Red Raiders And Nauset Warriors Hook Up In Swimming Meet Thrillers

By: Tom Moran Jr.
Published: 02/03/12

Bedlam. Sheer, unadulterated bedlam.

You might not think that a swimming meet could evoke such a response but had you been part of the overflow crowd on hand at Wednesday’s Barnstable/Nauset matchup at the West Barnstable YMCA, these words would have very accurately described the evening’s action.

Both the boys’ and girls’ meets were not decided until the final event and just for the record, the Barnstable girls continued their domination of their Warrior rivals with the 88-82 win while the BHS boys came up just short, bowing to their Warrior counterparts by an 87-83 margin.

GIRLS’ MEET

There is no love lost here as the Red Raiders topped the Warriors earlier this season at the Cape Cod Classic and were not about to let any other girls’ team, especially Nauset, lay claim to being the Cape’s best team for the 2011-12 season.

The Red Raiders led for most of the meet only to have the Warriors use a 1-3-4 finish in the 100 backstroke race to move in front by a 71-69 margin.

The Barnstable girls responded to the challenge by posting a 1-4-5 finish in the 100 yard breaststroke to pull even at 78-all and make the meet’s final event, the 4x100 freestyle relay, the one for all the marbles.

BHS coach Colleen Stone had earlier changed her lineup so that her four best swimmers, Rainey Kelly, Rachel Butler, Lindsay Partin and Hayley Weik would be there just it case it came to what it did come to and her strategy paid off as the quartet ran away with the race, finishing more than 12 seconds ahead of the second-place Nauset team.

The noise in the pool area was deafening from the starting gun until Weik touched the wall for the meet-deciding victory in a combined time of 3:56.4.

The Red Raiders grabbed an early 8-6 lead as the Butler, Partin, Weik and Kelly took first place in the 200 medley relay in a time of 1:56.03 while the Warriors took second and third places

The Red Raiders were unable to expand on their lead in the next two events, taking second (Rainey, 2:03.17), third (Meg Mamlock, 2;12.51) and fifth (Caroline Ells, 2:16.2) in the 200-yard freestyle and first (Partin, 2:18.98) and fourth (Picabo Miskiv, 2:39.64) in the 200 Individual Medley while the Warriors went 1-4-5 in the 200 and 2-3-5 in the IM, giving both teams eight points in each event.

First-place finishes by Weik in the 50 freestyle (25.85 seconds) and the 100 butterfly (1:04.32) allowed the Red Raiders to open up a 42-36 lead that was extended to 53-41 when Butler paced a 1-3-5 BHS finish in the 100 freestyle with her winning time of 57.93 seconds.

Kelly turned in a first-place finish in the 500 freestyle (5:51.33) but the Warriors went 2-3-4 to cut into the Red Raiders scoreboard advantage.

The Barnstable lead got even smaller when the Warriors went 1-3 in the 200 freestyle relay and then moved in front after the completion of the 100 backstroke.

The Red Raiders couldn’t afford to let the Warriors add to that lead and they didn’t as Lindsay Partin (first place, 1:12.41), Christy Partin (fourth place, 1:21.11) and Miskiv (fifth place, 1:21.5) gave the Raiders a 9-7 scoring edge in the event that evened the score at 78-apiece.

It’s a situation every athlete dreams of, being the difference between victory and defeat and the Red Raiders big four delivered big time, with each swimmer putting more space between themselves and the competition until Weik touched the wall and pushed the Warriors into the deep end.

BOYS’ MEET

After grabbing the lead with a win in the opening event, the 200 freestyle relay, and holding onto that lead until the Warriors used a string of first-place finishes to open up an 83-73 lead, the Red Raiders needed to capture both first and second places in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay to have the meet end with both teams having a total of 85 points.

Unfortunately, such a finish was not in the cards as the Warriors took second place in the 400 relay to escape with the win.

The Red Raiders saw their night get off to a great start when their 200 relay team of Alex Damieck, James Stergis-Cox, Colin Meade and Ben Bancroft not only won the race but set a school record (1:51.75) and qualified for the sectional meet with that time.

The home team also got a third-place finish from the quartet of Connor Rogan, Austin Drouin, Jaycob Young and AJ Harris with a time of 2:17.47.

Despite having the Warriors take first place in the 200 freestyle and the 200 IM, the Red Raiders maintained a slim scoring advantage that got a bit larger when Bancroft won the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.55 seconds.

A first-place finish by Stergis-Cox (1:05.3) in the 100 butterfly and another by Damieck in the 500 freestyle (5:40.28) gave the Red Raiders a 57-53 lead but that lead disappeared when the Warriors went 1-3-5 in the 200 freestyle relay to take their first lead at 63-61.

Stergis-Cox delivered again in the clutch when he won the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.77 but the Warriors were able to pad their point total by two to open up an 83-73 lead with just the 400 relay left to be decided.

Had the Red Raiders finished 1-2 in the final race, neither team would have been happy but neither would have gone home with a loss but such a finish was not to be.

The Red Raider foursome of John Andres, Young, Gabe Fater and Damieck took first place in a time of 3:59.19 but the Warriors took second place to give themselves their final margin of victory.

Some Catch-up

Red Raiders – 99

Bridgewater-Raynham – 71

The Barnstable girls got first-place finishes from Rainey Kelly (in the 200 and 100 freestyle races), Lindsay Partin (in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke), Hayley Weik (in the 100 butterfly, Rachel Butler (in the 100 backstroke) and Meg Mamlock (in the 50 freestyle) as well as 1-2 finishes in the 200 medley relay and the 200 and 400 freestyle relays to overwhelm the visiting Trojans last Friday.

Red Raiders 119

Bridgewater-Raynham – 46

The Barnstable boys ran their Bay Colony record to 5-1 with the win over the Trojans.

Coming through with first-place finishes were Jaycob Young in the 200 and 500 freestyle races, Alex Damieck in the 200 IM, Ben Bancroft in the 50 and 100 freestyle races and from James Stergis-Cox in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke race and Stephen Yezukevicz in the 100 backstroke.

The Red Raiders also swept the first-place finishes in the 200 medley, 200 and 400 relays.

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