (2:36.46) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:07.94), while Breitenbach earned eighth in the 50 freestyle (29.15) and 15th in the 100 freestyle (PR of 1:05.99).
Those upperclassmen and Arnold joined frosh Allie Melnychuk on the seventh-place 200 medley relay (season-best 2:09.55), and the same quartet stroked to fifth in the 400 freestyle relay (4:20.67).
Teammates Olivia Charbonneau and Sophia Trenouth contributed a ninth and 10th, respectively, in the 100 butterfly; Charbonneau went 1:27.70 and Trenouth 1:31.59, while Melnychuk contributed a pair of 11ths in the 200 IM (2:47.81) and 100 breaststroke (1:24.13).
Sophomore Nonnie Koman chipped in a 13th in the latter event (1:25.62).
The 200 freestyle relay foursome of Koman, senior Jules Kouki, Trenouth and sophomore Kate O’Brien achieved eighth overall in 2:14.72.
The Mounties settled for seventh overall in the nineteam field with 178 points, eight more than No. 8 Classical. The battle for the championship proved to be more than tight, though Rogers eked it out with 285 points, a scant 11 more than runner-up Westerly and 12 better than third-place Wheeler.
In fact, Cranston East took fourth just 24 points off the Vikings, while Portsmouth and Middletown settled for fifth and sixth, respectively. ** R.I. DIVISION II SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS At Roger Williams University natatorium GIRLS
Team standings – 1. Rogers 285; 2. Westerly 274; 3. Wheeler 273; 4. Cranston East 261; 5. Portsmouth 242; 6. Middletown 218; 7. Mount St. Charles 178; 8. Classical 170; 9. Cranston West 95.
MSC placements
200y medley relay – 7. Emi English, Allie Melnychuk, Frankie Arnold, Rachel Breitenbach 2:09.55.
200y freestyle – 2. Frankie Arnold 2:02.22. 200y individual medley – 7. English 2:36.46; 11. Melnychuk 2:47.81.
50y freestyle – 8. Breitenbach 29.15. 100y butterfly – 9. Olivia Charbonneau 1:27.70; 10. Sophia Trenouth 1:31.59. 100y freestyle – 15. Breitenbach 1:05.99. 500y freestyle – 2. Arnold 5:33.83. 200y freestyle relay – 8. Nonnie Koman, Jules Kouki, Trenouth, Kate O’Brien 2:14.72. 100y backstroke – 6. English 1:07.94. 100y breaststroke – 11. Melnychuk 1:24.13; 13. Koman 1:25.62.
400y freestyle relay – 5. Breitenbach, Melnychuk, English, Arnold 4:20.67.