By Allison Goldsmith
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfger
Tiffany Lee in flight during one of the six dives she made during the meet against Holliston Ssaturday, Jan. 6. |
I&M Sports Editor
The boys and girls swimming and diving teams split their first home meet of the season against Holliston on Saturday afternoon. The boys won 103-64, while the girls fell 102-83.
It was all about team depth and numbers for both squads. The boys (2-0) and girls (1-1) each won seven races, but it was the second- and third-place finishes that put the boys over the top of an undermanned Holliston team and the obstacle that kept the girls from making a comeback.
“On the boys side I could play with the lineup. It was a conservative lineup going forward. Every kid that was swimming got to swim an individual event and that was something I wanted to do,” head coach Jim Pignato said about the boys team, which cruised to the easy victory.
“We felt the effects of the depth on the girls’ side, not being able to fill the lanes. Where we don’t put in three people in the individual events, we are giving up nine points there right off the bat and two points in the relays. We are 11 to 13 points in the hole every time. We were getting great swims out of the girls, but it just came down to numbers.”
The Whalers are scheduled to be back in action this afternoon when they face off against rival Nauset and again on the road on Saturday at North Attleboro. The back-to-back meets are two of the most difficult Bay Colony Conference match-ups of the season for both the girls and boys squads.
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Photo by Nicole Harnishfeger
Haley Cabre swimming the breast stroke in the 200 IM. |
But Saturday’s performance against Holliston was reassuring for Pignato.
“It was the first week off the holiday break. I was wondering how kids would react to it. Comparing the times to the Oliver Ames meet and the Cape Cod Classic before the break, we were right on where we were swimming. I don’t think we lost too much over the break, which is nice to see. It sets the tone for the rest of the season, so we don’t have to start back at square one,” Pignato said.
Boys swimming
The boys team opened the meet with a first-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay (1:51.52) and jumped to a 22-8 lead when Hunter Burnham (2:05.83) and Will Martin (2:11.82) finished one-two in the 200-yard freestyle.
Harrison O’Rourke earned first place in the 50-yard freestyle in 24.41 and Danny Woodruff took fourth in 27.59 to keep the boys in the lead at 37-22 at the diving break. The Whalers lost points to a Holliston diver, but O’Rourke took second place in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:01.44 and Burnham took the 500-yard freestyle in 5:48.59 to keep the lead safe.
The Whalers broke it open down the stretch as Henry Toole took first in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:05.83 and Beau Garufi improved his state-qualifying time in the 100-yard breaststroke with a personal best 1:05.96 for first-place points.
“He was in the zone and he was focused. He had a great race there and that bettered his qualifying time for States,” Pignato said.
Caleb Mitchell also added a personal best in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:16.73 for third place.
Girls swimming
The girls fell behind early in the first two events. Holliston swept first and second place in the 200-yard medley relay as the Whalers came in a close third in 2:23.45.
“I was hoping the medley relay would sneak in a second place, but we got out-touched,” Pignato said.
The Whalers were out-touched for second place again in the 200-yard freestyle by less than one second. Holliston led 24-6 after two events.
Ashley Martin got Nantucket off on the right track in the 50-yard freestyle with a first-place time of 28.06.
In the diving event Justine Paradis earned first-place points with a total of 177.10, just short of her school record-breaking mark of 177.56 set earlier this season. Newcomer Tiffany Lee finished third out of four divers with 113.20 points after only six practices.
After the break, Haley Cabre (1:13.34) and Jesse Lang (1:17.82) finished one-two in the 100-yard butterfly and Ainsley Ellis (58.14) and Meaghan Lynch (1:06.07) finished first and second in the 100-yard freestyle, as the Whalers pulled within 11 points at 60-49.
But the lack of depth hurt the Whalers the rest of the way as Holliston was able to maintain the advantage with second- and third-place finishes.
Ellis picked up a state-qualifying first-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke in 1:06.51. The Whalers’ 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams also each finished in first place.
Reach Allison Goldsmith at sports@inkym.com
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