By Allison Goldsmith
I&M Sports Editor
Five members of the boys swim team knocked off four Nantucket High School records Saturday at the Division II State Championship meet, as the Whalers finished 13th overall out of 35 teams.
Senior co-captain Beau Garufi re-set two individual marks in his final high school meet and was also a part of two relay teams – the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay – which set new school lows.
“This was our best performance that I have ever seen at the state meet. I am really impressed and proud of the five guys we brought. They really performed to their highest level,” head coach Jim Pignato said.
Garufi – along with seniors Trevor Lockley and Sam Toole and juniors Henry Toole and Lorne Paterson – earned 40 points to finish in the middle of the standings. Wayland came out on top with 156 points, followed by Bishop Feehan at 147 and Weston at 138.
Garufi led the way for the Whalers, picking up big points with two top-five top finishes in the individual events. The senior co-captain took second in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:00.35, topping his own record from last season by 0.38 seconds. In a Bay Colony Conference league record, he finished only 0.49 seconds behind first-place finisher Mike Ren of Wayland.
“I know he was slightly off the mark where he wanted to be in the breaststroke. His goal was under a minute and to try to come in first in that event, but he had a great swim. The IM was just an all-around good performance,” Pignato said.
Garufi finished fourth in the 200-yard individual medley, setting a new Nantucket High School record at 2:02.99. He beat his own mark of 2:03.79 set last February, also at the State Championships. He also beat Nauset rival and fifth-place finisher Matthias Christensen (2:04.28) by over a second.
“Beau has really set the standard for a commitment level and dedication to really any sport. He set the bar high for our future swimmers coming into the program that want to see success,” Pignato said.
Also competing in the individual events, Henry Toole swam to a 22nd-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.92.
“For him to be able to go 23.92 at a state meet like this, it was a really great swim for him and that showcased how fast he really is,” Pignato said.
Lockley lowered his personal-best time in the 100-yard backstroke to 1:00.08 to finish 20th overall, just missing Henry Butler’s school mark of 59.77.
“His goal was to get the 100-back record and he just missed it by 0.3. But for him to almost break a minute in that event is a great feat for him. He had a great overall senior year,” Pignato said.
Lockley, Garufi, Henry Toole and Lorne Paterson set a new Nantucket high-school record in the 200-yard medley relay, finishing seventh in 1:46.29. The previous mark of 1:47.61 was set in January 2002 by Connor Wallace, Josh Blount, Dylan Wallace and Chris Embry-Pelrine.
In the 400-yard freestyle relay, Garufi, Sam Toole, Paterson and Henry Toole broke last winter’s school record by swimming a 3:33.06, good for 12th place. The new time knocked Sam Toole, Will Martin, Henry Toole and Garufi’s previous low of 3:35.62 off the school record board.
“I knew we could come close to it, but to break it by two seconds was above and beyond what I thought could happen,” Pignato said.
In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Sam Toole, Lockley, Paterson and Henry Toole finished in a season-low 1:37.55, good for 17th place.
The Whalers will lose seven swimmers from this year’s team, including three of the five swimmers from the State Championships.
“Looking ahead to next year it is going to be really hard to replace Beau and the whole senior class. We had a lot of bodies. We have a few talented freshmen coming in, but it is going to take them a few years to get to the level where these kids are at now,” Pignato said.
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