The Duxbury girls swim team successfully defended its title earlier this month, winning the Patriot League championship for the third year in a row.

The team tallied 411 points, beating second-place Scituate/Cohasset and third-place Hanover/Rockland by over 180 points. Veteran Kaitlin Buckley was the star of the day, winning two individual titles and contributing to victories in two relays.

The Lady Dragons got off to a speedy start in the 200-yard medley relay with Sarah Goldberg, Buckley, Avery Riddle and Emily Hutchinson zipping to a 2:04.97 first-place win, putting 32 points on the board and outracing Scituate/Cohasset by a second.

Depth mattered in the second event, as Katelyn Coghlan, Hilary Dudley and Haley Chatlin placed third, fourth, and fifth, adding 35 points to the lead.

Duxbury had the edge going into the 200-yard individual medley because four of the top six seeds were wearing green. However, it was Buckley’s specialty event and the junior prevailed in 2:24.70, even though she was chased by Kendra Perry of Middleboro. Gaby Pipp was third (2:29.01), Goldberg was fourth (2:33.41) and Molly Davis took fifth (2:34.99).

The 50-yard freestyle featured three of the top swimmers in the field and they were all from Duxbury, as Hutchinson was nosed out of the top spot by 3/100 and settled for second, while Laura Husted took fourth and Dudley finished 14th.

In the diving competition, freshman Sam Tougas showed confidence and poise as she amassed 283.95 points to take second, with Carly Tillotson finishing in fifth (136.75) and Kelly Masgul landing in eighth (115.95).

After five events Duxbury had a comfortable lead, 166-118, over Scituate/ Cohasset, but there was still work to be done.

In the 100-yard butterfly it was depth that mattered, as four swimmers were shut out of the top two spots, but still placed in the top 10. Krista Librett took third, Alix Brady was fifth, Kassie Sweeney finished ninth and Katie Brasington ended up in 10th.

The distance swimmers took to the blocks with a 57-point lead, knowing that they could fall behind if they let up their effort. They did not disappoint, as Goldberg cruised to a two-body length win in (5:47.06). Even though Librett and Chatlin had little rest between events, they finished third and fifth respectively, with Casey Walker taking 17th.

One of the most exciting races for Duxbury was the 100-yard freestyle with more than 36 swimmers qualified in the event. Riddle, Pipp, Hutchinson and Husted, who were seeded high, had to wait until the final heats to race. The wait didn’t seem to matter, as they swept the event with Riddle and Pipp tying for first in 59.74, Hutchinson taking third (59.98), and Husted placing seventh (1:05.12).

The 200-yard freestyle relay brought Pipp, Husted, Davis and Hutchinson back to the blocks where they faced the top teams who had seed times under 2:00. With extra effort, Hutchinson swimming anchor touched out Scituate/Cohasset and Hanover/Rockland by two seconds.

Duxbury had the meet well in hand by the 10th event; the 100-yard backstroke. Buckley demonstrated her consistency and ability to step up, as she busted out a season-low 1:03.58 to win by a half second. Riddle took fifth, Mary Courtney Madigan was eighth and Davis finished ninth.

In the 100-yard breaststroke Brasington also erased three seconds off her personal best (1:21.96) to place fourth, while Coghlan took sixth, Sweeney finished seventh and Lauren Wilson captured ninth.

The final event was the 400-yard freestyle relay, and once again, Pipp, Riddle, Buckley and Goldberg owned the race from start to finish, winning by 10 seconds (4:00.28).

“We have a lot of depth and spirit,” said Coach Jay Craft. “Both of those ingredients led us to another championship.

Eleven Lady Dragons competed in the Central/South Sectionals on Sunday at MIT against 27 other teams.