Weston Swimming: Boys Undefeated, Girls Set Relay Marks

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

With a pair of victories last week, the Weston boys' swimming and diving team inched closer to their second undefeated season in three years as they upped their record to 12-0 (8-0 in the DCL). At the same time, the GLOWS advanced to 11-1 (5-1 in league competition), and shattered a school record in the process.

The big challenge for the boys last week was Westford Academy, who came to town on Thursday with hopes of an upset. The visitors grabbed a quick 1-3 finish in the medley relay and with a pair of 2-3-4, “deep sweep” finishes in the first two individual events, Westford moved out to a 10-point lead after just three events, at 27-17. With several boys not at 100 percent (a 24-hour bug was running through the team) the outlook was bleak as the sprinters took the blocks for the 50 freestyle. Junior Ian Delaney (23.06), ailing captain Tyler Lewtan (23.45), and sophomore Sam Cekala (an identical 23.45) rocketed from the blocks en route to a 1-2-3 finish that knotted the meet at 31 going into the diving.

In the one-meter event, junior Jamie Packs (a PR of 220.45), captain Kian Nowrouzi (191.35), and rookie Spencer Clough (169.95) duplicated the sprinters’ feat with a 1-2-3 finish of their own, giving the hosts a 10-point lead, 44-34, entering the second half. The two squads traded jabs the rest of the meet, with both squads putting up noteworthy performances. When the waters finally settled, Weston was on the winning end of a 97-89 final. Noteworthy swims came from senior Greg Sanda (a key, 24.99-leg on the 200 free relay), juniors Ryan Burrow and Tommy Peacher (each had a pair of wins, despite poor health), their classmate Drew Alcaide (another fine backstroke swim), and sophomores Jason Bui, Enzo Cerrutti, and Dan Spellman (who had personal bests in the 500 free). Freshman Alan Blaesser also notched his first sectional qualifying time, in the 100 backstroke.

Earlier in the week, the boys cruised past non-league foe Medfield. Junior Alden Harwood showed significant improvement in both the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke, while sophomores Stephen Babcock (seven-second drop in butterfly) and Colin Larocque (three-second improvement in backstroke), and newcomer Jono Seel (four seconds faster in 100 freestyle) also made progress.

For the GLOWS, Thursday’s meet against Westford also presented the week’s biggest challenge. Both teams entered the contest at 10-1, each with a lone loss to Wayland. With pre-meet projections giving Westford the edge, Weston had to be on top of their game. And they were. Like the boys’ contest, Westford grabbed a 1-3 finish in the medley relay and had their biggest lead after three events, at 26-20. But like their male counterparts, the GLOWS took consecutive 1-2-3 sweeps in the 50 free and diving, for a 20-point swing in the score, and a 46-32 edge entering the second half. (Captain Bianca Tocci, sophomore Victoria Bryson, and junior Katie Kim did the damage in the 50, before rookie Michaela Thompson, junior Camille Casey, and senior Eliza Robson swept the diving competition.)

Several outstanding swims over the course of the meet helped Weston continue to edge further ahead, and led to an eventual 102-84 final. Seniors Maddie Pierce (two wins with a lifetime best in IM), Laura Beaudry (two-second drop in 500 free), Stephanie Palocz (a pair of lifetime bests in fly and back), and Julia Meehan (a state-qualifying swim in backstroke) led the way. Freshman Julimar Avila (a pair of wins of her own in distance freestyle) and classmate Nicole Davenport (best time in IM) also performed well. Junior Lydia Moore (a pair of fine swims), and sophomores Victoria Bryson (best times in both sprint freestyle races), Anna Neufeld (lifetime best time in 100 free), and Rachel Yan (two-second improvement in breaststroke) also had good days for Weston.

With outcome of the meet already determined, Weston set its sights on the pool record (3:38.32 by Wayland in December) and varsity record (3:37.93 by Weston two years ago) in the 400 freestyle relay.

With an impressive quartet of swims from Avila (53.44), Kim (54.50), Pierce (54.79), and Tocci (51.79) Weston smashed both marks with a 3:34.52 clocking.

Earlier in the week, the girls also raced past visiting Medfield in a non-league contest. There were two special highlight for the hosts. In the meet’s second event, Pierce became just the 13th girl in Weston Swimming’s 40-year history to score 1,000 career points, in winning the 200 freestyle. Later in the meet, the freshman foursome of Avila (54.02), Davenport (1:00.26), Sarah Varghese (1:01.49), and Annie Hayes (1:07.14) set a new yearling mark of 4:02.91 in the 400 freestyle relay. Their time just surpassed the previous mark of 4:03.14 set in 2001 by Jen Young, Allison Simeone, Elise Patterson, and Erica Stutius. Seniors Robson (a PR of 190.10 in diving) and Libby Menders (first time under 7 minutes in the 500) also performed well for Weston.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the way these teams keep rising to every challenge,” said Head Coach Claude Valle. “Our boys were less than healthy this week, and hung on against a tough opponent. And the girls continue to put some pretty amazing times up on that record board. They very committed to each other.”

The team hosted their final DCL opponent of the season, Concord-Carlisle, yesterday. Both squads will close out the dual meet portion of the season tomorrow at home, at 4 p.m., when they host Hopkinton. The meet will also be Weston’s Senior Day event.