SPRINGFIELD — A school record in the 200 medley relay highlighted a runner up performance by the Belchertown boys swimming team at the MIAA Central/West Swimming and Diving Championships on Sunday.
The relay team consisting of Ryan Gould, Drake Dragon. J.R. Zlogar and Ryan Shea finished in first place (1:37.76) ahead of second place (1:42.14) Algonquin Regional at the Art Linkletter Natatorium on the campus of Springfield College. It was the best race at the right time for seasoned team.
“All of us boys in the medley growing up together,” Shea said. “We have some of the best team chemistry of any team I’ve been on. I am really grateful for that. We went into that medley just like any other race. We weren’t the number one seed which was surprising to us. But our goal was to prove why we should have been the number one seed. We went out there with the expectation and the focus to win. It was pretty awesome. I am super grateful for getting that record and being with my team.”
Shea brought home an individual championship for the Orioles with a first-place finish (22.02) in the 50-free. Bowen Clarke of The Bromfield School was second (22.38) behind Shea.
“It definitely was a good race for me,” Shea said. “I am not going to say anything else. Going into it I was really trying to work through it mentally. Finding where I could just be in the moment and be calm and not worry about it. Not overthink. Just go out there and swim.”
Minnechaug Regional won the team championship with 293 points. The Orioles finished with 227 points. Northampton was 10th with 89 points. Holyoke had 51 points and finished 14th. Turners Falls placed 17th with 25 points.
“We knew we were going to be in a fight from anywhere from second to fourth place,” Belchertown coach Mike Cowles said. “They did really well today. They had some nice drops. Some good swims. Our top four guys really came through. Our second group picked up some extra points which is good. This is always a big meet for us.”
The Orioles move onto state competition at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology next weekend. Zlogar placed second (2:00.20) in the 200 individual medley for the Orioles. Zlogar picked up another second-place finish (51.93) in the 100 butterfly. Gould added a third-place finish in the 100 free for the Orioles. Shea was fourth (1:03.71) in the 100 breaststroke for Belchertown. Dragon finished fifth (5:13.89) in the 500 free for the Orioles.
Liam Bliss of Turners Falls placed eighth (23.08) in the 50 free and fifth (1:04.11) in the 100 breaststroke. Bliss is the lone competitor headed to state competition for the Thunder.
Northampton’s Taj Abdul-Knerr placed sixth (5:14.18) in the 500-free. Mazen Abdul-Knerr grabbed a seventh place (57.72) finish in the 100-back for the Blue Devils. Mazen Abdul-Knerr also took fourth (2:05.87) in the 200-individual medley.
Lewin Halasz took fifth (2:07.47) in the 200-individual medley for Amherst. Tallon Demers placed sixth (22.96) in the 50-free for the Hurricanes.
The relay team of Tyler Galenski, William Tyler, Malcolm Tyler and Bliss competed in two events for the Thunder. The team placed 20th in both the 200-yard free relay (1:45.23) and the 400-yard free relay (4:04.10).