NEGS Defeats Deerfield's Doors
Upper Heddy Parker, the anchor of the 400-yard freestyle relay, flips at the 75 yard mark, racing back for the final lap. Her teammates cheer her on from the side of the pool as she holds off Deerfield’s fastest swimmer. As they approach the wall, both competitors enveloped in a flurry of water, Parker out-touches her Deerfield opponent by a mere second. The crowd goes ballistic as Parker embraces her opponent before celebrating with her relay teammates.
"This win extended their undefeated season record to 3-0."
Big Red swimmers entered the relay—the final event of the meet— a few points behind the Deerfield team. However, the exceptional win in the 400-yard freestyle relay ultimately gave Exeter the meet win over Deerfield with a score of 97-89. This win extended their undefeated season record to 3-0.
Going into the meet, the team was nervous about their strong opponent. According to lower Maddie Machado, the team still remembers last year’s loss to Deerfield and was affected by that. “No one was feeling super optimistic that we would come out on top,” Machado said.
Upper Ashleigh Lackey shared Machado’s sentiment. “I think in the back of our minds, we all expected to lose, so it was amazing that we were able to come out with the win,” Lackey added.
Along with the nerves, the sickness pervading the team also affected their mentality. “A bunch of us were sick and didn’t feel well at the meet or were injured,” senior and co-captain Maddie Shapiro explained. “I’m very proud of everyone for pushing through though because it paid off”.
Even though they weren’t at their physical prime, the team’s “spirits remained high”, according to Shapiro. Lower Wynter Sands pointed other challenges that the girls overcame on Saturday - having classes before the meet and a shortened practice time on Friday due to MLK day. However, the team was well trained and prepared by the coaches and despite the obstacles, there were many gritty performances throughout the meet.
The highlight of the meet was the 100-yard freestyle event. Uppers Liz Williams, Heddy Parker and Tina Wang crushed the field and took the first, second and third places, respectively, shutting out Deerfield from obtaining any points in that event. The trio finished within half a second of each other and around three seconds ahead of Deerfield’s fastest swimmer.
Big Red’s talent in the sprint events was showcased further in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The A-relay, consisting of Wang, Parker, Gove and Williams, outclassed the field by more than five seconds. Meanwhile, the B-relay, made up of Machado, senior and co-captain Lilly Carden, uppers Issy Wise and Christine Baker, also stormed ahead of Deerfield’s best squad, completing a 1-2 sweep of the event.
Alongside that, Lackey also delivered a notable 100-yard breastroke performance. She led the field from start to finish, holding a comfortable body-length lead the entire time. Lackey’s meet performances earned her the team’s weekly “MVP” title which was awarded by the captains.
Upper Gabby Allen also managed to hold off Deerfield’s swimmers in the breastroke event and took up second place behind Lackey. Upper Sam Gove commended Allen’s recent races. “She has improved so much over the last year and even in the past few weeks of the season,” Gove said. “I was especially impressed and proud of her this weekend.”
Not only did the girls bring the intensity to the pool, the team displayed spirit and camaraderie. “Our captains always do a great job hyping us up and making us want to to our best for the team,” Lackey said. “Our entire team was amazing and supportive during the meet,” added Shapiro.
The big win over Deerfield also gave the team a reminder of their own ability and potential.“This meet definitely showed us the importance of keeping a positive attitude and swimming our best despite the odds against us,” said Machado. In addition to staying positive, this meet also proved helpful in making the team more close knit. Sands stated: “This meet was a good one to bring the team together, cheering for each other and getting each other hyped up.”
Looking ahead, the girls hope to continue their season and remain undefeated. “Future goals are obviously to keep improving our times and becoming faster,” Shapiro added.
“We’ve still got several more meets ahead of us, so we’re focusing on training hard and preparing to face Andover and place well at Interschols at the end of the season.” They also hope to become closer as a team.
Shapiro agreed, saying, “We win and lose as a team”.