Westfield’s Raina Wesson performs her diving routine during Tuesday’s meet against Amherst. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
WESTFIELD – Westfield High’s swim program continued its dominance of Western Massachusetts, extending its win streaks by defeating Amherst-Pelham Regional at home on Tuesday.
The Westfield girls started strong and never looked back in a 136-49 rout after taking first (Kate McCabe, Erin Lewis, Genna Senecal, Hannah Plourde) and second place (Kelsey Johnstone, Ali Johnstone, Shaylyn Jurczyk and Sarah Plourde) in the 200 yard medley relay.
Similarly, Hope Walsh and Laruen Longley finished 1-2 in the 200 yard freestyle with state championship meet qualifying times. Westfield continued by sweeping the 200 yard individual medley with Lewis, Senecal and Ali Johnstone finishing first, second and third, respectively. Bombers’ Jordan Jacobson won the 50 yard freestyle.
Westfield also won the 1 meter diving competition led by Kelsey Veillette with a state championship qualifying and personal best score of 190.50. Senior Raina Wesson dove well and took second place for the Bombers.
Swimming resumed with Westfield’s Senecal winning the 100 yard butterfly and Longley winning the 100 freestyle. The Bombers also prevailed in the grueling 500 yard freestyle race with Walsh and Danielle Charette taking first and second.
Westfield’s team of Longley, Lewis, Jacobson and Hannah Plourde edged out Amherst’s fine effort to win the 200 yard freestyle relay. In an unusual finish, Bombers’ Jacobson and Kelsey Johnstone both claimed top honors in the 100 yard backstroke.
In a true show of strength, Westfield’s Lewis, Hannah Plourde and Ali Johnstone swept the final individual event, finishing first, second and third in the 100 yard breaststroke. The Bombers capped their performance off by winning the 400 yard freestyle relay with the team of Longley, Senecal, Walsh and Jacobson.
Westfield’s Matt Jacobson competes in the 200 individual medley. (Photo by chief photographer Frederick Gore)
BOYS’ RESULTS
Westfield 104, Amherst 79
It was the closest meet of the season for Westfield against an always-tough Amherst squad. The meet that was much more exciting than the score would indicate.
While Westfield took first in most events, Amherst racked up a lot of points with second, third and fourth place points throughout the meet.
Matt Jacobson, Jim Stinehart, Matt LaBombard and John Dolan won the opening event for Westfield, claiming the 200 yard medley relay, with Amherst taking second and third.
In the 200 yard freestyle, Westfield’s Tim Kwarcinski finished first for Westfield, while Amherst finished second, third and fourth to outscore the Bombers in this event 9-7.
Similarly, Amherst outscored Westfield in the individual medley. The two teams split the points for the 50 yard freestyle (8-8) with Westfield’s Stinehart taking first.
The tipping point in this meet was the 1 meter diving event. Westfield’s James Wagner, Igor Belokopytov, and Richard Jablonski all dove well, and were unopposed, giving Westfield a 13-0 advantage in this event.
Amherst bounced back winning and outscoring Westfield (11-5) in the 100 yard butterfly. Westfield replied by winning the 100 yard freestyle (10-6) led by Dolan’s first place finish. Bombers’ Jacobson and Roberto Morales took first and second in the 500 yard freestyle.
The Westfield team of Stinehart, Chris Tu, Kwarcinski and Dolan, edged out Amherst in a thrilling 200 yard freestyle relay race. Amherst outscored the Bombers in the 100 yard backstroke despite a first-place finish by Matt LaBombard.
Westfield then countered with a very strong showing in the 100 yard breaststroke with Stinehart and Kwarcinski finishing first and second. If not for the lopsided diving event and winning a handful of very close races, this meet could have come down to the final relay. In the end, Westfield’s team of Jacobson, Tu, Kwarcinski and LaBombard won the 400 yard freestyle relay to end a great meet between two evenly matched boys’ teams.
Westfield continues its home stand, hosting Holyoke Catholic Friday at 4 p.m. – Mike Rowbotham contributed to this story
