Eastbayri.com

BRISTOL — The Barrington High School boys’ swimming team pushed eventual champ Bishop Hendricken and was pushed by third-place North Kingstown as the Eagles finished second in the Division I Championship Meet Sunday, Feb. 12, at Roger Williams University.

The Hawks won their 12th consecutive division title with 373 points. The Eagles were the runners-up with 338 and the Skippers next with 307.5.

“The boys did a really fantastic job today. I thought we did well against Hendricken and I thought it was a good thing to have North Kingstown there behind us, making us work,” said BHS head coach Lee Mogavero. “They took time off in just about every event. Overall it was just a total team effort. The older boys did well and the freshmen and sophomores placed in the top 16. It was just an unbelievable effort by the team as a whole.”

Barrington’s lone victory in the meet came to end the day as the team of Owen Bellamy, Zach Hershen, Nick Toselli and Andres Solanot clocked a time of 3 minutes, 34.9 seconds in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The Eagles actually opened the competition with a fifth-place effort in the 200-yard medley, Luis Gozalo, Alex Rimoshytus, Zeke DeWitt and J.J. Strong swimming a 1:57.56.

Strong next got the individual swims going with an eighth-place time of 2:04.94 in the 200 free. Hershen led four Eagles in the top half of the 200 individual medley, placing third in 2:10.05.

Bellamy then finished fifth in the 50 free (23.98). Jake Greenberg was sixth in the 100 butterfly (1:03.88). Hershen led the locals in the 100 free, finishing sixth (53.07).

Up next, Solanot had the best solo finish for the Eagles, clocking a time of 5:15.69 to place second in the 500 free. In the mid-meet 200 free relay, Hershen, Toselli, Bellamy and Solanot were also second in 1:37.47.

Closing out the individual swims, Ben Greenspan finished 11th in the 100 backstroke (1:10.9). Rimoshytus added a fifth (1:14.87) in the 100 breaststroke.

Girls’ notes

In the girls’ Division I meet also Sunday at RWU, Barrington placed fifth behind the winners from LaSalle, Prout, North Kingstown and Cumberland.

The Rams won the meet with 401.5 points. The Crusaders were second with 347. The locals tallied 180.

The Eagles opened the competition with the team of Olivia August, Allison Suriani, Heidi Hershen and Haley Ryan finishing fifth (2:08.81) in the 200 medley relay. August, Emma Gurchiek, Haley Lamontagne and Maggie DeSisto were later fourth (1:53.58) in the 200 free relay. Gurchiek, Ryan, DeSisto and Lamontagne closed the meet with a seventh-place swim (4:07.97) in the 400 free relay.

Individually, Gurchiek was the top Barrington swimmer in the 200 free, placing fourth in 2:04.17. Joe’ DeRiso scored for the locals with a 16th place in the 200 medley (2:41.65). Ryan was best for the Eagles in the 50 free, swimming 12th in 28.29.

Gurchiek again the led the local entries in the 100 fly, swimming fourth in 1:06.96. Lamontagne followed with a ninth (1:02.29) in the 100 free. In the 500 free, Olivia Sloan swam 11th in 6:29.56.

Rounding out the solo swims, August paced the Eagles with an eighth-place effort in the 100 back (1:09.72) and Suriani was 16th (1:22.7) in the 100 breast.

“I was pleasantly surprised with how well the girls did,” said Mogavero. “They beat some teams and girls (individually) who we lost to during the season.”

Up next

The Eagles have an extended break, taking a couple of weeks off before returning to action in the Girls’ and Boys’ State Championship Meets, Feb. 25 and 26, at the University of Rhode Island.

“I think it’s a good thing. Overall I think having the two weeks off is very positive for both the boys and girls,” Mogavero added. “I think they’ll both excel in practive and will be in good shape and ready to go at states.”