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03/02/2018 11:00 PMThe Hand boys’ swimming and diving team put forth a historic performance at last week’s Southern Connecticut Conference Championship, while earning plenty of respect from their colleagues in the conference.
On Feb. 28, Hand competed in the SCC Championship at Southern Connecticut State University, where the Tigers tallied a collective total of 871 points to finish behind only Fairfield Prep, which won its 14 straight SCC title by scoring 1,445 points. Hand’s runner-up showing marked its all-time best performance in the 23-year history of the event. Head Coach Christina Forristall said that Hand’s second-place finish served as further evidence of how much the program has grown throughout the past several years.
“The team and myself were ecstatic about finishing second,” Coach Forristall said. “The growth this team has taken in the last five years has been phenomenal. Last year, we moved up to Division I of the SCC, and these guys have raced their hardest and took advantage of every opportunity. There hasn’t been a challenge that I’ve given them that they haven’t met. They thrive on competition.”
Hand’s best individual performance of the SCC Championship actually came the day before the swimming portion of meet. On Feb. 27, junior Mary Huminski finished second with a score of 336.3 at the SCC Diving Championship at Hamden High School, only placing behind Shelton’s Andrew Buehler (515.8). Sophomore Jessica Murphy finished in 13th place (251.55) in the diving for the Tigers.
The following evening, the Tigers made their mark in the relays when their swimmers hit the water at the SCC Championship. For the 200-yard freestyle relay, Hand’s team of freshman John Beiner, senior Paul O’Connor, and sophomore siblings Dylan and Tyler Merritt posted a time of 1:32.87 to finish second to Fairfield Prep (1:27.87). The 400 freestyle relay of sophomore Will Porter, senior Nate Imbergamo, Tyler Merritt, and junior Christopher Wu finished as the runner-up to Amity (3:19.08) with their time of 3:20.56. The 200 medley relay of Wu, O’Connor, Dylan Merritt, and Beiner came in third place, while setting a new school-record time of 1:41.00. Any individual competitor who finished in the top three of an event earned All-SCC Team honors, and any relay that placed in the top two also made All-SCC.
“Mary is a fierce competitor. She missed the girls’ season in the fall with a shattered ankle, but she thrives on pressure and took advantage,” said Forristall of Huminski. “Our medley relay really set the tone for the night by breaking that school record.”
In the 200 freestyle, Tyler Merritt placed fifth with a time of 1:41.10, and he was followed by Will Porter in ninth (1:52.69). Sophomore Dan Chen finished fifth in the 200 individual medley by clocking in at 2:02.72, while O’Connor was right behind him in sixth (2:03.60). Sophomore Dylan Merritt and Beiner finished in the 11th and 12th place with times of 23.50 and 23.53 seconds, respectively, in the 50 freestyle
Wu finished fourth for the 100 butterfly by swimming a school-record mark of 53.91 seconds. Freshman Ryan Harvey came in 18th place for the event in 59.10 seconds. Porter took sixth place in the 100 freestyle in 50.28 seconds, while Beiner was 15th (52.05). Tyler Merritt grinded out a sixth-place showing in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:58.84, and Imbergamo posted a time of 4:59.17 to finish in seventh place.
Wu placed third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 53.36, only finishing behind Colin Roy of Amity (53.34) and winner Liam Colleran of Prep (51.94). Chen also came in sixth for the event (56.18), while Imbergamo was eighth (57.51) to complete a top-10 trifecta for the Tigers. O’Connor took eighth place (1:02.56) for the 100 breaststroke, and senior Liam Pavlovic finished 17th (1:08.14).
Coach Forristall said the Tigers set their sights on equaling their victory total from last year, and they did that by posting a regular-season record of 10-2. While being led by senior co-captains Dan Smyth and Imbergamo, Hand earned several notable wins this winter, including a historic 99-87 victory over Cheshire on Jan. 18 that marked the Tigers’ first triumph over the Rams in program history.
“We started out with the goal of matching last year’s record. We knew the Cheshire meet would be a competitive one, and it ended up being a big turning point for our confidence. We also swam against Holy Cross, which built more confidence in them,” said Coach Forristall. “Dan came into his own and has grown tremendously. We are hoping to get him on the roster for states. Nate has shown diversity, and he never says no to swimming any event. They have seen the growth of this team, and they set examples of hard work for the underclassmen.”
Hand now looks to continue its climb by making some major waves at Class M State Championship. The Tigers know that it won’t be easy to improve upon their placing from last year, but they’ve risen to the occasion all season long, and are now looking to do so once again at the state meet.
“We were third at states last year, and we were pleased with that, but we are going after second,” said Forristall. “Weston is a big contender, but we are ready to show our true colors and fight for what we want.”
From the Sidelines
At last week’s SCC Championship, finishing behind Fairfield Prep and Hand for the top two spots in the standings were Amity (3rd, 778 points), Cheshire (4th, 699), Notre Dame-West Haven (5th, 517.5), Xavier (6th, 473), Sheehan (7th, 450), Shelton (8th, 426), Hamden (9th, 308), North Haven (10th, 295), Branford-Guilford (11th, 265), Law (12th, 207), Foran (13th, 197), Lyman Hall (14th, 189), and West Haven (15th, 175).
This is Christina Forristall’s fourth season as the head coach of the Hand boys’ swimming and diving team. She is assisted by Scott Butler.
The Tigers finished in third place with 722 points at last year’s SCC Championship.
The Class M State Championship will begin with the diving competition on Thursday, March 8 at Bulkeley High School at 5:30 p.m. The qualifying meet for swimming is held on Saturday, March 10 at Masuk High School at 3:30 p.m. The swimming finals will be held on Tuesday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Wesleyan University.