Sports

Boys Swimmers Hammer Hopkins

In a convincing win, the Andover Boys Varsity Swimmingteam dominated Hopkins 109-73 to advance their record to 3-2 on Saturday. “Even with a lack of some key swimmers in our lineup, including our captain, Paull Randt, we still had a very strong win. By coming out so strong even with a slightly unusual lineup, we proved that we are a versatile team that can handle whatever is thrown our way,” commented Jeff Cutts ’06 on the Big Blue victory. The Hopkins team startled Andover by capturing first place in the 200 Medley Relay at the start of the meet. Andover’s A relay, composed of Jeff Zhou ’06, Charlie Thornton ’05, Cutts, and Tom Yeung ’04, finished less than a second behind the Hopkins team, touching in at 1:48.79. The Andover boys retorted by sweeping the next event, the 200 freestyle. The Andover pack was led by Robert Gucwa ’04 with a time of 1:52.25, followed by Aaron Stroble ’04 and Jamie Neuwirth with times of 1:54.12 and 1:56.50, respectively. Dennis Jow ’07 finished second after an exciting race in the 200 IM. Jow held his lead in front of his Hopkins opponent until the last lap. He was touched out at the finish, but still recorded a personal best of 2:16.08. Ryan Ferguson ’07 placed third in the event, also gaining a personal best. Ferguson triumphed in his first Varsity win, out-touching his competitor by a tenth of a second and finishing with a time of 5:25.72. Andrew Faulkner ’07 improved his time by over 12 seconds to 5:31.59.“The whole time I was concentrating on pulling ahead of him,” he said, “but he would not fall behind. In the last lap I could tell he was tired, so I took the opportunity and gave the last length all I had” Zhou secured a season best of 22.64 in the 50 free, followed by classmate Rob Anderson ’06 in third and Yeung in fourth. Gucwa touched in at 50.64 for 2nd in the 100 freestyle, trailed by Neuwirth in third. Freshman diving sensation Cory Psoinos ‘07 continued his tradition of success by gaining a first place for the Big Blue. Dave Wilkinson ‘05 followed Psoinos for second. After the diving victories, Andover led 46-29. Zhou impressed his audience with an astounding first place finish in the 100 butterfly, coming in at 56.13. Andover triumphed in the 200 Free Relay with the team of Zhou, Yeung, Neuwirth, and Gucwa who won with a time of 1:32.95, about 4 seconds ahead of their Hopkins opponents. Anderson snatched his first Varsity win in the 100 back after touching-out teammate Stroble for an unofficial time of 59.38. Yeung and Thornton represented the Big Blue in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in second and third place. The Andover victory was sealed by the first place finish of Gucwa, Anderson, Stroble and Neuwirth in the 400 free to bring the final score to 109-73. “This is a good win for us, and one we will use to continue building on as we approach the hardest training phase of our season,” explained Coach Hugon.