The winter swimming season ended in exciting fashion for the Triton co-op team last weekend.
At the Division 2 State Meet, the Vikings saw two female program records fall for the first time in five years, courtesy of the same athlete: Jenna Whitaker. The Pentucket freshman was simply superb on the biggest stage of the year, swimming to fifth in the 200 Freestyle (1:57.98) and second in the 500 free (5:09.79) to earn herself two program records.
And because of her efforts, the Triton girls were able to place 10th out of 44 teams with 97 total points (up from 17th/50 last year). The Viking boys also had a strong final showing to their 2023-24 campaign, finishing 13th of 46 teams with 78 points.
Whitaker, though, was the star of the day.
She even reached “The Summit,” some would say.
As in, Whitaker’s new program record in the 200 free broke the previous mark held by former legend Maggie Summit. For a quick history lesson, Summit still holds most of Triton’s records, and is also a former state record holder who went on to be a Division 1 swimmer at Minnesota where she qualified for Olympic Trials in 2021. When Whitaker then broke the 500 free mark later in the day, she bested the former time that was held by Liz Sutton since 2019 as well (5:14.72).
So, yeah, it was a pretty special day for the Pentucket freshman.
Elsewhere on the girl’s side at States for individual accomplishments, reigning Daily News MVP and captain Abri Cronstrom capped off an amazing high school career. The Newburyport senior matched her lifetime best in the 50 free to finish ninth (25.18), then swam to fourth in the 100 backstroke (59.88) against the toughest field in the event in four years. The Vikings then saw freshman Giuliana Cogliani swim a new personal best 100 butterfly (1:04.45), placing 18th while finishing second in her heat.
Skipping over to the relays, the 200 Medley team of Cronstrom, Cogliani, Whitaker and Izzy Morgese placed ninth (1:58.09), then the same unit took seventh in the 400 Free Relay to reach the podium. Finally, the quartet of Alice Anderson, Liz Dynok, Emme Terry and Morgese swam a 1:53.78 in the 200 Free Relay to cap a successful day.
Moving over the boys, Triton set three new school records.
After an excellent clarinet rendition of the National Anthem performed by Josh Burrell to open the meet, teammate Josh Adler started the day by lowering his own school record in the 200 free to finish seventh (1:45.90). The Pentucket junior then earned his second program record of the meet in the 100 free, swimming to seventh again in 48.99 to break the previous mark held by Josh Thibeau.
Elsewhere, Sam Whitaker — Jenna’s older brother — lowered his own school record in the 100 breaststroke to take sixth (1:01.15), then also swam a personal-best in the 100 butterfly to finish 12th (55.72). Finally, the Vikings saw junior captain Jacob Hoffman place 21st in the 50 free (23.46) and 35th in the 100 free (52.95).
For the relays, the “All-Junior” team of Hoffman, Adler, Burrell and Whitaker took seventh in the 200 Free in a season-best time (1:33.46). The same group then placed 11th in the 400 Free Relay (3:28.50), and Burrell would later joined Logan Durocher, Declan Hyer and Clay Erickson to post a solid time of 2:05.70 in the 200 Medley Relay.