Kristen Faulkner ’11 came from behind and squeezed past her Deerfield opponent last Saturday in the 200-meter freestyle, earning what would be one of many victories for Andover last Saturday. Faulkner said, “In the 200, I knew that my Deerfield competitor had a fast time, so I maintained composure when she pulled ahead of me in the first hundred. I had more energy in the end than I thought I would have, so I picked up the speed for the last hundred.” She continued, “I didn’t think I was going to catch her until there were about 10 yards left in the race, at which point I put my head down and didn’t even look.” Andover obliterated Deerfield in the 500-meter freestyle, with Faulkner, Julia Smachlo ’11, and Emily Carrolo ’13 finishing in first, second and third. Faulkner said, “I felt really tired in practice last week, so I was nervous going into my races, especially as I went out strong in the 500.” She continued, “Although I was not sure if I could hold my pace, I swam extra hard for the last half and surprised myself. Faulkner beat the nearest Deerfield swimmer by 32 seconds. In the 200-meter Individual Medley, Lydia Azaret ’12 gave Andover their second win of the day, when she won the event by a tenth of a second. In the 50-meter freestyle, however, Deerfield’s quick sprinters tested Andover’s depth. This depth came through in the clutch, as Hailey Novis ’13 took second, Peyton Morss ’10 took fourth, and Katie Fanikos ’11 took fifth. Once again, Kendall MacRae ’11 showed her amazing skill on the diving board as she won with an incredible score of 252.85 points. Emily Johnson ’10, and Whitney Glick ’11 followed, giving Andover a clean sweep and another twelve points, while Deerfield only took four. At the halfway point, Andover led by 16 points. In the 200-meter freestyle relay, the team of Julia Torabi ’12, Lexi Moroney ’11, Morss and Novis brought Andover its final win, when it barely out-touched Deerfield’s team by eight one-hundredths of a second. Captain Alanna Waldman ’10 said, “Our team is very deep and although we may not have placed first in every event, we won the events with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishes. “ She continued, “It is always gratifying to see small improvements as the season progresses.” This Saturday, Andover will race a strong Hopkins team.
