Congratulations are in order for New Bedford sophomore swimmer Serenity Coleman, who took 1st place in the 50 yard freestyle event at the MIAA Division 1 State Championships, held Saturday, February 15 at Boston University. She becomes the first Whaler swimmer to win a state title since 2016, when Kyleigh Barao completed back-to-back state championships in the 100 butterfly.

In a thrillingly tight race, with the top seven finishers coming within one second of each other, Coleman bested Concord-Carlisle’s sophomore Elisabeth Reiling by one-hundredth of a second to take the title.