Needham boys repeat
Clinches meet in last event
BEVERLY >> Jason Chiappinelli and his Needham teammates have accomplished quite a bit.
But the swimming standout had always wondered what it would be like to be in a battle for hardware, one where one heat could be the difference in winning it all.
After the events of Sunday, he is now familiar with being in such a spot. The Middlebury College commit won the 100-yard freestyle race with a time of 47.99 seconds, and also played a vital role during his group’s first place finish during the 200 freestyle relay (1:29.86), as Needham rallied to capture its second straight South sectional boys swimming and diving title at the Greater Beverly YMCA.
The matinee meet capped an exciting weekend of swimming. Similar to the girls’ South sectional finals, this championship came down to the very last race, and the
Rockets needed just about every single one of the 254 points they accrued for the title. In addition to Chiappinelli’s heroics, Needham also received a massive boost in the diving competition from Van Hotchkiss (488.9 points). The Rockets manage to compile points using their depth, placing in the topfive during seven events.
Chiappinelli also finished second in the 50 freestyle (21.76).
Yet Needham found itself in a struggle with Xaverian from the opening race. Entering the final 400 freestyle relay, the Rockets were clinging to a four-point cushion in the school standings. With both programs participating in the final heat, it was up to Needham’s team of William Robock, Cole Conway, Aiden Wolcott and Chiappinelli to deliver a championshipwinning performance. They proceeded to place third (3:17.37), with Xaverian clocking in second (3:15.80).
After anchoring his group down the stretch,
Chiappinelli immediately spun around, and glanced up at the scoreboard.
“I thought we lost actually when I finished,” Chiappinelli said. “I tried to give it everything I had, get a good time, get a hand on the ball. I felt alive. It was the first time I’ve really felt something with that much pressure on it, where it’s: ‘This is it. It’s this relay or nothing.’ It was fun looking back, but definitely scary coming into it for sure.”
When the final results were announced, the Rockets erupted in celebration, as they had outpaced the Hawks by two points for the crown. The kicker? One of Xaverian’s archrivals placed first, as BC High won the event at 3:14.26. That was the difference, as it allowed Needham to maintain its stronghold on the lead. The Hawks, meanwhile, finished with 252 points as a group.
This marked the third sectional title for Needham since 2018.
“Just watching it play out, I was cheering for (BC High) almost as much as I was cheering for our team.” Needham coach Adam Cole chuckled.
Xaverian was propelled by Alabama commit Tommy Hagar, who may have had the best day among individual racers by setting a meet record in the 100 backstroke (48.66) and the 100 butterfly (48.8). The senior also helped the Hawks set a new meet record in the 200 medley relay (1:36.34).
“There were times during this meet where I didn’t know if we were going to be able to move up enough,” Cole said. “It was really challenging. It was back-and-forth. It was a dogfight. It was uncertain, and that’s what makes it fun. They’ve got to go out, and they’ve got to swim hard. The guys that moved up, got those state cut times, moved up places. It’s really, really satisfying to see the hard work pay off.”