Freshman Spencer Grauch, freshman Alex Cherenkov, sophomore Joey Kiley and junior Liam Mulkeen lit the fire for Westfield’s first event of the day in the 200 medley relay winning first place with a time of 1:53:50. The Blue Devils followed placing first and second in every event, winning 137-29 against Plainfield.
With this win against the Cardinals and their recent domination at the Union County championship meet on Jan. 26, the Blue Devils record now stands at 10-0. At counties, Westfield won by margin of 61 points with a total of 432 points.
The Blue Devils placed first in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay, 100 freestyle by senior Owen Waibel and the 100 backstroke by senior Danny Pierce. Head coach Jeff Knight said, “I was really proud of the guys’ performance. We aren’t necessarily exactly where we want to be for the remaining parts of the championship season, but overall, it was a really good stepping stone and launching point to head into this part of the season.”
Freshman Max Matera said, “Winning counties was a really great experience and I think that everyone did really well and it was a really fun time.”
Senior tri-captain Hudson Wilcomes said, “It was a pretty quick turn around, but it’s nice to win counties, come back, win this meet with my boys, and it was our last home meet of the regular season, so it was a good way to end the regular season.”
The second event against Plainfield, the 200 freestyle, consisted of Westfield winning first, second and third place with sophomore Ben Lane (2:06:36), junior Logan Welsh (2:11:37) and freshman Henry Charles (2:18:03), respectively.
Although Westfield’s dominance was apparent, the cheering never dialed down as the Blue Devils chanted for their teammates. Wilcomes said, “We got a lot of the underclassmen in new events and they were able to swim more events than they usually do, so the seniors taking a break and letting those guys in, is pretty special to see.”
The last event of the day consisted of seniors Cole Sharkey, Waibel, Artem Dobrovolskyi and Mulkeen finishing first in the 400 free relay with a time of 3:24:93.
Looking forward, the Blue Devils want to focus on preparing for states and maintaining their undefeated season. Wilcomes said, “A lot of rest, good nutrition, and keeping on our training, remember to focus on the goal which is to win a sectional championship and then states.”
The Blue Devils will be back in action against Summit at 4 p.m. on Feb. 3. Knight said, “It’s all about hard work. It’s hard work and getting into the right mentality, so we’ve been very focused throughout the season on the end goal and I expect nothing to change.”
