Sports
Weston Swimming: Boys Finish Season Undefeated, Girls Set Relay Marks
Championship phase of season started this week.
Editor's note: Submitted by the Weston Athletic Department.
A memorable 2011-2012 dual meet season came to an end last week for the Weston High School Swimming and Diving program. With a pair of victories over DCL foe Concord-Carlisle (girls 94-83, boys 93-88) and non-league Hopkinton (96-82 and 96-85, respectively), The Tide finished the campaign with a combined 27-1 record. The girls ended their season at 13-1, while the boys had their second undefeated season in three years, at 14-0. The Weston girls established three new records last week, bringing the season total to an amazing 20.
On Thursday against C-C, the freshman 200 freestyle relay combine of Julimar Avila (24.77), Sarah Varghese (27.08), Nicole Davenport (27.62), and Katherine Binney (28.34), set a new rookie standard of 1:48.81 in the event. They broke the previous mark of 1:49.69 set in 2009 by current seniors Maddie Pierce, Julia Meehan, Christina Warner, and Stephanie Palocz. (The seniors were supportive of the freshmen in their quest.) Though all four freshmen put up excellent times, the key proved to be Binney, whose previous best time before the meet was not under 30 seconds.
Just 24 hours later, against Hopkinton, Avila again led off the 200 free relay in a record-setting performance. This time, the plucky freshman (24.48) joined sophomore Victoria Bryson (24.44), Pierce (24.77), and senior Bianca Tocci (24.13) as they set a new pool and varsity standard in the event of 1:37.72. (This broke the previous best of 1:38.89 set by Seena Potter, Bryson, Cheryl Lang, and Tocci, last season.) The performance was nearly historic for the GLOWS, as they were less than a second off the state record of 1:37.02; the Weston girls have never set a state relay record.
The Friday meet against C-C was also Weston’s Senior Day as it was the last home meet for the team’s veterans. Seniors Kate Bui (an amazing 40-second drop in distance freestyle), Eliza Robson (totaling 196.75 points in diving), and Emily Yue (solid improvement in freestyle), made their last meets memorable. Junior Lydia Moore (a shocking six-second improvement in butterfly), sophomore Anna Neufeld (a series of championship-qualifying freestyle swims), and freshman Annie Hayes (four-second drop in the 500) and Michaela Thompson (a whopping 221.25 total in diving), also made significant progress for the hosts.
For the boys, the week was punctuated by three individuals scoring their 1,000th career point for Weston. On Thursday, juniors Ryan Burrow and Tommy Peacher became just the 19th and 20th boys in the 40-year history of the team to gain entry into the club. (Ironically, the inseparable duo did it in the same event, with Peacher achieving the feat less than a second ahead of Burrow.) Then Friday, senior Tyler Lewtan made it 21 when he took gold in his signature event, the 100 butterfly.
On their way to securing the DCL title, Weston got a number of impressive performances from its boys. Seniors Tommy Fitzgerald (several time drops in a series of individual victories) and Kian Nowrouzi (a lifetime best of 218.10 in diving) made their final two home meets something special. Junior Jamie Packs (an impressive total of 228.90 in the one-meter event) and sophomores Cekala (big drop in the 200 free), Colin Larocque (another week of steady backstroke improvement), and Mitch Revers (solid progress in the 500) also impressed.
“What a memorable season this has been,” said Head Coach Claude Valle. “Our boys have found a way to eke out every meet to go undefeated, and our girls have virtually rewritten the record board. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they do at championships.”
The team will move into the championship phase of the season with the DCL meets this week. The DCL girls’ diving was held yesterday, while the DCL boys’ diving will take place today at 3:30 p.m. at the Beede Center in Concord. The DCL girls’ swimming will be tomorrow at Atkinson Pool in Sudbury at 4:30 p.m. The DCL boys’ swimming is Saturday at 10 a.m. at Atkinson.
