This past Saturday, November 8, 2014, the Ward Melville Varsity Girls Swimming and Diving team won the High School Swimming Section XI (Suffolk) Championships & State Quals County Championships for the 23rd year in a row. As the team was named County Champions, all the girls linked hands and jumped in the pool, followed by Coach Gordon and Coach Perfetti, with everyone shouting with joy. The girls dominated several events including the 100 back and 200 free, both won by WM junior Casey Gavigan with personal bests of 56.51 in the backstroke and 1:55.05 in the free. Senior Cassandra Willie won the 500 free and 100 fly, and swam personal bests in both events, finishing with a 5:08.8 and 57.39 respectively.

The team had many successful individual and relay swims, which contributed to the team’s overall victory. A total of 7 Ward Melville girls (6 swimmers and 1 diver) qualified for States: senior Sarah Schoenfeld qualified in the 200 medley relay, senior Cassandra Willie qualified in the 500 free, 100 fly, and 200 medley relay; senior Jessica Vairo qualified in the 200 free relay, junior Casey Gavigan qualified in the 200 free, 100 back (also a Junior National and All-American Consideration cut), and 200 medley relay; junior Katie Wang qualified in the 200 free relay and 200 medley relay, and junior Brittany Coughlin qualified in the 200 IM and 100 breast. Senior Cassandra Willie was also named Most Valuable Swimmer of the Suffolk County Championships meet.

The night before, on November 7th, Ward Melville sophomore diver Jennifer Yavid also qualified for States, finishing 6th overall in the diver competition. She received perfect scores of 10 on her last two dives of the meet, gaining her a position on the 2014 States team. She will be joining the rest of the swim team on their trip to States on November 21-22 in Ithaca, New York.

Our Ward Melville girls battled tough competitors such as Harborfields and Half Hollow Hills during the County Championship, but ultimately came out on top by the end of the meet. More importantly, our girls continued the legacy of the Ward Melville Girls Varsity Swimming and Diving team by winning County Championships for the 23rd year in a row, with their 24th victory on the horizon for next year.