Westrick shines in D-I meet
Lincoln senior proud of impressive performances
BRISTOL – In her interscholastic career’s penultimate showing, Lincoln High senior co-captain Natalie Westrick outshined all Blackstone Valley representatives at the R.I. Division I Girls Swimming Championships, held at the Roger Williams University natatorium late Sunday afternoon.
Not by much, of course, but she did, and no one was happier.
While dozens of the area’s top student-athletes manufactured lifetime-best clockings, Westrick seemed the most animated by hers. Maybe that’s because they took so long to surface.
Westrick began her memorable day joining sophomores Amanda Allen and Anna Vygodner, as well as junior co-captain Lily Jacobson,
on the Lions’ sixth-place 200-yard medley reglay, which recorded a season-best 1:59.66.
On the 50 butterfly leg, Westrick managed ea best-ever split of 27.30 by nearly two ticks; at that point, she admitted, she downplayed tthe feat, explaining she wanted to remain “geared up” for the rest of the meet. a She definitely didn’t have an issue with tthat. Westrick raced to a best-ever 1:03.43 while grabbing ninth in the 100 butterfly, and – perhaps 22 minutes later – earned eighth in the d500 freestyle with a PR of 5:39.89. Those happened to be her fastest times since late in her freshman campaign.
“When I went 27.3 in the 50 fly of the medaley relay, I was amazed,” gushed Westrick,
who after graduation in June will further her academic and aquatic careers at Brandeis University in Waltham. “It was like a two-second
drop, which is just crazy. z “I didn’t want to expect it (the fact she’d produce an outstanding collective personal
performance), but I wanted to think it; it was hin the back of my mind,” she added. “The 100 rfly really hurt, but I wanted to give it all I had (because) my teammates were at the shallow end (of my lane) cheering me on. I wanted to hdo it for them.”
As for the 500 freestyle, she maintained head coach Tom DiIorio sort of thrust that race dupon her this season. “That (PR) is all because of Tom,” she laughed. “He’s put me in the 500 in ever single meet this year, and most of them last year, much to my dismay. I wanted to swim the 200 free and the fly, but he told me, ‘You’re swimming the 500, so get used to it.’ It’s given me a great opportunity to work on an event I usually didn’t swim much, and I learned to embrace it.
“Last week, I swam at a (USA Swimming, Inc.-affiliated) club meet at Wesleyan University in Connecticut and went 5:40.01,” she added. “I was so upset; I wanted to break 5:40. My best before that meet was 5:46, so I can’t believe it. I’m thrilled. What a meet, but it’s not just me. All of our girls are swimming well, and I’m so proud of them.
“All of our hard work is paying off. Now we’re even more excited about the states and dropping more time.”
Despite numerous premier outings on the part of the Lions, they placed ninth overall with 113 points, 18 less than rival Cumberland, which settled for seventh with 131.
La Salle Academy collected the team crown with 337 points, a mere 15 more than talented runner-up Barrington (322), but 51 better than third-place North Kingstown (286). Prout (215), East Greenwich (206) and Bay View (186) took fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, while Moses Brown sandwiched itself between the Clippers and Lions.
“I’m going to hate to see her go,” DiIorio commented on Westrick, the kid sister of phenom Mollie Westrick, now swimming at the University of Pennsylvania. “I knew after the medley relay that she was going to have a phenomenal day. I could tell during warmups, even practice this week, the way she was tapering.
“Did you know those were her best times since her freshman year?” he continued, emphasizing his previous two words. “She even went 26.25 in the 200 freestyle relay (which mustered sixth when Allen, Vygoder, Jacobson and Westrick delivered a winter-top clocking of 1:47.45). Incredible!”
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CHS chief Rod McGarry felt the same way about most of his Clippers’ performances, and sophomore Caroline Shen’s led the way, even if she didn’t think so.
Shen seemed a bit melancholy after snaring third in the 50 freestyle (25.41) and second in the 100 freestyle (56.22), but her coach decided she was being too hard on herself.
“Those were phenomenal swims,” he stated. “She’s only a sophomore, and as fast as she is, she’s still in a world of inexperience in high school swimming. To come in here and leave your mark with a second and a third against the state’s best is tremendous.
“She’s outstanding, and she’s only getting better,” he added. “As for the rest of our girls, this was incredible. The ratio of PRs they produced, it’s got to be at 90 percent, and that doesn’t include the relays going season bests.”
McGarry was referring to Dion, who like Westrick started fast at the start and only got faster.
The junior anchored the 200 medley relay, one that finished last in the 11-team field with a 2:12.74 clocking, but she split a 27.40 for her 50 freestyle.
Mere minutes later, she eclipsed her top time of 2:12-plus by three seconds in the 200 freestyle; she took 10th in 2:09.44, then somehow stroked to a PR of 5:49.66 while taking another 10th in the 500.
Amazingly, she wasn’t alone celebrating after that longest interscholastic event, as freshman Ashlyn Tineo (13th, 5:57.75) and sophomore Kheara Zito (6:07.96) registered PRs by a combined six ticks.
“When I dropped my time in the 50 free in the relay, I thought it was my tech suit,” Dion grinned. “Then I thought about it, and figured I’ve been training all season, and tapering for most of the week, for this meet, so I just knew I was going to do well.
