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Sports

Weston Tide Victorious in Season Opener (PHOTOS)

Coach says team is "light years ahead" of where it was a year ago; boys' and girls' teams have meets tomorrow.

Editor's note: submitted by the Weston Athletic Department.

The Weston High School Swimming and Diving Program opened the 2011-2012 dual meet season Friday afternoon against Waltham. After over two hours of competition, the Tide rolled to a pair of DCL wins. The girls took their matchup 87-62 while the boys were 94-54 victors.

The GLOWS took top honors in seven of nine individual events, with seven different girls, and won all three relays. Individual victors for the hosts included seniors Stephanie Palocz (200 IM), Bianca Tocci (100 free), and Maddie Pierce (500 free). Juniors Katie Kim (50 free) and Camille Casey (diving) also took
golds for Weston. Sophomore Victoria Bryson (200 free) and freshman Julimar Avila (100 butterfly) accounted for the last two wins. Avila was impressive in her first-ever individual race for Weston, clocking a 59.30 in the fly, just .07 seconds off the freshman mark set two years ago by Kim.

The Weston girls’ relays looked sharp, too, in the effort. Three seniors in the program garnered their first varsity wins in these events. Veterans Libby Menders and Meiji Yue looked great on their relay legs (with Menders posting a lifetime-best swim), and first-year senior Emelie Reeves has a victory in her first-ever swim in her home pool as part of a victorious medley relay.

Two other performances of note came from a pair of rookies in the program, freshmen Michaela Thompson and Sarah Varghese. Thompson looked sharp in her first-ever diving competition, posting a sectional-qualifying score, while Varghese showed great heart in battling her Waltham opponent in the backstroke.

On the boys’ side, Weston took first in eight of nine races, spreading the wealth around with eight different victors. Seniors Tyler Lewtan (200 IM) and Tommy Fitzgerald (100 back) led the way with strong swims. Juniors Ian Delaney (200 free), Jamie Packs (diving), Tommy Peacher (100 fly), Jack Blyzinskyj (100 free), and Ryan Burrow (500 free) also took top spots in their races. The Tide’s only other gold came from sophomore Jamie Noonan in the 100 breast.

Other fine performances for Weston came from senior Jonathan Heinlein (a quick 50-yard freestyle) and rookie diver Spencer Clough. Dan Spellman showed the signs of a strong sophomore season in cracking the 6:00-barrier in the 500 free in his first race; a standard he chased all through his rookie year.

After the meet, Head Coach Claude Valle said he was happy with his squad's performance.

“We are light years ahead of where we were a year ago, especially in the diving," he said. "I can’t believe how strong the divers looked after just 10 days on the board.”

The Weston girls and boys hosted DCL foe Bedford on Tuesday. Tomorrow, the boys will travel to Boston Latin in another DCL showdown, while the girls will play host to non-league opponent Ashland. Both meets will begin at 4 p.m.


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