Wrecker swimmers finish in a 3-way tie at State Open

The Staples boys swimming and diving team tied Joel Barlow and Xavier for ninth place, with 195 points, at the State Open in a meet that culminated Saturday.

Greenwich, with 388 points, won the meet which saw 53 teams score points. Weston, with 25 points, placed 43rd. The swimming competition was held at Yale University's Kiphuth Pool Saturday, two days after the diving event, in Hamden.

The Wreckers were led by sophomore Nathaniel Boley, who was third in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 53.11. Junior Matthew Wisher was 16th in the100-back, in a time of 55.16.

"I was pretty happy with my race," Boley said. "It wasn't my best time but it was a pretty fast meet and I was glad to have more teammates there than I had last year."

Two Staples relay teams cracked the top 10. Staples was eighth in the 200-yard medley relay as the team of Matthew Wisher, Joss Abel, Scott Feder and Boley finished in 1:40.48. The 400-yard freestyle relay group of Cory Bacon, Kyle Bacon, Wisher and Boley placed ninth in 3:18.41.

In the diving competition, Zach Slater scored 367.30 points, good for an 11th-place finish. Cory Bacon was 13th in the 50-yard freestyle event, making his final touch in 22.05. The Wreckers had back-to-back finishers in the 100-yard freestyle, as Boley and Cory Bacon came in 11th and 12, respectively, with times of 48.34 and 48.51. In the 500-yard freestyle, Jonathan Blansfield, a freshman in his first championship season, came in 23rd in 5:01.02.

The 200-yard freestyle relay team of Feder, Matthew Wetmore, Kyle Bacon and Cory Bacon broke the school record by finishing with a time of 1:30.32 and placing 13th.

"For the number of guys we had at the meet this year, we did well," Cory Bacon said. "We broke the school record in the 200-free relay and the 200-medley came close to breaking it. We were a little off in the 400-free relay but it's still a good way to close out the year."

Boley said, "The relays did well and dropped times. The 200-free had a standout performance. Both relays I was in, the 200-medley and 400-free relays, achieved our goals."

The Yale pool features stadium seating. All four sides of the pool are outlined by high-rising stands packed with screaming fans.

"It's a different experience. It's pretty cool -- I like it," Blansfield said. "It's definitely intense. You step up on the block and you see the whole crowd cheering."

The intensity brought on by the crowd, along with the fact that it's the last meet of the campaign, gives the swimmers a little extra kick.

"It's a culmination of everything we do. It's definitely an adrenaline meet. You've got to be tough to hang in there, we've got the best of the best," Staples Coach Jeffrey Schare said. "It's the last meet, they've put in a lot of time and effort. We've had some success this year and we want to go out with a bang."

A top-ten finish among all of the schools in the state is a pretty good way to wrap up the year.

Weston's highlights included Jordan Berger placing 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:01.37. The 200 free relay team of Spencer Kelley, Gabriel Imber, Martin Imber and Berger came in 21st in 1:37.74. Berger placed 23rd in the 100 butterfly in a time of 54.63 and Kelley was 23rd in the 100 free, in 50.04.