By Chris Villani

Sports Writer

The Milford High School swim teams capped off a strong season that featured a run to the league title for the boys and a number of strong individual performances for both squads.

“It was a very successful season in a lot of ways,” said head coach Dave Chaplin. “The boys were undefeated until our last meet against Attleboro and they were just a little bit stronger than us, but it was a great year and we are very young.”

The Scarlet Hawk boys finished the dual meet campaign at 6-1, good enough for second place in the Hockomock League standings. Milford went on to earn a third-place finish at the league showcase meet. Senior captain Josh Anderson led the way again this winter after an MVP season during his junior year.

“He did a great job, he was a leader,” Chaplin said. “We were loaded with sophomores and freshmen and they learned a lot by watching him. It went a long way.”

Sophomores Aaron McIsaac. Ben Pezza, Corey Rattray and Oskar Khoury and freshman Ethan Fielder were all reliable contributors for MHS this season. The core group helped Milford compete in all of the events throughout the year and all of the team’s relays qualified for the sectional championship. 

The 400 freestyle relay team earned a spot at states, where the combination of Anderson, McIsaac, Pezza, and Rattray swam their best overall time and best individual splits during the final race of the year.

“The future is bright and they are all going to be coming back and looking to improve,” Chaplin said. “They are going to keep going.”

The Milford girls finished 2-5 during the dual meet season but the program continued to develop behind the leadership of seniors Caitlin Bangert, Emily Daudelin, and Maddie Stochaj.

“They were the glue that kept things going,” Chaplin said. “They had to keep things rolling from a leadership point of view to keep everyone on pace and maintain our program and they did that, they were very influential.”

Chaplin described Bangert as a “stalwart” who frequently swam some of the toughest events and who was able to step into the butterfly and individual medley when called upon. Daudelin stood out in the freestyle and breaststroke and Stochaj found success as a distance freestyle swimmer and a backstroker. 

Some younger athletes also had excellent seasons. Sophomore Vedi Raval and junior Sarah Wengal were among the team’s best sprinters and both figure to be key cogs for the Scarlet Hawks next year.

“The girls will keep the ball rolling,” Chaplin said. “The big thing with swimming is gaining an understanding of who you are and your relationship to the other swimmers. We have a good understanding of who we are and that has been a strength of our program.”