Weston Boys' Swimmers' Win Guarantees DCL Title; Girls Move to 9-1 (PHOTOS)

A full slate of swimming and diving netted the Weston a total of four DCL wins, and one invitational meet title last week. On Tuesday, both teams hosted Newton South and each came up with a victory. Then on Friday, Lincoln-Sudbury came to town with the Weston girls taking a 99-85 decision, and the boys winning a 96-90 upset that extended a ten-year home unbeaten streak and clinched at least a tie for the 2012 DCL title. The boys then bounced back on Saturday, in Rhode Island, to take the Read/Watmough Invitational Meet.

Without question, the highlight of the week was the boys' victory over L-S.

“In our meet prep, we felt we had to have a ten-point lead, or more, after the backstroke knowing that L-S would sweep us in the next event and make up the ten points right there,” Head Coach Claude Valle explained after the meet. “We’d then be tied going into the final relay, setting up a winner-take-all last event.”

And as hoped, the hosts – on the strength of outstanding performances by backstrokers Tommy Fitzgerald, Alan Blaesser, and Drew Alcaide – took an 83-73 lead going into the breaststroke. L-S then swept the next event to tie the meet at 86, and The Tide had achieved the situation they had wished for: a head-to-head match in the 400 free relay for the meet. And with the meet on the line, the quartet of Ian Delaney, Sam Cekala, Ryan Burrow, and Tommy Peacher did not disappoint, smashing their previous best combine of 3:28.15 with a 3:19.46 clocking that won the meet, and capped The Tide’s best boys’ dual meet performance since 2008.

There were many big performances that brought the meet to that exciting, three-event conclusion, perhaps none as big as the pair of swims turned in by junior standout Ryan Burrow. He first raced to an upset win in the individual medley in a lifetime best of 2:00.18, before coming back with another PR in the 100 butterfly with a gold medal time of 53.77. Classmate Tommy Peacher (a PR in the 200 free of 1:45.72 and a win in the 500 free) was Weston’s only other double-winner. The junior class provided Weston’s only other individual win when Jamie Packs took the one-meter diving. A final junior, Robert Douglas, played a major role in the upset and he showed tremendous improvement in sprints and provided key relay depth. Other best times were recorded by senior Tyler Lewtan, sophomores Enzo Cerrutti, Jamie Noonan, and Dan Spellman, and rookie Spencer Clough. (Clough was part of a Weston 1-2-3 sweep in diving.)

On the girls' side, Weston was paced by seniors Maddie Pierce (200 and 100 freestyle) and Bianca Tocci (50 free and 100 back), and freshman Julimar Avila (200 IM and 100 breaststroke); each continued their string of strong swimming, taking two individual wins. Weston also had excellent swims from seniors Laura Beaudry, Julia Meehan, and Emily Yue, junior Katie Kim, and sophomore Anna Neufeld. (Neufeld recorded a sectional qualifying time in the 100 freestyle.) With the victory, the girls ran their record to 9-1 (4-1 in the DCL).

Earlier in the week, both squads coasted past Newton South. The girls’ meet was highlighted by a whopping 42-second drop by freshman Katherine Binney in the 500 freestyle. Tocci also became just the twelfth girl in Weston Swimming’s 40-year history to score 1,000 career points. For the boys, sophomore Jared Lorusso dropped seven seconds in the 100 freestyle, and freshman Will Bertelson continued his solid improvement.

On Saturday, the boys traveled south to Roger Williams University to take part in the annual Read/Watmough Invitational Meet. After a long morning of racing, the boys took the team title with a total of 352 points, in a field of over 40 teams. Burrow (a win in the IM and runner-up in breaststroke), Peacher (a pair of 2nd place finishes in freestyle), Delaney (a 2nd and a 3rd in the sprints), and Lewtan (2nd in fly, 3rd in the 50 free) provided the lion’s share of Weston’s individual points. Other scoring swims were made by juniors Alcaide and Douglas, sophomores Jason Bui, Cekala, Noonan, Eric Reeder, and Spellman, and freshmen Blaesser and Nick Revers. Reeder had perhaps the most impressive swim of the meet, recording a four-second improvement in the 100 breaststroke. At the end of the week, the boys record stood at a perfect 10-0 (7-0 in the DCL).

On Tuesday, both teams hosted Medfield in a non-league match up. This afternoon at 4 p.m., the squads will host DCL rival Westford Academy in what promises to be an exciting contest. Weston will then wrap up its dual meet season next week before participating in a three-week run of championships.

Editor's note: Photos of 2012 Read/Watmough boys' swim meet at Roger Williams University are courtesy of Steve Thompson, a Rhode Island-based sports photographer who covers high school and college sports (nesportphoto.com). Text and photos of the boys' team at Read/Watmough and Nilsson/Avila were submitted by the Weston Athletic Department.