For the second meet in a row, the boys swim & dive team found themselves scratching and clawing for a victory, but head coach Jim Pignato still thought he had the meet won.
“This was the toughest competition we have faced in a long time,” Pignato said. “It was very intense in that pool. This is the closest competition we have had in a while. There were a lot of very close races on both the girls and boys sides.”
On the final event of the day for the boys (the 400 yard freestyle relay), Pignato split up his combinations to even out the speed on both relay teams. Senior captain Kevin Johnson, this week’s Current Athlete of the Week, split from his typical team of Justin Roethke, Jake Johnson, and Parker Valero to aid the other group of swimmers and help anchor them to a second place finish that would have secured Nantucket the match. The two teams secured the top two finishes in the event that they needed, but unfortunately there was more to it than met the eye.
“Unfortunately, one of our swimmers left early in that final relay and it disqualified that group so we didn’t get the points and lost the meet by one point,” Pignato said. “It sucks and it is lousy. You hate to put a meet on an official, but at the end of the day we were the fastest team in the pool. We won the meet in the pool and we know that. This swimmer could have sat on the block for ten seconds and we would have come in second in that relay easily.”
The boys team lost 82-81 while the girls team cruised to another victory 111-59 victory. It was the first loss for the boys swim & dive program against a league opponent in a dual meet since January 30, 2015.
“The boys are definitely down right now but we knew we were the fastest swimmers in that pool and we are going to get some redemption at the championships,” Pignato said.
Pignato said while the boys suffered a heartbreaking defeat, one swimmer who shined was seventh grader Cameron Washington.
“He flies under the radar but he had two very crucial individual events that helped us get into the position where we could potentially win the meet,” Pignato said. “He ended up coming in third place in the 200 yard freestyle, an event he has never swam before. Then in the 100 yard backstroke he came in fourth. So to be able to move Cameron around like that and put him in some of these trickier events helped us position the team in order to win this meet. He continues to improve each day.”
On the girls side of things, Pignato said eighth grader Maddie Bartleman had a very strong meet. She finished in first place in the 50 yard freestyle (26.21) and in the 100 yard backstroke (1:05.64). Both times qualify Bartleman for the state tournament.
“She had some really close races but they really helped us pull away from Nauset,” Pignato said. “She is so talented and continues to be a very important part of this team. Her work ethic is unmatched. She gives it everything she’s got every practice, every relay, every meet.”
Senior Emma Davis cruised to a victory in the 200 yard freestyle with a time of (2:05.75), which was nearly 11 seconds faster than the second place finisher Isabel Colella of Nauset (2:16.06).
“Then in the 100 yard butterfly she had a very close race,” Pignato added. Davis finished with a time of 1:04.50, just ahead of second place finisher Kaitlin Bohannon of Nauset (1:07.56).
“I think this meet just again, it shows how deep the girls side is and this was a completely different lineup we rolled forward with where we slotted kids in completely new and different events than what they have already done, and we are still seeing so much success.”
Myah Johnson was the lone swimmer to earn a new sectional cut time Thursday. She swam a 59.61 in the 100 yard freestyle, just barely sneaking into sectional cut time territory, which is a 59.75 or faster. For Johnson to earn a state qualifying time, she would need to earn a 57.86 or better.
The Whalers will be sending divers Hunter Gross and Alexis Connole to the Cape & Island Diving Invitational on Saturday if weather permits. Both Whaler teams are scheduled to travel to Wayland on Monday for a meet if weather permits.
