They’ve done it again. No. 1 seed Westfield defeated No. 3 seed Ridge on Thursday, 93–77, to claim its second consecutive North 2, Public A sectional championship.
Few of the championship matches were tight in the closing stretches. In the Blue Devils’ various victories, they held a significant lead over their opposition, unrelenting in their efforts to once again claim victory in the sectional final. Starting off with the 200 yard medley relay, Westfield dominated. A four-person team composed of Loyola University-Maryland commit Lauren Lane, Vanderbilt commit Emily Constable, Lafayatte commit Abby Bebel and sophomore Brooke McAndrew cruised to victory, beating their Red Devil opponents by more than five seconds with a time of 1:47.58. Westfield also finished third and fourth in the event.
“This was a great accomplishment,” junior Clare Logan said. “Our biggest goal is obviously to win the state tournament so this is just a step to get to that and I’m really proud of everyone and I think everyone performed as well as they could.”
Following the 200 medley relay was the 200 freestyle. Once again Westfield placed first, with Duke commit Logan besting her Ridge counterpart, Emily Wang, by more than five seconds with a time of 1:52.04. This was one victory followed by another when Constable quickly completed the 50 freestyle in under 25 seconds. McAndrew finished less than a second behind Constable, allowing the Blue Devils the two top spots in the event. “There were some nerves and we used those nerves to push us forward through the meet,” said Constable.
Ridge won four of the meet’s events: the 200 individual medley, the 100 fly, the 100 freestyle and the 200 freestyle relay. In those events, Westfield placed second in all but the 100 freestyle, where it finished third.
Westfield went on to win the 500 freestyle, the 100 backstroke, the 100 breaststroke and the 400 freestyle relay. The 500 freestyle saw an incredible effort from McAndrew, swimming her way to an easy win. Constable and Logan each placed first in three of their four events, as Westfield won 8 of the meet’s 11 matchups. It was once again a sound victory for the Blue Devils.
“This is really special because we have a great group of girls and a bunch of girls that have never been here before, so to keep the winning going is what we’re looking forward to doing,” head coach Steve Whittington said.
Westfield’s victory over Ridge marks its 14th win of the season thus far. The Blue Devils remain undefeated, having not lost a meet in 716 days. With another sectional championship added to their trophy case, the Blue Devils look forward to the state tournament where they hope to once again be state champions. One notable opponent that may lie ahead on Westfield’s path to victory is Cherry Hill East. Currently 10-1, Cherry Hill East was defeated last year by the Blue Devils in the state championship. They too have recently won their sectional championship and will most likely be one of Westfield’s more formidable opponents down the road.
With its incredible momentum and continual stream of success, it seems that nothing is out of reach for Westfield’s girls swim team and its goal of claiming absolute victory.
