SOUTH KINGSTOWN – It’s tough to steal the spotlight from Elizabeth Beisel and Laura Sogar at a Rhode Island high school swim meet.

Actually, it’s probably impossible.

But while she may not have overshadowed Beisel and Sogar at Saturday’s Interscholastic League girls state swim meet, Narragansett freshman Bianca Spinazzola certainly let people know she has arrived on the state’s high school swim scene.

Like Beisel and Sogar, Spinazzola won two individual titles and she also anchored the Narragansett 200-yard freestyle relay team to a state crown in her first state meet.

"I just tried to keep my head in the game and did my best in all the events,” said Spinazzola.

Spinazzola certainly needed to stay focused as her two state individual titles came in back-to-back races, the 100 and 500-yard freestyles.

She captured the 100-yard title with a nearly one-second advantage over Rocky Hill’s Chelsey Frost, but then battled virtually stroke-for-stroke with East Greenwich’s Haley Falkenberry en route to a six/tenths of a second victory in the 500-yard freestyle.

Spinazzola’s performance played a major role in Narragansett compiling 237 points in the race for team honors, but even that wasn’t enough to stop La Salle from capturing its second straight state title.

Despite not winning a single individual championship or a relay title, the Lady Rams parlayed their outstanding depth into a 63 ½-point margin of victory over Narragansett in the race for team honors. The Rams finished with a total of 300 ½, followed by Narragansett’s 237 points and 205 for third place Prout.

Third-place finishes by Carleigh Haron in the 50 and 100 yard freestyles, a third by Courtney Haron in the 500-yard freestyle and a second-place finish by the 200-yard freestyle relay team were the Lady Rams’ top performances of the day. But while they didn’t take home any gold medals, the Rams placed at least two of the 16 scorers in all eight individual races and took two of the top three spots in two of the three relay races.

A total of 12 swimmers scored at least two points in each of the individual races and in three races, the 100-yard freestyle, the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard breaststroke, the Rams had three scorers.

Carleigh and Courtney Haron and Lizzie Graham each had a pair of top-eight finishes in the individual competition and were members of the 200 and 400-yard freestyle relay teams that finished second and third respectively. Alanna Atkinson teamed with Graham and the Harons on the 200-yard relay team and Keisie Oresman combined with the trio for the 400-free title.

The biggest surprise of the day, at least based on seeding times, was the state title performance by Prout junior Natalie Joseph in the 200-yard freestyle. Joseph entered the race with only the fifth best seed time, but she captured the title with a 1:57.54 effort that put her two-plus seconds in front of Smithfield’s Avery Palardy.

Joseph also was a member of two state championship relay teams as she combined with Sogar, Caitlin Gever and Ashley Fitzsimmons for both the 200-medley and 400-freestyle relay crowns.

Lincoln High’s Alyssa Musket captured the other individual state title as she edged out Frost for the 50-yard freestyle crown.

Spinazzola combined with Chelsea Dentler, Annie Carter and Katie Degnan for the 200-yard freestyle relay championship.

jgillool@projo.com