WAIBEL WINS 50FR, 100FR; FISHER 200FR VS BRH2O

An easy 112-58 victory over the fourth-seeded Columbia Cougars in the semifinal round of the North Jersey, Section 2, Group A Tournament at Wallace Pool in Westfield on February 12 set up a showdown between the No. 1 ranked Blue Devil boys swim team and the No. 2 ranked Bridgewater-Raritan Panthers at the Raritan Center on Valentine’s Day, February 14. There was no love lost between the two foes but trailing, 80-76, heading into the final event, the 13-0 Blue Devils finished 1-3 in the 400-medley relay (MR) to snatch an 86-84 triumph from the 11-1 Panthers’ jaws for the title.

In that final event, Blue Devils Mike Fisher, Logan Swenson, Charlie Jeckell and Owen Waibel seized first in the 400-MR with a time of 3:13.5 and Cole Sharkey, Artem Dobrovolskyi, Benedict Nematadzira and Danny Pierce finished third at 3:18.44, while Panthers Will Pestrichelli, Mason Pan, Greg Yukhvid and Jaden Lee touched second at 3:15.14 to earn Westfield its 25th sectional championship.

The situation, however, was a little shaky at the start as the Panthers grabbed a 12-2 team lead by finishing 1-2 in the 200-medley relay. Lee, Christian Wong, Yukhvid and Kacper Buniowski finished first with a time of 1:35.55, followed by Chris Wasko, Frank Ksiazek, Derek Cordero and Jackson Parisi at 1:38.84. Blue Devils Dylan Altman, Dylan Lagrimas, Sharkey and Swenson took third at 1:39.01.

The Blue Devils took a small chip out of the Panthers’ lead by finishing 1-4-5 in the 200-freestyle when Fisher touched first at 1:43.38 just a fingertip ahead of Panther Pestrichelli at 1:43.43. Pan was third at 1:46.59, followed by Blue Devils Dobrovolskyi and Jeckell. The Blue Devils also knocked another two points off the lead by finishing 2-3-4 in the 100-Individual Medley to narrow the margin to 26-20. Lee won the event with a time of 1:52.84, followed by Sharkey at 1:58.48, Lagrimas at 1:59.05 and Hudson Wilcomes at 2:03.54.

A very fast and competitive 50freestyle allowed the Panthers to pick up two more points on the Blue Devils although Waibel took top honors with a time of 21.17, followed very closely by Panthers Kacper Buniowski at 21.85, Anthony Buniowski at 22.15 and Parisi at 22.45. Blue Devil McGann finished fifth at 22.47. The 100-butterfly was also interesting with Pierce and Yukhvid touching first at 51.16, followed by Swenson at 53.72, Panther Cordero at 54.05 and Nematadzira also at 54.05.

But the Blue Devils came up huge, 11-5, in the next event to knot the team score, 47-47. Waible captured first in the 100-freestyle at 46.91, followed by K. Buniowski at 48.93 and Blue Devils Fisher at 49.03 and McGann at 49.59. The Panthers won the 500-freestyle, 9-7, to regain a 5654 lead. Pestrichelli finished first at 4:43.94, followed by Sharkey at 4:44.22, Dobrovolskyi at 4:52.38 and Panthers Pan at 4:52.42 and Sam Meyer at 4:55.52.

The Blue Devils then grabbed the lead, 64-60, by finishing 1-3 in the 200-freestyle relay beginning with Fisher, Lagrimas, McGann and Waibel touching at 1:30.07, followed very closely again by Panthers Parisi, A. Buniowski, Pestrichelli and K. Buniowski at 1:30.43, while Wilcomes, Jeckell, Nematadzira and Dobrovolskyi took third at 1:31.74.

The Panthers narrowed the lead to 71-69 by finishing 1-3 in the 100backstroke. Lee won with a time of 50.52, followed by Pierce at 51.92, Wasko at 54.06, Altman at 56.27 and Ben Lane at 57.11. But the table was set for the exciting finale when the Panthers scored big, 11-5, in the 100breaststroke to grab the 80-76 lead. Yukhvid took first at 1:00 to win by a small fingernail over Lagrimas, who touched at 1:00.02. Wong was third at 1:00.61 and Ksiazek was fourth at 1:02.35, followed by Wilcomes at 1:03.18.

The semifinal meet against the 102-1 Columbia Cougars began with Fisher, Lagrimas, Waibel and Swenson finishing first in the 200medley relay at 1:40.57, while Jeckell, Clark Seeder, Dobrovolskyi and Nematadzira took third at 1:48.28. Pierce at 1:51.88 and Wes Young at 1:56.88 finished 1-2 in the 200freestyle. Waibel led a sweep in the 200-Individual Medley with a time of 2:04.65, followed by Dobrovolskyi at 2:05.86 and Alejandro Villar at 2:18.09.

Swenson at 23.18 and Fisher at 23.44 finished 2-4 in the 50-freestyle. Sharkey took first in the 100-butterfly at 55.4, while Nematadzira at 57.49 and Flynn Martin at 58.46 finished 34. Lagrimas at :50 and McGann at 51.12 finished 1-2 in the 100-freestyle. Jeckell won the 500-freestyle in 5:18.17, while Lane was third at 5:30.87 and Joe Kiley was fourth at 5:33.25. Lagrimas, Swenson, Sharkey and Dobrovolskyi took first in the 200-free relay at 1:33.4, while Archie Mtsituri, Gavin Gimblette, Young and Liam Mulkeen finished third at 1:39.1.

Fisher took first in the 100-backstroke at 57.42, whileAdam Goddard at 1:02.14 and Caleb Wiggins at 1:08.41 finished 3-4. Villar at 1:07.67 and Nematadzira at 1:10.46 finished 3-4 in the 100-breaststroke. Pierce, Sharkey, Young and Waibel seized first in the 400-free relay at 3:31.4, followed by Jeckell, McGann, Mtsituri and Lane at 3:36.31.