MIAA Division II Boys State Championships
- February 18, 2024
- MIT Sports and Recreation Center, Cambridge, MA
- Short Course Yards
- Results
Like its girl’s team, the Weston High School boy’s team posted a dominant victory at the 2024 MIAA Division II State Championships meet, defending their 2023 title with a total of 293 points. Though they did not match their 326 points scored from the 2023 meet, Weston won all three relays en route to victory.
The Weston boys kicked-off the meet with a winning time of 1:37.38 in the 200 medley relay. Weston’s team of Eldar Blazh, Evan Hoaglund, Nico Frangioni, and Nate Whitworth won by almost a full second with their time, with Whitworth closing in a 21.89 on the anchor leg.
Hoaglund went on to win the 100 freestyle, marking Weston’s only individual victory on the day. With his time of 46.33, Hoaglund touched about .9 ahead of 50 freestyle winner Jack DeMello from Cohasset (47.21), defending his 2023 State Title in the process. In the 50 freestyle, DeMello got the upper hand over Hoaglund, as he won in a time of 21.53 to Hoaglund’s 21.64. At the 2023 meet, Hoaglund beat DeMello in the same race.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Weston crushed the field by over 2 seconds to win their second relay of the meet. The team of Hoaglund, Whitworth, Alex Jyikka, and Austin Chiocca combined for a time of 1:27.13, coming in 2 seconds ahead of runner-up Wayland High School, who finished with a time of 1:29.47.
The Weston boys closed out the meet with a victory in the 400 freestyle relay, dropping a time of 3:17.37. The team of Chiocca, Blazh, Jyikka, and Frangioni touched 3 seconds ahead of the field, with Medfield High School finishing second in a time of 3:20.27. Notably, Medfield was led by a 48.10 lead-off split from David Sapozhnikov, one of the fastest times in the field.
Sapozhnikov was the winner of the 100 butterfly, where he won in a time of 50.61, just out-touching Jack Mattison-Gulotta from Northampton High School (50.96). Mattison-Gulotta also finished 2nd in the 200 freestyle (1:41.98), where Seekonk High School’s Nicholas Cavic claimed the top spot in a time of 1:40.86.
Cavic was one of only two swimmers to claim two individual events, also winning the 500 freestyle by over 4 seconds in a time of 4:38.19. Duxbury’s Theo Morse came in second in the race, touching the wall in a time of 4:42.57.
The other swimmer to win two individual events was Medford’s Quinn Borchers who claimed the top spot on the podium in the 200 IM and 100 backstroke. In the 200 IM, he touched in a time of 1:52.74 to clear the field by almost 4 seconds in a dominant victory. He then won the 100 backstroke in a time of 51.71, dropping almost 4 seconds off of his seed time. Borchers is committed to swim at St. Bonaventure University in the fall.
In the 100 breaststroke, Norwell’s Nick Austin came in with the top time, posting a final time of 58.33, making himself the only swimmer in the field under 1:00.
MHRS’ Collin Purcell took first in the 1M diving event with a score of 483.75, beating his closest competitor by about 17 points in the process.
Top 5 Team Scores:
- Weston High School – 293
- Wayland High School – 214
- Medfield High School – 141
- Belchertown High School – 127
- Westwood High School – 125
CONGRATS to Coach Jim McLaughlin and the Red Tide!