“I’ve been pointing toward making these kinds of improvements, and I did it. I am so super-psyched for states. I hadn’t broken six minutes (in the 500) all season; I’m so happy.”
Not surprisingly, so was junior teammate Cammy Cronin, who nailed down a ninth behind Shen in the 50 freestyle (26.61) and a 14th in the 100 butterfly (personal-best 1:05.19).
She also combined with Zito, Caitlyn Longest and Shen on the seventh-place 200 freestyle relay (1:48.72) and Tineo, Dion and Shen on the sixth-place 400 freestyle relay (3:56.13).
“In the 50 free, I think I was focused too much on the 100 fly; I didn’t breathe at all on the first 25, and I didn’t have a good turn as a result, so it cost me,” Cronin sighed. “I was irate. As for the 100 fly, I felt good the first 50, but I kind of fell apart the last 12 yards. I just tried to keep my hips up and keep a strong rhythm into the wall.
“I knew a couple of girls were closing the gap real fast, but that 1:05.19, I’m really excited about it.”
There were other Lincolnites besides Westrick who fashioned stellar outings at the D-I meet. Sophomore Amanda Allen took eighth in the 100 backstroke (PR of 1:04.96), while classmate Vygoder placed 10th in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.81) and 13th in the 200 IM (2:30.44). And Westrick’s fellow captain Jacobson notched more points with a 15th in the 50 freestyle (27.12) and 16th in the 100 breaststroke (1:19.68).
The same quartet that nailed down sixth in the 200 medley relay – Allen, Vygoder, Westrick and Jacobson – took the same spot in the 200 freestyle relay (1:47.75). In that race, Jacobson mustered the fastest split, 26.23, which happened to be .02 quicker than the happiest young woman in the meet.
Right, Natalie?
“We would’ve liked to have placed top six (in the team standings), but that’s OK; we had virtually everybody on the team get at least one best time, which is what it’s all about,” DiIorio said. “We had an incredible meet, and now we’ll have some fun at states (2 p.m., Saturday at Brown University).”
Noted McGarry: “It’s outstanding, the number of PRs we registered. We had to have been around 90 percent success rate. Look at Abby. Geez, talk about the definition of a ‘big meet’ swimminer. She’s like an athlete who gets to the playoffs and he or she just functions on a completely different level. Abby raises her game, and you cold say the same thing about Cammy Cronin.
“She’s a very smart swimmer, a kid who competes with poise and pool smarts,” he continued. “Just look at the end of her 100 fly. She was dying (getting tired), but she didn’t panic, kept the same cadence, kept her hips up and drove into the wall instead of half-stroking it.
“She’s also the consummate leader, quiet and leads by example. She’s like an assistant coach, too, someone you can talk to about strategy like relay adjustments, splits, technique; she just gets it. We call it ‘meet sensibility.’
“I’ll take that before talent any day; she adds another whole perspective. You know, she sent me a long e-mail a couple of days before this meet and shared her thoughts about who on our team might be better off swimming another event based on what she thought other girls on other teams might swim. She discussed how best to score the most points.
“The girl is special. She’s like (former Red Sox GM) Theo Epstein with all the numbers crunching and percentages.” ** R.I. DIVISION I SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS At Roger Williams University natatorium GIRLS
Team standings – 1. La Salle 337; 2. Barrington 322; 3. North Kingstown 286; 4. Prout 215; 5. East Greenwich 206; 6. Bay View 186; 7. Cumberland 131; 8. Moses Brown 117; 9. Lincoln 113; 10. South Kingstown 96; 11. Narragansett 71.
Area placements
200y medley relay – 6. Lincoln (Amanda Allen, Anna Vygoder, Natalie Westrick, Lily Jacobson) 1:59.96; 11. Cumberland (Adrianna Harrison, Mackenzie Waters, Olivia Barboza, Abby Dion) 2:12.74. 200y freestyle – 10. Dion (CUMB) 2:09.44; 13. Ashlyn Tineo (CUMB) 2:10.66; 15. Amanda Allen (L) 2:12.52; 17. Kheara Zito (CUMB) 2:13.49.
200y individual medley – 13. Vygoder (L) 2:30.44; 17. Melissa Pierce (L) 2:32.77.
50y freestyle – 3. Caroline Shen (CUMB) 25.41; 9. Cameron Cronin (CUMB) 26.61; 15. Jacobson (L) 27.12.
100y butterfly – 9. Westrick (L) 1:03.43; 14. Cronin (CUMB) 1:05.19. 100y freestyle – 2. Shen (CUMB) 56.22; 15. Harrison (CUMB) 1:01.78.
500y freestyle – 8. Westrick (L) 5:39.89; 10. Dion (CUMB) 5:49.66; 13. Tineo (CUMB) 5:57.75; 19. Zito (CUMB) 6:07.96.
200y freestyle relay – 6. Lincoln (Allen, Vygoder, Jacobson, Westrick) 1:47.45; 7. Cumberland (Cronin, Zito, Caitlyn Longest, Shen) 1:48.72.
100y backstroke – 8. Allen (L) 1:04.96.
100y breaststroke – 10. Vygoder (L) 1:14.81; 16. Jacobson (L) 1:19.68.
400y freestyle relay – 6. Cumberland (Cronin, Tineo, Dion, Shen) 3:56.13; 10. Lincoln (Katie Nolan, Natalie Jorge, Melissa Pierce, Emma Gianetti) 4:15.64.