Swim teams victors over Oliver Ames
BY STEVE SHEPPARD
i s l Both Whalers swim teams were overall winners at Oliver Ames High School last Thursday, with the boys cruising to an 87-52 triumph and the girls taking a close one, 92-83.

Justine Paradis returned to the team by breaking her own school record on the one-meter board by 11 points. Her total on the day was 176.55.

Double winners on the day were Ainsley Ellis, who came in first in the 100-yard backstroke and the 200- yard freestyle, and Ashley Martin, who won in the 50-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events.

“For the first meet of the season we did fairly well,” said coach Jim Pignato. “We only have nine girls, and we’re really feeling it.”

On the boys’ side, all scoring for the day was halted with three events left as the Whalers built an insurmountable lead. Harrison O’Rourke swam the 100-yard butterfly in just over a minute (1:01.5) to mark new personal best time in the event. Beau Garufiwas a double winner in the 200-yard individual medley and in the 100-yard breaststroke. Beginning the season 1-0 is not bad way for both teams to enter the holiday break. “Getting a win at the dual meet was great, especially for the girls,” Pignato noted.

Each team also competed in last Friday’s Cape Cod Classic at Sandwich High School. The new invitational event brings schools on the Cape and islands together in exhibition-style competition. Both boys’ and girls’ squads finished third overall, with the girls accumulating 48 total points and the boys netting 70.

For the girls, Justine Paradis followed up Thursday’s record-breaking performance with another first place in one-meter diving. Ainsley Ellis gained first place in the 200- yard freestyle with a finals time of 2:07.16, while Ellie Smith finished ninth overall in the event. The relay team of Ashley Martin, Haley Cabre and Meaghan Lynch came in a very close second in the 200-yard freestyle relay, missing first by just over two seconds.

The boys’ team of Beau Garufi, Jeremy Schneider and Harrison O’Rourke also came in second in the 200-yard freestyle, and Garufilater came in second place in the 100-yard breaststroke. O’Rourke grabbed first place in the 100-yard freestyle, while Will Martin and Caleb Mitchell finished sixth and seventh, respectively. O’Rourke also nabbed second place in the 50- yard freestyle, with the Toole brothers, Henry and Sam, coming in fourth and fifth in the event.

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