Avon’s Owen Vale set five new school records this winter and finished second at the State Open in two events. (Photo courtesy Brendan Smith)
It was a record-breaking season for Avon High senior Owen Vale, who broke five school records competing for the boys swimming team this winter.
Vale won the 100-yard backstroke and finished second in the 50-yard freestyle at the CCC North championships before finishing second in the 200 IM (individual medley) and 100 breast stroke at the at the Class M championships.
At Saturday’s State Open championships at historic Kiphuth Pool on the campus of Yale University, Vale finished second in the 200 IM and 100 breast stroke – the first Avon swimmer to win multiple medals since Riley Strassner in 2015 when he was second and fifth.
He helped the Falcons finish 32nd in the field with 53 points.
Vale finished second in the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.90, just behind Greenwich senior Luke Mendelsohn, who won the race in 1:50.39. Vale did beat Pomperaug senior Robert Regan, who beat him in this race at the Class M championships.
Vale led after the second and third legs of the race but Mendelsohn caught Vale in the final freestyle leg.
In the 100 breast stroke, Vale swam a school-record time of 56.79 to finish third behind Regan (56.69) and Medelsohn (56.72). The top three finishers were within 0.10 of a second of each other at the finish line.
It was the best performance by an Avon boys swimmer at the State Open since Strassner finished second in the 200 free and fifth in the 100 free in 2015. Whitney McLellan won a pair of State Open title at the girls championship meet in 2004.
At the Class M championship meet at Cornerstone Municipal Pool in West Hartford, Vale had two close second place finishes in the 200 IM and 100 breast stroke.
In the 200 IM, Vale held a very slight lead over Regan through three of the four legs. But Regan powered past Vale in the final leg to win the race for the second straight year with a time of 1:50.03 with Vale second with a school-record time of 1:50.33.
In the 100 breast stroke, Regan had the lead throughout the race and won with a time of 56.51 seconds with Vale taking second with 57.51 seconds.
Two Avon High relays each finished 11th. The 200-yard medley relay (Sara Robertson, Charlotte Sohn, Vale, Arjun Padual) was eleventh with a time of 1:49.20. The 400-yard freestyle relay (Vale, Ananya Garg, Tansh Raju, Padual) was eleventh with a time of 3:42.09.
Avon sophomores Sara Robertson and Charlotte Sohn were the only two girls to qualify to swim in the championship finals.
The CIAC’s official girls swimming season is in the fall but girls are allowed to swim with the boys team during the winter if a school doesn’t field a girls team in the fall. The girls can swim in the CIAC championship meets but must meet boys criteria to participate.
Sohn was 22nd in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 1:09.54 while Robertson was 23rd in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:04.20.
At the CCC North championship meet, Vale won the 100 backstroke with a school-record time of 52.18 and set a new school record with his second place finish (22.15 seconds) in the 50-yard freestyle.
Avon (5-5, 4-1 CCC North) finished third in the CCC North championship meet behind league champion Wethersfield and the E.O. Smith/Tolland co-op program.
Avon won the girls-only Splash Classic, tying Nonnewaug for the championship. (Photo courtesy Brendan Smith)
The Avon girls won a share of their 14th Splash Classic championship since 2004 as they tied Nonnewaug-Woodbury at the meet, 211-211. The Splash Classic, a girls only meet, is traditionally the top meet of the winter for girls who swim with boys teams throughout the winter.
Avon won the 200-yard medley relay (Sara Roberston, Charlotte Sohn, Bianca Ma, Ananya Garg) with a time of 1:58.44 to beat Northwestern by nearly two seconds.
Sohn finished second in two events (100 IM, 100 breast) while Roberson finished second in the 100 back and third in the 100 free.
