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02/02/2019 11:00 PMThe North Haven boys’ swimming and diving team picked up a pair of wins in Southern Connecticut Conference Division II action by earning home victories versus Hamden and West Haven-Platt Tech (WH-PT) on back-to-back days last week. The Indians notched a 94-89 win over Hamden on Jan. 31 and then defeated WH-PT by a 94-87 final at Gawrych Town Pool the following afternoon. Head Coach Martha Phelan’s squad improved to 3-5 overall and 3-1 in the division with these two victories.
Coach Phelan has been impressed with the way her team has performed in order to win this year. Phelan said that her athletes are embracing the nature of the meets head-on, while competing with smiles on their faces.
“When I go over the meet lineup and explain what each individual needs to do, they are not intimidated in the least. They like the challenge and go after each race, even if it means finishing one race and then immediately getting back on the block and racing again,” said Coach Phelan. “I am most proud of the camaraderie and positive culture these boys have created. It’s a great team to lead.”
North Haven started off last week with a home meet versus Hamden and won a 94-89 decision against the Green Dragons. Senior Will McCleery took first place in the 100 backstroke by swimming a time of 1:00.18 for North Haven. Fellow senior JP Stoeffler finished first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.60 seconds and also swam a season-best time of 2:12.22 to win the 200 individual medley. Senior Kevin Powers placed first in the 100 butterfly with a mark of 1:02.70, while sophomore Cameron Cargan finished with a season-best time of 24.20 to take the top spot in the 50 freestyle. North Haven’s 200 medley relay of McCleery, sophomore Tanner Powell, Powers, and senior Tommy O’Connor claimed first place with a time of 1:53.37. The 200 freestyle relay featuring Powell, Cargan, Powers, and junior Stephen Borelli finished first by posting a time of 1:40.39.
The very next day, the Indians were back at Gawrych Town Pool to take on WH-PT and claimed 94-87 victory against the Blue Devils on Feb. 1. Stoeffler earned first place in both the 200 individual medley (2:14.67) and the 100 freestyle with a season-best of 50.32. McCleery won the 50 freestyle with a season-best mark of 22.77 to go with a first-place finish in the 100 backstroke at 59.56, which was also a season best. Cargan finished first in the 200 freestyle with a lifetime-best of 1:59.83, while Powers won the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Joe O’Connor took first place in the diving competition by scoring a season-best total of 158.45 points. North Haven’s 200 medley relay of McCleery, Powell, Powers, and Stoeffler finished first in 1:52.52; and the 200 freestyle relay featuring Powell, Cargan, Powers, and Borrelli claimed first place with a time of 1:40.89.
North Haven saw several other swimmers post lifetime-best marks and season-best times during last week’s meets. Finishing with lifetime bests were Stephen Borrelli in the 100 freestyle (52.79) and 200 freestyle (2:05.39), Cargan in the 100 freestyle (52.79), Powers for the 200 individual medley (2:20.50), sophomore Marco Criscola in the 200 IM (2:37.76) and 100 backstroke (1:16.97), Joe O’Connor in the 50 freestyle (27.61), sophomore Ray Lewis in the 200 freestyle (2:46.83), Powell in the 100 butterfly (1:03.63) and 100 backstroke (1:13.19), freshman Kyle Borrelli in the 50 freestyle (26.83) and the 100 breaststroke (1:24.47), and senior Tim Chin for the 100 freestyle (1:22.08) and 100 backstroke (1:34.06).
Powell turned in a season-best time of 24.71 in the 50 freestyle. Tommy O’Connor finished with season bests for the 50 freestyle (26.46) and the 500 freestyle (6:26.39).