The Hawks’ swim team’s first meet was on Dec. 7, against CMW and Harford Tech. For combined scores, NH placed third. However, the girls tied for second with Harford Tech.

     Junior captain Michael O’Leary placed first in the 200 IM with a time of 2:08.60.

     Senior captain Ben Iampieri placed second in the Boys 50 freestyle with a 25:40.

     Junior Val Angulo placed second in the Girls 50 freestyle with a 30.39. “It was a boost of adrenaline for the rest of the season because I was a little nervous when I got to the meet, but it went away after my first race,” Angulo says. “My muscle memory took over [and] it gave me a boost of confidence for the rest of my races.”

     The Boys 200 freestyle relay (sophomore James Cassidy, junior Kyle Difilippo, Iampieri, and Michael) placed second with a 1:44.44, less than half a second behind first place.

     The Girls 200 freestyle relay (Angulo, senior captain Jenna Reed, freshman Sophia Bonincontri, and junior captain Anna O’Leary) placed third with a time of 2:01.36.

     Michael placed first in the Boys 100 breaststroke with a 1:06.25. Despite winning, he did not PR and was not happy with his performance.

     Anna placed second in the Girls 100 breaststroke coming in at 1:26.33. “I wanted to do better on my breaststroke,” she says. “But it went fine.”

     Anna has no complaints about the team’s performance. “It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. We did pretty well,” she explains. She is most excited about team bonding this year. She wants to “go to [Iampieri]’s house and play Just Dance.” She also urges people to try out for swimming next year.

     Michael is excited about the swim season. He is most looking forward to  “doing the chants with [Iampieri].” He also adds, “people should join swimming next year.”

     “I was super nervous and was shaking the whole time,” freshman Kendall Walter says. “It was my first meet ever in my life, so I was super scared for it. I was scared I was going to be slow and let down my team, but it turns out I did pretty well!”

     “I was satisfied with my performance considering it was the first meet of the season and I am starting better than I left off last season, breaking two of my individual PRs,” Angulo explains. “Swimming is fun but it can be hard because it is a more technique-centered sport.”