L-S Boys Swimmers Come Up Short to St. John's Prep

(EDITOR'S NOTE: The following edited summary was submitted by Chris Wilkins.)

On Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Lincoln-Sudbury boys swim and dive team faced the seven-time defending state champions St. Johns Prep. St. John's power in the water proved to be greater than that of the boys team and forced LS into an unfortunate defeat. The final score of the meet was 80-96, but St. John's' points following the 200 freestyle relay were not kept track of due to the inevitable victory.

To begin the meet the boys 200 medley relay put up a good fight and finishing only three seconds behind St. John's was the relay of Ricky Billig, Taylor Brown, Tom Edwards, and Andrei Rakitin.

Chris Wilkins, Jake Hogan, and Taylor Brown all swam well in the 200 freestyle coming in second, fourth, and fifth. Dylan Brown found success in the 200 individual medley racing next to Matt Shelley, Ricky Billig and Nick Genovese.

Edwards tied for second with an outstanding time in the 50 freestyle. In the 100 butterfly, T. Brown showed exceptional talent and fought the unbelievably fast St. John's prep swimmers getting fourth place.

Edwards and D. Brown took third and fifth in the 100 freestyle placing at the top of the LS boys, but were closely followed by freshman Tristan Wendel and Ben Cehelsky who swam very well. The boys won the 500 freestyle with Wilkins, Hogan, and Gonovese all placing in the event.

The 200 freestyle relay was a battle to the last second where St. John's prep just beat out LS by a mere 2 seconds. Chris Knightly and Matt Shelley placed fourth and sixth in the 100 backstroke and finishing closely behind was sophomores Rishij Mewada  and Josh Kolodny, both with solid times.

LS had a number of great swims from Anthony Foscolos, Ben Cehelsky, Sampson Abdal-Khabin, and Sam Pace in the 100 breaststroke. The final event was the 400 freestyle relay in which Brown, Wilkins, Billig, and Edwards pulled out a much deserved victory.

The meet against St. John's Prep was a brutal one as expected but with the private school expected to win states yet again this year, the boys didn't feel too bad about the loss and rather happy with their efforts and racing abilities. With only three more dual meets left in the season the LS boys are excited to close out strong and race rivals Acton-Boxborough and Wayland in the upcoming week.