Despite finishing first in just two individual races and one relay event, the Duxbury girls’ swim team used its depth to beat South Sectional rival Barnstable last Tuesday night in Hyannis, 89-81. In a meet that was decided by the last relay, the Dragons (6-0) earned enough points to keep their unbeaten streak alive, with most swimmers posting season-low times.

The 200-yard medley relay team of Shelby Rader, Ellie Johnson, Katie Eagan and Hannah Hutchinson swam a season-best Division II State -qualifying time of 1:59.12 to take second.  Sophomore Jess Goldberg would also post a season-low state cut time of 209.17 in the 200-yard freestyle, touching the wall less than a second after the first-place Barnstable swimmer. Miranda VanDingstee and Abby Mullen followed right behind, taking third and fourth. Goldberg would soon return to the pool in the 500-yard freestyle endurance race finishing second with yet another season-best time of 5:48.31. Taking third and fourth were Mullen and Elizabeth Buckley. Johnson would win the first individual event for the Lady Dragons, cruising to a season-low time of 2:16.97, well ahead of the state cut time of 2:28.00.  Placing third and fifth in that event were Mary O’Sullivan and Aly Wolff.  Johnson (1:13.09) returned later in the 100-yard breast to finish less than a second off first place. Emily Nichols and Jill Coghlan took third and fourth in that event, with Nichols qualifying for her first South Sectional.

Rader also won her signature event in a season-best time of 104.63: the 100-yard backstroke. O’Sullivan and Olivia Zelvis were third and fourth. The sprint 50-yard freestyle event saw yet another season-low time for Rader (26.39), as she was out-touched by less than 2/10th of a second to take second. Also competing in that event were Caroline McSherry (4th) and co-captain Laura Husted (6th). Husted would be the first Duxbury swimmer to reach the wall in the 100-yard freestyle, placing third (104.46), while fourth and fifth place went to co-captain Kassie Sweeney and Hutchinson.

Butterflyer Katie Eagan was also out-touched by less than 2/10th of a second to finish second in the 100-yard fly (1:04.29): her best event. Following her to the wall were Michaela Morris (3rd) and VanDingstee (4th). 

The Lady Dragons won the 200-yard freestyle relay, but it was the 400-yard freestyle relay that had spectators on their feet. The meet’s last event would decide the winner, and although the Raiders finished first, the second and third places belonged to the Dragons that earned them enough points for the victory. The two teams will meet again in February in the Central/South Sectionals.

Hopping back in the water on Thursday, the girls took on Norwell at the Percy Walker Pool, winning the meet 96-84. 

The sophomore class led the way racking up the most individual wins.  Each of the three relay events were firsts for the Lady Dragons also, with the 200-yard freestyle team of Johnson, Goldberg, McSherry and Rader cruising to a season-low 1:48.95. 

Johnson began the meet with a win in the 200-yard freestyle in 2:09.85, making it her fourth state-qualifying event this season. Jill Coghlan (3rd) and Sarah Cooper (5th) followed just behind.  Next up in the 200-yard individual medley, Abby Mullen would post a season-low state-qualifying time of 2:27.41, to finish in second.  Olivia Zelvis and Aly Wolff were third and fourth. 

The 100-yard backstroke was all Rader’s, as she stroked her way to the wall in 1:05.25.  Completing the sweep for the Dragons were Mary O’Sullivan and Haley Chatlin. 

McSherry blasted her way through the water in the 50-yard free, just missing first place by a hair. Krista Librett and Meg Murray would take fifth and sixth, respectively. In the 100-yard freestyle, Goldberg (1:00.48) would also have to settle for second, followed by Lauren McKim (4th) and Annie Sweeney (5th).

Sophomores Buckley, Morris and Nichols stacked up the points by each winning their respective events.  Buckley glided to first place (6:06.56) in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing well ahead of the competition.  Kassie Sweeney (2nd) and Lexi Leclerc (4th) also swam the 20-length race.  Morris would easily take the 100-yard butterfly with her fastest time this season of 1:05.95, missing the state cut by .04 seconds.   Finishing second and fifth were VanDingstee and Hannah Riddle.  Not to be out-done, Nichols (1:19.63) swam her way to first in the 100-yard breaststroke event, with Buckley diving back in to take third and Sweeney finishing fifth. 

The diving team of Kelsey Golden, Sam Tougas and Avery Pisani took second, third, and fourth in the Norwell meet with Golden scoring 170.55 points behind the winning Norwell diver.  Tougas was third with 159.9 points and Pisani took fourth with 155.78.

The girls were hoping that their record would move to 8-0 after taking on Hingham yesterday afternoon: a nice warm-up to Thursday’s meet with Scituate/Cohasset at the Hancock Pool in Quincy.