NEGS Annihalates NMH
The whistle blows as lower Wynter Sands, the lead-off backstroker for the 200-yard medley relay team, plunges into the water. Stroking past the Northfield Mount Hermon girls’ competitors, she emerges from the depths a whole body length in front of her challengers. As Sands reaches behind to touch the wall, upper Tina Wang leaps into the water, extending the lead even further, followed followed by uppers Heddy Parker and Liz Williams to win the race. Big Red placed 1st, 3rd and 4th in the first race, setting the tone for the rest of the meet.
The girls’ varsity swim meet on Wednesday at the Northfield Mount Hermon School (NMH) was won with dominating score of 90-71. This lead would have been a larger margin if Exeter hadn’t relinquished its points in the final three events. “After getting more than a 30 point lead in the first half of the meet, [Exeter] stopped taking score,” Sands said.
Going into the meet, the girls were confident in their abilities to crush NMH. “We’ve been doing a lot of hard endurance sets that have been pushing us mentally and physically,” upper Ashleigh Lackey said. The girls are focusing their training on the Interscholastic Championships at the end of the season, making sure they continue bringing a positive attitude to the last 4 weeks of training. “It is the time in the season where everyone is getting sick and overwhelmed with school work. We are working on keeping our spirits ups while still putting in all the hard work,” senior and co-captain Maddie Shapiro said.
The meet showcased many stunning swims that contributed to Big Red pulling out a big win over NMH. One exciting race from the weekend was the girls 200-yard individual medley. Parker, upper Issy Wise and Shapiro touched 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively sweeping NMH in the race. Exeter went on to sweep several other events throughout the meet. Senior and co-captain Lilly Carden also swam well, coming back in the relays to the help Big Red put up points.
Up on the pool deck, the teammates kept spirits high despite the fatigue they felt due to their intensive training at this point in the season. “Liz is always super cheerful, whether she’s putting out best times or not. She’s an amazing leader for the team,” Lackey said. Shapiro added, “Our whole team was cheering during the races which gave everyone a boost of energy.”
As the New England Swimming Championships gets closer, the girls continue to work hard. “As a team, I hope we continue to work as hard as we did last week and keep winning races like we did this last weekend,” Sands said. They are also working to bring the team closer together. With the incredible times that the girls have been putting up, the team hopes that this momentum will carry on for the rest of the season. Lackey added, “We’re having a great season so far, and are really looking forward to ‘Schols.’” Nothing stands between the girls and the ship. As upper Sam Gove put it, “Live fast, die hard.”