Darien's Miller Ward competes in the 200-yard individual medley during the FCIAC girls swimming finals in Greenwich on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.
Dave StewartFor the 18th time since 2000, Darien is a state girls swimming and diving champion.
The Blue Wave scored 789.5 points to leave the rest of the field more than 200 behind as they captured the CIAC Class L crown for the third straight season Tuesday night at the Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford.
Cheshire, the SCC champion, was the runner-up with 588 points, followed by two more FCIAC teams with Wilton third (478) and New Canaan fourth (467). Hall took fifth (435).
Darien has won nine of the last 11 Class L titles, Class M in 2006, 2007 and 2009, and Class S for six straight years from 2000 to 2005.
The Wave won five of the 11 swimming events, with junior Miller Ward striking gold twice. Ward won the 200 individual medley (2:01.98) and the 100 butterfly (55.52), with senior Natalia Ferranto first in the 50 freestyle (23.89).
Darien also won the 200 medley (1:46.49) and 200 freestyle (1:38.50) relays.
Cheshire senior Avery Potyrala was a double-winner in the 200 freestyle (1:55.45) and 100 freestyle (52.83); sophomore Natalia Gajecki won the 100 backstroke (56.87) and the Rams’ 400 freestyle relay was also first (3:31.07).
Hall senior Meghan Tiernan won the 500 freestyle (4:55.13) and Amity sophomore Marea Li won the 100 breaststroke (1:05.66).
David.Stewart@hearstmediact.com; @dstewartsports
CIAC Class L Swim Finals
at Cornerstone Pool
Team Scores: 1. Darien 789.5; 2. Cheshire 588; 3. Wilton 478; 4. New Canaan 467; 5. Hall 435; 6. Amity 425; 7. Fitch/Stonington/New London 327; 8. Farmington 311; 9. Newtown 269.5; 10. Warde 226; 11. New Milford 175; 12. South Windsor 154; 13. Middletown 108; 14. Newington 95; 15. Naugatuck 75; 16. Shelton 71; 17. Bristol Central 67; 18. Bunnell 66; 19. E.O. Smith-Tolland 46; 20. Bristol Eastern 37.
Individual Results
200-yard medley relay: 1. Darien (Margaret Erickson, Miller Ward, Emily Kalvaitis, Natalia Ferranto), 1:46.59; 2. Cheshire (Natalia Gajecki, Julia Barto, Julianna Tyler, Avery Potyrala), 1:46.85; 3. Amity (Elizabeth Bodie, Marea Li, Amanda Ford, Grace Mahon), 1:48.27; 4. Wilton (Anya Iyer, Virginia Hastings, Sydney Lillis, Aanya Kongettira), 1:51.86; 5. Hall (Julia Seguro, Mindy Zhao, Meghan Tiernan, Ziggy Edney), 1:52.07; 6. New Canaan (Samantha Haley, Abigayle Bleil, Lili Rivas, Lily Dunn), 1:52.93; 200-yard freestyle: 1. Avery Potyrala, Cheshire, 1:54.45; 2. Lily Bradbury, Darien, 1:55.26; 3. Molly Nordquist, Hall, 1:56.29; 4. Miriam Youel, Hall, 1:56.54; 5. Addison Fulling, Fitch/Ston/NL, 1:57.92; 6. Lily Voigt, Darien, 1:58.24; 200-yard IM: 1. Miller Ward, Darien, 2:01.98; 2. Meghan Tiernan, Hall, 2:02.47; 3. Julia Barto, Cheshire, 2:04.77; 4. Julianna Tyler, Cheshire, 2:07.26; 5. Virginia Hastings, Wilton, 2:08.51; 6. Marea Li, Amity, 2:08.69; 50-yard freestyle: 1. Natalia Ferranto, Darien, 23.89; 2. Delaney Reck, Fitch/Ston/NL, 24.33; 3. Grace Mahon, Amity, 24.41; 4. Natalia Gajecki, Cheshire, 24.58; 5. Anna Orphanides, Fitch/Ston/NL, 24.93; 6. Lily Dunn, New Canaan, 25.20; 100-yard butterfly: 1. Miller Ward, Darien, 55.52; 2. Julianna Tyler, Cheshire, 56.66; 3. Emily Kalvaitis, Darien, 56.85; 4. Grace Mahon, Amity, 57.31; 5. Elizabeth Bodie, Amity, 58.10; 6. Meghan MacLaren, New Milford, 59.40; 100-yard freestyle: 1. Avery Potyrala, Cheshire, 52.83; 2. Natalia Ferranto, Darien, 52.96; 3. Lily Bradbury, Darien, 53.81; 4. Mary Ryan, Warde, 54.21; 5. Addison Fulling, Fitch/Ston/NL, 54.23; 6. Jaee Raut, Farmington, 54.77; 500-yard freestyle: 1. Meghan Tiernan, Hall, 4:55.13; 2. Virginia Hastings, Wilton, 5:03.88; 3. Margaret Erickson, Darien, 5:05.76; 4. Miriam Youel, Hall, 5:18.30; 5. Sophia Gimby, Wilton, 5:20.71; 6. Erin Luecke, Darien, 5:20.80; 200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Darien (Liisa Jalakas, Lily Voigt, Lily Bradbury, Natalia Ferranto), 1:38.50; 2. Amity (Marea Li, Aarya Mulmi, Amanda Ford, Grace Mahon), 1:39.35; 3. Hall (Mindy Zhao, Katherine Manaresi, Molly Nordquist, Ziggy Edney), 1:42.29; 4. Wilton (Phoebe Bragg, Jordyn Yee, Nora Choukri, Samantha Mims), 1:42.53; 5. Cheshire (Carly Cahill, Grace Hanke, Vanessa Squillante, Julia Tejeda), 1:42.64; 6. Newtown (Diellza Limani, Anna Shew, Zoe Petertonjes, Alexa Kwarcinski), 1:43.90; 100-yard backstroke: 1. Natalia Gajecki, Cheshire, 56.87; 2. Julia Barto, Cheshire, 56.90; 3. Delaney Reck, Fitch/Ston/NL, 59.28; 4. Elizabeth Bodie, Amity, 59.32; 5. Meghan MacLaren, New Milford, 59.64; 6. Anya Iyer, Wilton, 59.97; 100-yard breaststroke: 1. Marea Li, Amity, 1:05.56; 2. Abigayle Bleil, New Canaan, 1:06.27; 3. Laura Letellier, Fitch/Ston/NL, 1:07.53; 4. Mindy Zhao, Hall, 1:08.03; 5. Grace Fischer, Newtown, 1:08.73; 6. Alexa Kwarcinski, Newtown, 1:08.87; 400-yard freestyle relay: 1. Cheshire (Julianna Tyler, Natalia Gajecki, Avery Potyrala, Julia Barto), 3:31.07; 2. Darien (Lily Bradbury, Margaret Erickson, Emily Kalvaitis, Miller Ward), 3:33.67; 3. Hall (Ziggy Edney, Molly Nordquist, Miriam Youel, Meghan Tiernan), 3:39.01; 4. Wilton (Aanya Kongettira, Nora Choukri, Anya Iyer, Virginia Hastings), 3:39.20; 5. Fitch/Ston/NL (Addison Fulling, Jai-Lynn Wheeler, Anna Orphanides, Delaney Reck), 3:40.42; 6. Farmington (Jenney Liu, Alexandra Urbanowicz, Kate Cosentino, Jaee Raut), 3:42.01.