The stands were packed, with not a single seat open, filled with supportive fans and countless Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood alumni. The cheers and yells from the crowd echoed endlessly, bouncing off the walls of the YMCA pool arena. Event after event, Westfield girls swimming led by a significant number of points, allowing them to secure the win against SPF, 116-54, at their annual alumni meet.
Senior co-captain Ava Contract believes that the support from the stands was a key factor in the Blue Devils’ success. “This is the meet that you’re gonna see the most energy,” said Contract. “Our stands were packed, so I think our girls really fed off the energy on the pool deck and in the stands, which helped them contribute to getting those fast times in their best events.”
The Blue Devils swept in three of the many events of the meet: the 100 Yard Free, the 100 Yard Back and the 400 Yard Free Relay. In every event, one of Westfield’s lanes ended in first place.
Before the meet, Westfield did an overall scouting report, studying SPF’s times from their last meet, which gave them a gauge of their overall performance. This aided their lineup organization. Senior co-captain Cecilia Wiggins said, “Preparing and really doing our research beforehand contributed to the win, and also researching our own swimmers and their times from both high school and their club teams. We made sure to prep the girls and told them that we need to bring the energy and give all that we got.”
Many Westfield alumni came to support the team, as this game is an annual tradition for the two teams. Alum Emily Kapuscinski said, “Scotch Plains is the alumni meet which happens every year, so it was so fun to be on the other side. We always looked forward to seeing all of the older kids come back.”
When any team wins a regular-season game, it clearly has great importance. This win was particularly special and important because SPF is one of their biggest rivals, and the alumni meet is very special to the Westfield swimming community. Wiggins said, “We always look forward to our SPF meet every year. We call it our biggest meet of December. The energy is really on fire in this meet. I mean, the whole stands were up and cheering.”
The Blue Devils look to continue their momentum on Jan. 6 at 4 p.m. against Oak Knoll.
