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Andover's swimming team is apparently reloading in a big way.

The Warriors won all but one event in a 95-67 rout of Melrose and two of the standouts, Maggie D'Innoncenzo and Ashley Korsberg looked strong while winning events.

The Methuen swimming team only placed first in four events, but a swarm of seconds and thirds paved the way to its first victory of the year, 92-89 over St. Peter of Marian. Katie Oskar was clocked in 1:04.91 in the 100 freestyle.

Haverhill swimming fell to Chelmsford but as always several family connections shined for the Hillies. Cousins Emily and Maggie Opolski were part of four wins. Winning diver Erin Driscoll is the niece of former Hillie star diver and current Brown and Gold diving coach Becky Driscoll.

Haverhill has a strong core of senior leadership but co-captain Emily Opolski rose above the pack in a season-opening 88-80 victory over Central Catholic at Lawrence YMCA. Emily won the 200 IM (2:18.41) and 100 butterfly (1:03.21) and swam legs on two winning relays, anchoring the 400 freestyle relay. Sister Maggie Opolski mirrored Emily, winning the 100 freestyle (58.29) and 100 backstroke (1:04.81) as well as the two relays. Hannah Mitchell was the Raiders' standout, taking top honors in the 200 and 500 freestyle.

Andover freshman Rachel Moore is already making history.

She broke two Merrimack Valley Conference large meet records, smashing marks set by Golden Warrior great Connie Brown. Moore won the 100 backstroke (57.54) — Brown's previous mark was 57.99 in 2002 — and the 100 butterfly (59.96) — Brown's previous mark was 57.15 in 2000. 

Methuen won its fourth straight Merrimack Valley Conference small meet. Katie Oskar broke Meghan Kijanka's school diving record (230.15), winning with a score of 233.65. 

Methuen narrowly defeated Lowell, 94-92, in the Rangers' last regular-season meet. Methuen improved to 9-4, which coach Jason Smith says is the best finish in program history. Senior captain Erin Wholley had a big day, picking up two thirds.

For the first time in 10 years Chelmsford got the better of Andover. The Lions topped the Golden Warriors, 103-83, to claim the Merrimack Valley regular season title.

"It took a good team to beat us," said Andover coach Marilyn Fitzgerald. "It was their year."

Methuen High clinched its fifth straight Merrimack Valley Division 2 title, rolling up 101-79 win over Billerica.
"That's five straight, four with (Laura) Moriarty and one after her," joked Methuen High swim coach Jason Smith, who lauded this team's efforts rebounding from the loss of the All-American to graduation.

The Methuen girls swimming team topped Melrose 94-76 thanks in large part to impressive performances by Meaghan Arsenault and Maggie Conlon. Arsenault took the top spot in the 50-meter freestyle (27.02) and the 500-meter freestyle (5:51.67), and she swam the first leg of the winning 200 medley (2:07.92) and 400 freestyle relays (4:16.23). Conlon finished first in the 200-meter IM (2:24.02) and 100-meter backstroke (1:10.61) in addition to being on both relay teams. The Rangers improved to 7-4 with the victory.

Andover swimming topped Belmont, 97-86, to improve to 8-1-1 and set up next week's season-ending showdown with Chelmsford.   

"Every single year it comes down to this meet," said Andover head coach Marilyn Fitzgerald. 

It was the Courtney Smith show as Central Catholic cruised past Notre Dame. Courtney Smith and Courtney Smith — no relation and both are from Windham — both shined. One Smith placed first in the diving (186.70) and was part of the winning 200 medley relay team and the other won the 100 butterfly (1:12.35) was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

Andover's Courtney Stone won diving (189.56) to lead the Golden Warriors swim team over Lowell.

Marissa Botting swam two personal bests, winning the 50 freestyle (26.41) and the 100 butterfly (1:04.47) as Central Catholic rolled to an easy win over Lowell.