Andover performed strongly this weekend even though it tooka tough loss to St. John’s Prep 83-100. But Andover fans in the crowd for the last home meet of the season motivated several boys to achieve personal best times. Because St. John’s is an all-boys school, it has the advantage of both numbers and depth. Andover’s varsity team and junior varsity team combined to face the strong competition. St. John’s took control early in the meet, out-touching Andover for the win in the 200 Medley Relay with a time of 1:40.47. Andover’s relay team of Co-Captain Brenden Deveney ’09, Matt Mahoney ’11, Jimmy Brenner ’10, and Curtis Hon ’10 sprinted to the finish and placed second with a time of 1:40.91. St. John’s Prep continued its winning streak by capturing first and second in the 200 Freestyle. Conor McAuliffe ’10, however, managed to inch between two St. John’s swimmers and grasp third place for a time of 1:50.47. Following McAuliffe by just a half a second in fifth place was Kevin Zhai with a time 1:50.93. Jon Leung ‘11 finished in sixth with a time of 1:55.02. Deveney overwhelmed his competition in the 200 Individual Medley, breaking the two minute barrier for a time of 1:59.16, and claiming Andover’s first win of the meet by over two seconds. St. John’s took second, but Mahoney slid into third and achieved a time of 2:02.63. Larry Zhou ’09 finished sixth with a time of 2:07.14. Diving Captain JR Santaniello ’08 dove into his first win of the season with score of 154.25. Kyle Ofori ’09 placed third with 147.40 points. Both divers achieved personal bests this weekend, and their vast improvement shows off their hard work during practice. After a break for diving, St. John’s came back to continue its series of victories in the 100 Butterfly. Seizing both first and second places, St. John’s gave Andover some rough competition to face. But Alex Smachlo ’11 fought hard for third, and was able to out-touch fourth place St. John’s by less than two tenths of a second and finishing with a time of 56.50. Ben Morris ’11 and Brenner claimed fifth and sixth respectively, Morris out-touching Brenner by sixth hundredths of a second and finishing with a time of 57.93. Hon relieved Andover’s losses by capturing first in 100 Freestyle in 49.44. Zhai finished fifth with a time of 50.85, followed by Asa Harrington ’09 in sixth with a time of 52.17. ? Following Hon’s victory, McAuliffe, Mahoney, and Randy Li ’10 promoted excitement in Andover’s fans while racing the 500 Freestyle. McAuliffe finished first in a personal best time of 4:51.84, followed closely by Mahoney for second with a time of 4:55.27. St. John’s took third, fourth, and fifth places, but Li made a comeback and took sixth with a time of 5:16.85. ? St. John’s captured its second relay victory in the 200 Freestyle, but Andover’s team of Hon, Brenner, Harrington, and Zhai placed second with a time of 1:32.15. Finishing fourth was the squad of Will Falk-Wallace ’10, Smachlo, Zhou, and Leung with a time of 1:35.91. The relay team of James Martino ’09, Arnold Wong ’10, Andrew Fraser ’10, and Sam Poliquin ’10 finished sixth, adding significant points to Andover’s score. Repeating their finishes from last meet, brothers Brenden and Conor Deveney lead Andover in the 100 Backstroke placing first and fifth respectively. Brendon Deveney finished with a time of 54.29, and Conor Deveney in 58.67. Ben Morris placed sixth with a time of 1:00.85. Hon led Andover to a first place finish in the last individual event of the meet, touching the wall in the 100 Breastroke with a time of 1:01.76. Zhou placed fourth with a time of 1:05.41, closely followed by Vincent Jow ‘09 in fifth with a time of 1:05.95. Andover owned the final 400 Freestyle Relay, capturing first, second, and third places to crush St. John’s. Andover’s third place relay beat its competitors best relay by five seconds. Next week Andover will travel to Williston for some lighter competition as it prepares to face perennial powerhouse Exeter.
