WESTFIELD – The Westfield High boys’ and girls’ swimming and diving teams both withstood the Gael Force of Holyoke Catholic at Westfield High Friday night. The Gaels were badly outnumbered, and the Bombers took advantage from the start posting 21 separate state cut times and 14 Western Mass cut times. The Bombers combined to win 20 of the 24 events.
The Westfield girls won 131-51; the Bombers’ boys won 150-12.
Westfield started strong with Hope Walsh, Erin Lewis, Genna Senecal and Jordan Jacobson winning the 200 yard medley relay with a state qualifying time of 1:58 flat. The Bomber boys Chris Tu, Patrick Monette, Jimmy Stinehart and Jake Chlastawa won their 200 medley as well.
A bright spot for the Gaels was Meriza Werenski’s performance in the 200 yard free style. She posted a state qualifying time of 2:00:30 about 3 seconds faster than the Bombers’ Lauren Longley who also posted a state qualifier at 2:03.35. On the boys’ side, Matt LaBombard recorded a 1:55:70, time also qualifying for states.
The Bombers continued to dominate the match with a 1-2-3 finish in the 200 IM event. Hannah Plourde (2:21:83) and Erin Lewis (2:23;15) were first and second with state cuts and Kelsey Johnstone had a Western Mass time (2:27:36) to place third. The boys saw Timothy Kwarcinski win with a state qualifying time of 2:07:95. Additionally, John Dolan won the 50 free by posting an impressive 23:20 state cut time, while Genna Senecal posted a Western Mass cut time of 27:31 to win the girls’ 50 free event.
The Gaels saw their second win of the evening when Gaels freshmen Kristyn Popowski went 1:02:93 to finish first in the 100 yard butterfly, followed closely by the Bombers’ Genna Senecal and Lauren Longley. All three made state cuts. The Bomber boys swept their event with Stinehart, Jacobson and McLeavy finishing 1-2-3.
The Bomber girls got back on track with a sweep in the 100 yard freestyle with Jordan Jacobson (58:32), Kate McCabe (1:01:53) and Sarah Plourde (1:02:86). It was good enough for another state cut for Jacobson and a Western Mass cut for McCabe. The boys swept as well with Chris Tu, Slav Ptashuk and Jake Chlastawa racking up points.
Kristyn Popowski (HC) once again finished in first outlasting Kelsey Johnstone, Shaylyn Jurczyk and Samantha Dolan in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:23:97 nearly 25 seconds better than the state qualifying time. The Bombers’ Timothy Kwarcinski took first place for the boys with a time of 5:11:31 and also made state’s. Roberto Morales’ time of 5:50:20 was good enough to earn a Western Mass berth.
While the Gael girls, Desimone, Walczak, Popowski and Werenski posted an impressive state time of 1:51:59 it was not enough because Erin Lewis, Lauren Longley, Hope Walsh and Jordan Jacobson touched first at 1:47:19 to earn a state cut of their own to win the 200 yard free relay. Once again the Bomber boys swept their event.
Hope Walsh and Kate McCabe finished 1 and 2 in the 100 backstroke with state times of 1:04:94 and 1:06:32 respectively. Anna Desimone finished third for the Gaels. John Dolan and Matt Jacobson also finished 1 and 2 with state times of 58:09 and 59:51.
The girls’ 100 breaststroke saw the Gaels break through for their last victory with Meriza Werenski outlasting fierce challenges by Westfield’s Hannah Plourde and Ali Johnstone. All three posted state finishes. In the boy’s event WHS’s Matt LaBombard, Patrick Monette and Ian Coddington finished with another 1-2-3 Bomber victory.
The diving portion of the event was a one-sided affair with the Bombers’ Kelsey Veillette compiling a 202.55 point victory followed by Bomber Paige Neylon and Gael Megan Zoufaly and Bomber Katelyn Valleire. The Gaels had no boy entries so the Bombers Wagner, Belokopytov and Jablonski won easily. – Courtesy of Westfield Swim Team
