GIRLS' NORTH SECTIONAL SWIMMING

Wayland has the Wright stuff

By Jack McCluskey, Globe Correspondent | February 17, 2008

The Marblehead girls' swimming team exploded off the starting blocks in yesterday's MIAA North Sectional Championships at MIT's Zesiger Center, winning two of the first three events for a double-digit lead early.

The only question for the Magicians? Was their hot start for real, or just sleight of hand?

Unfortunately for Marblehead, the magic eventually ran out as Wayland, depending on its impressive depth, edged Marblehead, 210-195.

The Warriors didn't earn a first until the ninth event, the 200-yard freestyle relay, but placed second in the opening 200-yard medley relay and had swimmers in the top six in all but two of 12 events (200-yard freestyle and 100-yard backstroke).

"We're fine giving up a couple of firsts," Wayland senior captain Priscilla Wright said, "because we're going to go 2, 3, 4."

Wright, and her sophomore sister, Emily, were two of the many keys to Wayland's victory, according to coach Mike Foley.

"They're phenomenal," he said. "Sprinting is kind of their thing, and they've really led these underclassmen this year."

While Wayland came out ahead in the end, the meet was decidedly back-and-forth.

Marblehead made an early splash, building a lead thanks to a couple of Carolines - Belli and Caliri - who helped with wins in the opening relay and the 200-yard individual medley (Belli), and second- and fourth-place finishes in the 100- and 200-yard freestyles (Caliri). Belli's win broke her own meet record, which she set as a sophomore at 2:11.41, with a time of 2:10.93.

The fourth event, the 50-yard freestyle, brought the first real challenge to the girls from Marblehead, as Wayland took three of the top six spots - with Emily and Priscilla Wright finishing second and third, respectively, and sophomore Emily Downs fifth, closing the Magicians' lead to 76-73.

Three events later, the Wright sisters struck again.

This time it was the 100 freestyle, and Emily and Priscilla placed third (54.82) and fourth (55.30), respectively - with Downs taking sixth - giving Wayland a 118-108 lead.

Wayland took the 200-yard freestyle relay behind Downs, the Wright sisters, and Michelle Cunningham, seeming to build an insurmountable lead at 152 to Marblehead's 130. But then Belli won the 100-yard backstroke in 58.95 and junior Emily Rookwood placed fourth to give the Magicians 28 points and cut the Wayland lead to 1 point.

The 100-yard breaststroke gave Wayland 16 points to push its lead to 186-169, and the title was clinched with a third-place finish in the 400-yard freestyle relay.