Attleboro claims first sectional title
As members of the Attleboro boys swim team entered the pool at WPI, there was a noticeable void along its outer reaches.
Like his fellow teammates, Ryan Connors was hoping to compete for Blue Bombardiers coach Sarah Faulkner, who was grieving the recent passing of her mother during Sunday’s meet.
Despite heavy hearts, the senior and his group accomplished their ultimate mission. Connors tied for first in the 100-yard butterfly race with a time of 51.46 seconds, while playing a vital role for his school in both the 200 (1:29.96) and 400 (3:19.15) freestyle relays, as Attleboro rallied down the stretch to capture the South sectional boys swimming & diving crown with 163.5 team points.
“It feels good,” Connors said afterward. “The whole team, me, all of us here are seniors. It’s just nice to bring (the championship) home.”
It was the first sectional title in program history for the Blue Bombardiers, who used a calculated approach to collect points as a group. Led by Angad Ahluwalia, Connor Coleman, Ben Connors and Connors himself, Attleboro was able to clinch the final two relays of the day, the latter of which propelled the team from third in the school standings to a first place finish, besting runner-up Medfield by 12 points for the hardware.
Normally known for her tenure as Attleboro’s girls swimming and diving coach, Darbie Sawyer stepped in for Faulkner during the interim. The two both serve as math teachers in the school community, so the players and the coaches decided to get creative. This included tracking spreadsheets with race data together.
“They basically helped us,” laughed Sawyer. “We talked about how it’s not (always) about first place. Seconds, thirds and fourths also help. So they really got in that key concept. It’s been a really huge help to get them involved, to help with the lineups and see how it works. It’s a chess game.”
During his split-victory in the 100 butterfly competition, Connors raced toward the finish, touching the wall at precisely the same time as Medfield junior David Sapozhnikov. Connors also placed third in the 200 IM (1:58.13).
“We did it for (Coach Faulkner),” Connors said. “I was praying before the race. It was nice to win it for her.”
Standouts at the individual level included athletes such as Sharon senior Jack Maron, who pulled away from the pack for a victory in the 200 freestyle. The Brown commit’s time of 1:39.98 shattered a meet record that had been in place since 2004. He would also win the highly-anticipated 500 freestyle marathon (4:32.17) later in the evening, a personal best.
“The competition has been great,” Maron said. “It’s been a lot of fun. I’m just excited to keep it going into next week.”
Needham junior Vann Hotchkiss made headlines in the one-meter diving competition by registering a meet record score of 572.05, nearly 50 points higher than the prior high water mark set in 2010. Meanwhile, Norwell star Nick Austin set a new meet record himself in the 100 breaststroke race (57.24 seconds), topping the original time registered in 2018 by .32 ticks.
Despite serving as his school’s lone competitor, Nicholas Cavic put Seekonk on the map, winning both the 200 IM (1:53.27) and the 100 freestyle (47.23 seconds) races.
“I’m coming off some tough training in club,” said Cavic. “So I didn’t have many expectations. I was happy. Felt fast…so I’m happy all the way around.”