Oxford Girls' Swim Team Impressive at States

The Oxford High School girls' swim team finished seventh out of 27 teams in the Class S state tournament, its strongest finish in school history.

The team, which began with one swimmer who swam for Masuk when the school opened in 2007, now has 23 girls under Coach Brendan Burgess.

At the state tournament, 10 girls - 9 swimmers and one diver - competed.

"I set a goal for the team early in the season to break the top ten this year at the state meet, and we obviously succeeded in doing that," Burgess said.

The team was led by Kate Ray finishing 7th in the 200 freestyle and 8th in the 100 freestyle events. The 200 freestyle relay comprised of Jessica Yetman, Alexis Jelenik, Kerstin Eckner, and Kate Ray finished 6th overall and the 400 freestyle relay comprised of the same girls finished 7th overall. Laura Wood finished 6th overall in the diving portion of the meet.

Outlook for next season:

"We are graduating seven seniors, but have a very strong returning cast of swimmers for next season," Burgess said. "I anticipate holding our top 10 finish at states again next year and hope that all of our relays can be a little bit stronger as most of the swimmers will be training hard in the off season. Great things are happening in the world of swimming in Oxford, CT."