Claudia Tosi goes airborne for Westfield during the Diving Championships at Springfield College Friday night. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
SPRINGFIELD – The West Sectional Swimming and Diving Championships got underway with the diving portion of the competition taking place late Friday night at Springfield College’s Art Linkletter Natatorium. Divers such as Bombers’ Claudia Tosi, Paige Neylon, Lukas Stanton, and Clarisse Jones were vying for valuable points (which would later be added to the overall team scores Saturday).
Stanton placed seventh for the boys with 318.65 points. Jones finished 10th (314.35) for the girls, and Tosi was 11th (302.45).
On Saturday, the girls’ event will begin at 9 a.m. While Longmeadow is a heavy favorite heading into the competition, Westfield coaches believe they have a realistic chance at winning a silver or bronze, and as with any sporting event – anything can happen.
Westfield diver Lukas Stanton is all concentration as he executes a dive Friday night. (Photo by Marc St. Onge)
The Westfield boys’ swim team, which has a solid core of talented swimmers, lacks the depth (due to lower participation numbers in 2015-16) but could challenge for several individual championships.
The boys’ championship starts at 4:30.
GIRLS’ HOOPS
Gators hold off Smith
Gateway 43, Smith Voke 39
Gateway overcame a 14-point outburst from Smith Voke’s Stephanie Start and an 11-point effort from Shannon Ryan with a balanced attack.
Joanna Arkoette led Gateway with 11 points, Megan Wright had eight, Gabby Goralczyk finished with six, Rebecca Herman had five, and two others (Jenna Leja, Angella Wright) tallied four as nine Gators scored.
Hannoush nets eight
Pioneer Valley Christian Academy 32, St. Mary 20
Pioneer went on a 14-1 run to open the game, establishing the early lead and cruising to victory.
Marissa Hannoush produced one of her best scoring outputs of the season. Hannoush finished with eight points.
Morin pumps in 21
Minnechaug 63, Westfield 41
Minnechaug opened with a 13-6 run, and led 39-16 at the half en route to a home victory. Serena Fiore led the Falcons with 16 points. Nine others scored two or more.
Westfield’s Alexa Morin scored a game-high 21.
Pioneers top Tigers
Pathfinder 57, Westfield Tech 4
Tiffany Papesh (13 points) and Caleena Welsh (11) led Pathfinder. Jazmine Forgey and Jaymee Hall each made a basket for Westfield Tech.
