Strong Team Effort Leads Wedgewood Swim and Dive to Win over Wayland

By Mark and Annemarie Silver

The Wedgewood Swim and Dive Team pulled off a close win at home against Wayland on Saturday, July 13.  A true team effort led Wedgewood to their 453 to 411 point win.

The diving team started the meet off strong with first-place finishes by Willow McGinness, Sophia Demeo, and Taelor Nichols. Points were also contributed by second-place finishers Tim Carroll, Margaree Hybl, and Isabella Seldon as well as third-place finishers Skye Hybl and Rylan Nichols.

For the 6-and-under swimmers, Luke Brady had dominating first-place swims in both backstroke and freestyle.  Justin Mark took a close second in freestyle, and Sam Lynch placed third in backstroke.

In the 7-8-year-old age group, Brielle Carmen and Henrik Muelhoffer commandingly won their breaststroke races, and Will Brady took first for the boys in backstroke.  Second place finishers included Grace Venuti (breaststroke), Jack Lynch (backstroke), Ainsley Reid (backstroke), Brielle Carmen (butterfly), and Zachary Hallet (butterfly and freestyle).  Swimmers earning third-place finishes included Adam Silver (freestyle), Henrik Muelhoffer (butterfly), Mary Siciliano (backstroke), and Grace Venuti (butterfly).

In the 10 and under age group, Delaney Bertos placed first in breaststroke and second in IM. Gabe Favalora had an exciting second-place finish in Individual Medley (IM) and placed second in backstroke. Wedgewood swimmers Teresa Silver, Claire Wirth, and Olivia O’Brian took the top three spots in freestyle. Third-place finishers included Sophia Demeo (breaststroke), Teresa Silver (IM), and Claire Wirth (backstroke).  Other second-place boys’ finishers were Will Siciliano in breaststroke and Charlie Peplau in freestyle.  Sanders Bertos placed third in butterfly and backstroke whereas Steve Wheaton placed thirds in breaststroke and freestyle.

For the 12 and under age group, Grace Weisz placed first in IM. Matthew Tonini took the top spot in freestyle and backstroke. In butterfly, McKenna Wilson, Katie Dillon, and Taelor Nichols took the top three spots for the girls and Charles Demeo placed second for the boys. In freestyle, Grace Weisz, Katie Dillon, and Kira Doherty placed first, second and third. Again in backstroke, the Wedgewood girls took the top three spots with strong efforts by Liliana Carman, McKenna Wilson, and Emma Laccia. Boden Spirn placed second for in IM and third in breaststroke for the boys. Elizabeth Campbell also placed third in breaststroke.

In the 14 and under age group, Matsen Spirn won first in breaststroke and second in IM for the boys.
For the girls, Charlotte Weber placed first in IM and backstroke, Sofie Huntington placed first in freestyle and second in butterfly, and Sarah Tonini took first in breaststroke. Sebastian Woolnough won second in butterfly and third in freestyle, Kenny Doucet second in freestyle and backstroke. Finally, Sally MacPhee placed third in IM, butterfly, and freestyle, and Ann Girifalco placed third in backstroke

In the 17 and under age group, Chris Wirth took first place for boys IM and breaststroke. Second place finishers were Julia Palazzo in butterfly and freestyle, George Rackey in freestyle and backstroke, Caroline Towle in backstroke and Maxwell Weisz in butterfly. Maxwell Weisz also took third in backstroke. Other third places finishers were Sean Doucet in IM and freestyle, Sophia Seldon in breaststroke and butterfly, Lily Nemirovsky in freestyle and Madeline Woolnough in backstroke

The girls 200-yard freestyle graduated relay team of Grace Venuti, Teresa Silver, Grace Weisz, Sofie Huntington, and Lily Nemirovsky finished off the meet with a fast first place swim.