2025 CIAC State Open results (SwimCloud.com)
2025 CIAC Class M championships
CCC North championships
At Wethersfield (March 8)
Team results – 1. Wethersfield 347, 2. Newington 203, 3. Avon 201, 4. E.O. Smith/Tolland 184, 5. Manchester 164, 6. Rocky Hill 154
200 yard medley relay: Wethersfield 1:42.17, 2. EOS/Tolland 1:43.91, 3. Wethersfield B 1:45.99, 4. Manchester 1:46.17, 5. Avon 1:49.20, 6. Newington 1:54.63
200 freestyle: Alexander Ahrens (W) 1:51.75, 2. Abir Dutta (A) 1:57.45, 3. Ethan Miller (W) 1:57.52, 4. Jayden Lu (N) 1:59.66, 5. Arjun Padwal (A) 1:58.70, 6. Phillip Korzinski (W) 2:00.78
200 IM: Kuba Latawiec (N) 1:57.14, 2. Will Krajewski (M) 2:09.12, 3. Paolo Pirrotta (W) 2:10.84, 4. Zachary Stergiotis (W) 2:12.19, 5. Yibin Lin (EOS) 2:16.78, 6. Alon Shemer (EOS) 2:18.34
50 free: Ben Pope (EOS) 21.27, 2. Owen Vale (A) 22.15, 3. Matthew Vuong (N) 22.52, 4. Alejandro Chalfant (M) 23.20, 5. Nick DeForge (EOS) 23.60, 6. Julian Skarzynski (RH) 24.02
Diving: Luke Polmatier (W) 227.25, 2. Brynn Hoadley (A) 161.45, 3. Lizzie May (A) 160.05, 4. Cason Berasi (W) 155.5, 5. Hailey Mazur (A) 155.0, 6. Ryan O’Connell (RH) 150.65
100 fly: Paolo Pirrotta (W) 55.82, 2. Zachary Stergiotis (W) 57.91, 3. Alon Shemer (EOS) 1:00.42, 4. Chris Plage (RH) 1:02.31, 5. Ari Nash (W) 1:03.36, 6. Joseph Andino (W) 1:04.43
100 free: Ben Pope (EOS) 47.15, 2. Matthew Vuong (N) 50.24, 3. Beckett Krajewski (M) 51.30, 4. Alejandro Chalfant (M) 51.49, 5. Cooper Schwartzman (W) 51.62, 6. Jack Simmons (W) 51.76
500 free: Kuba Latawiec (N) 4:48.25, 2. Alexander Ahrens (W) 5:09.83, 3. Will Krajewski (M) 5:22.45, 4. Rhys Cattanach (W) 5:23.20, 5. Abir Dutta (A) 5:26.42, 6. Phillip Korzinski (W) 5:28.58
200 free relay: Newington 1:32.99, 2. EOS/Tolland 1:34.12, 3. Wethersfield 1:35.54, 4. Wethersfield B 1:40.61, 5. Rocky Hill 1:41.08, 6. EOS/Tolland B 1:43.86
100 back: Owen Vale (A) 52.18, 2. Cooper Schwartzman (W) 57.19, 3. Nick Deforge (EOS) 57.39, 4. Silas Willard (W) 1:02.37, 5. Chris Plage (RH) 1:03.48, 6. Ephram Powers (W) 1:04.96
100 breast: Becker Krajewski (M) 1:01.80, 2. Jack Simmons (W) 1:04.82, 3. Yibin Lin (EOS) 1:06.39, 4. Julian Skarzynski (RH) 1:07.71, 5. Gerick Napulo (N) 1:07.97, 6. Rhys Cattacnach (W) 1:11.28
400 free relay: Wethersfield 3:23.42, 2. Newington 3:26.57, 3. Manchester 3:30.70, 4. Avon 3:35.68, 5. Wethesfield B 3:37.09, 5. Rocky Hill 3:41.63
CCC North printable results
GIRLS SWIMMING
2025 Splash Classic
At Plainville
Team results – Avon and Nonnewaug 211, 3. Northwestern 183½, 4. Shepaug 181, 5. Holy Cross 121, 6. Watertown 115, 7. Simsbury 105, 8. Manchester co-op 63, 9. Granby 59½, 10. Lakeview Regional 56, 11. Bulkeley co-op 32, 12. NW Catholic/East Catholic 24
Individual results
Girls 200 medley: Avon (Sara Roberston, Charlotte Sohn, Bianca Ma, Ananya Garg) 1:58.44, 2. Northwestern 2:00.08, 3. Watertown 2:04.49, 4. Shepaug 2:04.88, 5. Holy Cross 2:05.83, 6. Nonnewaug 2:08.95
