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Andover swimmers back atop MVC

A year ago in this meet, Chelmsford High halted Andover's 10-year reign over the Merrimack Valley Conference.

Yesterday, the Warriors made the Lions pay.

In the process of knocking off Chelmsford, 105-79, in the regular season finale, Andover reclaimed its stake to conference supremacy, completing a 12-0 season.

"This puts us in great shape for the next three meets, the MVCs, sectionals and states," said Andover coach Marilyn Fitzgerald. "For us, finishing undefeated in the league has been very important.

"The goal for the kids from the start has been to get the blue light ride back into town after winning states. Very methodically, these kids have set up what they have to do."

Chelmsford got off to a quick start, putting the heat on the Warriors, who responded, of course, like champions.
Rachel Moore kickstarted the rally, steaming home with a sizzling 25.24 clocking to win the 50 freestyle, just ahead of teammate Emma Cammann, who grabbed a big second.

Action swung to the diving board, and again Andover came up huge.

Freshman Deborah Daly rolled up 252.67 points to pace an Andover sweep in the event. Warriors Jenny Conneeny (239.02) and Courtney Stone (213.75) were well above the 200-point mark.

"We went into the 50 free behind and came out withe the lead. You can score 16 points in an event, they got 13 in the dive and basically we took over from there," said Fitzgerald, who claimed her 11th MVC title in 18 years. "That was the turning point."

Moore showed her versatility, stretching out to win the 500 freestyle as well.

Ashley Korsberg posted a pair of individual wins, taking the 200 individual medley and then the 100 breaststroke, the latter of which was scored with a career best 1:11.04 clocking.

Alexa Korsberg, Colleen Hespeler and Monica Patterson were the other individual winners for the Warriors.