The East Hampton High School boys swimming team evened its League 11 record at 1-1 by winning 93-69 at Deer Park on Dec. 7, and, with half the team available, lost a nonleaguer by a score of 52-40 at Stony Brook last Thursday. Though the season is still young, four of Craig Brierley’s charges have turned in county-meet-qualifying times, in the 200-yard freestyle relay, the 200 individual medley, the 50 free, the 100 free, and the 100 butterfly.
The winter track teams, because of an insurance snarl involving Section XI, the county’s governing body for public high school sports, and Suffolk Community College-Brentwood, where the indoor meets are held, had yet, as of earlier this week, to compete indoors. Deciding not to wait any longer, East Hampton’s coaches, Yani Cuesta (girls) and Ben Turnbull (boys), held an unofficial meet with Southampton’s girls at Southampton Saturday, a meet that began in a heavy rain that soon abated.
Originally, said Cuesta, Section XI had wanted East Hampton to run at Kings Park, but Joe Vas, East Hampton’s athletic director, “said that since our times couldn’t count toward the state meet he wasn’t going to put us on a bus for over an hour and a half.”
Cuesta added that Southampton’s boys team was quarantined that day and thus did not compete, though East Hampton’s boys, whose roster includes five seniors — Jackson Bakes, Evan Masi, P.J. Ramundo, Jordan Reed, and Dante Sasso — did.
There were competitions in all indoor events save the high jump, and indoor distances, such as the 55, 300, 600, 1,500, and 3,000-meter races, were run on the track.
As for the girls, Cuesta said, “Ours is a very young and inexperienced team — none of them knows what an indoor season is like.”
There are 18 on Cuesta’s roster, which has only one senior, Daniela Yanza of Pierson. The juniors are Kristina Baratta and Casey Stumpf; the sophomores are Dylan Cashin, Ryleigh O’Donnell, Melina Sarlo, Emma Tepan, Lyla Wilson, Kate McMillan, Khalila Martin, Sophia Hatgistavrou, Alexa Gomez, and Delani Beavers, and the ninth graders are Briana Chavez, Sarah Kapon, and Lola Rothschild.
Aside from the above-named seniors, Turnbull’s squad comprises three juniors, Max Astilean, Anthony Castillo, and Matthew Mattina, three sophomores, Brayan Rivera, Diego Rojas, and Chase Siska, and five freshmen, Jonathan Aranzazu, Liam Cashin, Benson Edman, Jorge Esteves, and Carlos Quintana.
On Saturday, Dylan Cashin did the triple jump, ran the 3,000 in 11 minutes and 12.8 seconds, and led off the 4-by-800 relay team that also included Chavez, Tepan, and O’Donnell.
Sarlo did the long jump, the 300, and anchored the 4-by-200 relay. O’Donnell, aside from anchoring the 4-by-8, ran the 1,500. Stumpf did the triple jump, put the shot, and was a member of the 4-by-2 team. Riley Miles ran the 600 and led off the 4-by-2 relay.
“We’ll see where we go from here,” said Cuesta. “I hope we’ll be inside this coming weekend.”
Back to swimming, East Hampton won all but the 100 backstroke and 400 freestyle relay at Deer Park, whose 25-meter pool was slightly longer than the Bonackers are used to. Clearly, though, they were up to the challenge.
Aidan McCormac, Cristian Sigua, Tenzin Tamang, and Luke Tarbet got the meet going with an easy win in the 200 medley relay. Dan Piver, who captains the team with Aidan McCormac, and Owen Robins finished one-two in the second event, the 200 freestyle. Tamang and Emmet McCormac went one-two in the 200 individual medley, and East Hampton, with Aidan McCormac, Tarbet, and Charlie Weimar, went one-two-three in the 50 free.
Tamang swam a county-qualifying time of 57.64 seconds in winning the 100 fly. Emmet McCormac won the 100 free, Piver won the 500 free, and Robins, Sigua, Tamang, and Aidan McCormac won the 200 free relay. Robins was second and Piver was third in the 100 back, Sigua won the 100 breaststroke but was “exhibitioned,” meaning he did not score, as was East Hampton’s runner-up 400 free relay team of Piver, Emmet McCormac, Robins, and Tarbet.
The captains named Emmet McCormac as swimmer of the meet “because of his tenacity at the end of his races. . . . Emmet once again showed his grit and determination not to lose,” Brierley said in an email. “His efforts added 10 points to our score.”
Adrian Acker was named swimmer of the meet at Stony Brook. “The 50 freestyle that day marked his first competition of the season,” Brierley said. “It was an exciting race and he had a big finish, just out-touching the swimmer next to him. Adrian has been working very hard in practice and on his own time so he can improve and make the team better. He’s a great role model for everyone.”