Girls 200 freestyle: Grace Walkup (Nonn) 2:07.39, 2. Penelope Curran (M) 2:08.28, 3. Makayla Malagutti (HC) 2:08.78, 4. Heather Foley (Sims) 2:10.41, 5. Mia Cavallo (W) 2:15.01, 6. Olivia Bernandi (Nonn) 2:18.76
Girls 200 IM: Katherine Beauchene (NWR) 2:09.56 (new meet record. Old Mark 2:11.10, Kiley Stotler, NWR, 2016), 2. Charlotte Sohn (A) 2:22.06, 3. Christina Kostelini (NWC) 2:30.36, 4. Aubrey Waldron (Nonn) 2:32.25, 5. Catherine Viveros (Nonn) 2:34.17, 6. Mackenzie Schutte (NWR) 2:39.96
Girls 50 free: Stella Boutilier (M) 27.23, 2. Emily Stewart (Nonn) 27.89, 3. Ananya Garg (A) 28.16, 4. Brianna Johnson (Shep) 28.38, 5. Mehek Bhargava (A) 28.61, 6. Sydney Jones (A) 28.63
Girls Diving (one meter): Elise Keil (W) 176.25, 2. Cameron Tisi (Shep) 172.50, 3. Tori DiMatteo (HC) 171.05, 4. Isabelle DeForge (Nonn) 165.95, 5. Maeve Bean (NWR) 162.85, 6. Kalli Niek (L) 161.35
Girls 100 butterfly: Victoria Bargellini (Shep) 1:00.56, 2. Sofia Brenson (G) and Erin Richards (NWR) 1:00.93, 4. Sullivan Santovasi (L) 1:04.61, 5. Makayla Malagutti (HC) 1:07.00, 6. Catherine Viveros (Nonn) 1:09.19
Girls 100 freestyle: Julia Campbell (W) 57.01, 2. Lilly Torrance (HC) 57.09, 3. Sara Roberston (A) 58.03, 4. Stella Boutilier (M) 59.32, 5. Ananya Garg (A) 1:01.20, 6. Abigail Perun (Shep) 1:01.54
Girls 500 freestyle: Erin Richards (NWR) 5:29.17, 2. Grace Walkup (Nonn) 5:45.99, 3. Heather Foley (Sims) 5:55.27, 4. Indigo Brinckerhoff (Shep) 6:30.25, 5. Kristi Sundstrom (Nonn) 6:32.37, 6. Adrienne Coelho (Nonn) 6:32.45
Girls 200 freestyle relay: Shepaug (Abigail Perun, Sarah Waters, Brianna Johnson, Victoria Bargellini) 1:50. 57, 2. Nonnewaug 1:54.01, 3. Avon (Mehek Bhargava, Kaelyn Haughey, Sarayu Reddy, Sydney Jones) 1:56.44, 4. NW Regional 2:00.87, 5. Lakeview 2:02.64, 6. Granby (Amy Talasco, Sophie Turner, Cheyenne Blodgett, Sofia Brenson) 2:03.22
Girls 100 backstoke: Katherine Beauchene (NWR) 58.78 (new meet record, old mark, 59.25, Kasey Gill, Litchfield, 1995), 2. Sara Robertson (A) 1:02.40, 3. Sofia Brenson (G) 1:03.83, 4. Victoria Bargellini (Shep) 1:04.14, 5. Sullivan Santovasi (L) 1:04.63, 6. Jennifer Wheeler (M) 1:09.35
Girls 100 breastroke: Julia Campbell (W) 1:10.26, 2. Charlotte Sohn (A) 1:10.42, 3. Penelope Curran (M) 1:11.68, 4. Lilly Torrance (HC) 1:12.85, 5. Elizabeth Cadoff (Sims) 1:17.28, 6. Sarah Waters (Shep) 1:19.28
Girls 400 freestyle relay: Northwestern (Erin Richards, Alexander Luciano, Violette Weirshousky, Katherine Beauchene) 3:58.99, 2. Avon (Ananya Garg, Mehek Bhargava, Charlotte Sohn, Sara Robertson) 4:00.25, 3. Nonnewaug 4:08.03, 4. Watertown 4:12.56, 5. Holy Cross 4:13.03, 6. Simsbury (Heather Foley, Amelia Thomas, Ela Bansal, Elizabeth Cadoff) 4:20.93
NOTE: Northwestern senior Katherine Beauchene won two events (backstroke, 200 IM) and swam on a winning relay ream (400 freestyle). She set new meet records in the 100 backstroke and 200 IM.
2025 Splash Classic results (SwimCloud.com)
2025 Splash Classic printable results
