Sabers boys, girls swim teams take second

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Courtesy photo The Souhegan boys and girls swim teams pose with their runner-up plaques after finishing second in the Division II swim meet Saturday.

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Courtesy photo The Souhegan boys and girls swim teams pose with their runner-up plaques after finishing second in the Division II swim meet Saturday.

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The Souhegan Sabers boys and girls swim teams both played the bridesmaid at the Division II championships at UNH’s Swazey Pool on Saturday.

The Sabers boys scored 172 points and fell just 16 points short of champion Oyster River, while the girls placed second with 172 points, behind St. Thomas Aquinas (196). Souhegan had all of the area’s wins, with Eric Howard taking home the 50 and 100 yard freestyles, and the Sabers’ 200 and 400 yard freestyle relay teams also emerging victorious.

There were several events with a strong local dominance, especially the 50 yard freestyle, where Howard won, teammate Robert Graham finished third, Milford’s Jack Betelak finished fifth, and Hollis Brookline’s Joshua Rines finished sixth.

The same could be said for the 100 yard breaststroke, where Tyler Owens of Hollis Brookline finished second, followed by Souhegan’s Michael Rego (fourth) and Cavalier Jacob Solon (sixth). Jamie Lutze of Souhegan kept the second-place theme alive by finishing second to Oyster River’s Joe Lane in both the 200 intermediate and 100 backstroke. No shame in that, since Lane broke the state record in the backstroke with a 52.46 second masterpiece.

Olivia Wons of Souhegan was the area’s brightest star on the girls’ side, with a third-place finish in the 100 yard backstroke and a fifth place finish in the 200 yard freestyle. The Sabers also got top finishes from Christine Black (second in the 100 breaststroke) and Taylor Studley (fifth in the 100 freestyle, behind Hollis Brookline’s Laura Schmidt).

The top six in each event qualified for Sunday’s Meet of Champions along with the top six from Division I.

In that meet, Eric Howard won the 50-yard freestyle by edging Bishop Guertin’s Matt Moleski. Howard also took third in the 100-yard freestyle behind two Division I swimmers.

The Sabers girls had their strongest showing with a third-place in the 400-yard freestyle relay behind the team of Olivia Wons, Kaitlyn Capprini, Jamie Freud, and Taylor Studley.

The top six finishers in each event qualify for the New Englands on March 3, in Lewiston, Maine.