Boley leads Staples at FCIACs

The Staples boys swimming team finished seventh at the FCIAC championships last Thursday with 161 points. Staples fell short to sixth-place Wilton (196) and beat eighth-place Norwalk (141).

"It was an impressive night of swimming and diving for Staples - every individual race and relay time was a personal best," Wreckers Coach Jeff Schare said.

Host Greenwich (408), Westhill (308) took second and New Canaan (302) was third in the 11-team field.

Freshman Nathaniel Boley was Staples' top swimmer and won two medals. Boley grabbed the silver medal with a second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 55.50 and took sixth in the 200-yard freestyle (1:46.76).

"I had some good swims and I was ready for my race," Boley said. "Our team had good performances."

He was followed by sophomore Matthew Wisher (56.20), who took home a bronze medal,, and senior captain Cameron Bruce (58.86, 12th place), respectively, in the 100-back. Junior Michael Goodgame also swam the 100-back (1:00.29).

"Matt and I were in the top heat and we were ready to score points," Boley said.

Wisher said, "The atmosphere of the FCIAC championships was good, it was my last individual event and I went after it. I was surprised [because] I was a full second faster than trials. I was very happy and I hope to go faster at States."

In the 200-free, junior Cory Bacon (1:51.64) and Goodgame (1:54.73) followed Boley, placing 11th and 16th, respectively.

"I got a pep talk from my teammates before the race and I was excited after the race," Boley said.

Junior Zach Slater also medaled for the Wreckers, taking fourth in diving (354.50). Senior Matt Mirkine (235.25) took 13th in diving.

"The key to my performance at FCIACs was staying strong and trying to nail every dive," Slater said. "I've been working hard recently trying new dives and trying to make old dives perfect. I was very crisp at FCIACs."

All three Staples relays did well. Boley, senior captain Mac Mombello, sophomore Kyle Bacon and Cory Bacon led the 200-yard freestyle relay team (1:33.70) to sixth place. Cory Bacon, Kyle Bacon, Wisher and Boley powered the 400-yard freestyle relay team (3:29.60) to seventh place. Wisher, Abel, freshman Matt Wetmore and Mombello led the 200-yard medley relay (1:48.94) to eighth place.

In other individual events, Cory Bacon took 13th in the 100-yard butterfly (56.92) and Kyle Bacon was 14th in the 100-yard freestyle (52.30). Abel finished 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:07.03) and Wisher was 16th in the 200-yard individual medley (2:09.12).

Next up for Staples will compete in the Class LL championships next Wednesday at Wesleyan University.

"It was a thrilling night and has set us up nicely to go even faster at States," Schare said.