The East Hampton High School boys swimming team knew that West Islip would be hard to beat in a meet that was held at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter on Dec. 15, , according to its coach, Craig Brierley, and indeed the visitors, whose depth proved to be a deciding factor, were.
The Bonackers trailed by only 1 point, at 55-54, going into the final four events, the 200 freestyle relay, the 100 backstroke, the 100 breaststroke, and the 400 free relay. East Hampton was the runner-up in the 200 free relay while West Islip took first and third. Nicky Badilla, who was named as East Hampton’s swimmer of the meet by the captains, won the 100 back in a county-qualifying time of one minute and 2.48 seconds; West Islip took second, third, and fourth. The visitors swept the 100 breast, and capped the meet by going one-two in the last relay, its second team edging Dan Piver, Emmet McCormac, Owen Robins, and Badilla by a third of a second.
Brierley said his charges had given it their all. They were leading 28-18 before West Islip, with all its entrants going under 25.00, swept the 50 free.
Badilla, Tenzin Tamang, Luke Tarbet, and Robins got East Hampton off on the right foot by winning the 200-yard medley relay in the county-qualifying time of 1:53.84, and East Hampton’s B team (Colin Tyrell, Jack O’Sullivan, Sam Piver, and Charlie Weimar) took third, in 2:13.15, as Weimar out-touched his anchor leg opponent, Jonathan Stone.
With Dan Piver and Tarbet, the home team took first and second in the 200 free, and Tamang handily won the 200 individual medley.
West Islip’s sweep of the 50 free enabled it to tie the score at 31-31. The Bonackers held on a little longer, with a one-two finish (Tamang and Tarbet) in the 100 butterfly and Badilla’s win in the 100 free, but then, because of the visitors’ greater depth, things began to go south. Dan Piver won the 500, but the Lions placed second, third, and fourth in that 20-lap event to take the aforementioned 1-point lead, after which the visitors, who swept the 100 breaststroke, began to pile up points.
As a result, East Hampton’s league record dropped to 1-2 and West Islip’s improved to 3-0.
Badilla and his 200 medley relay teammates, Tamang, Tarbet, and Robins, swam a county meet qualifying time, and Badilla swam county-qualifying times in the 100 free and 100 back as well. Tarbet’s 1:02.93 in the 100 fly qualified him for county competition.
Brierley’s team was to have swum against 0-2 North Babylon at Deer Park High School yesterday.
Track
Turning to indoor track, Yani Cuesta, who coaches East Hampton High’s girls team, reported in an email that Dylan Cashin (3,000 meters), Ryleigh O’Donnell (1,500), and the 4-by-800 relay team of Cashin, Emma Tepan, Briana Chavez, and O’Donnell all enjoyed first-place finishes at the first crossover girls meet at Suffolk Community College-Brentwood Sunday. The inaugural meet had been a long time coming, owing to an insurance snafu that took several weeks to untangle.
Other East Hamptoners who did well that day were Melina Sarlo, who, in her 600 debut, finished fifth, and the 4-by-200 relay team of Casey Stumpf, Khalila Martin, Riley Miles, and Sarlo, who placed sixth.
Moreover, Sarah Kapon’s 11-foot-3.25-inch long jump was a personal record, as was Kristina Baratta’s 21 10.5 in the shotput, Martin’s 4-0 in the high jump, and Stumpf’s 26-2 in the triple jump.