As the swimmers stepped on the starting block to start the match, the confidence and trust between the Blue Devils were evident and filled the room. Westfield’s domination spanned from start to finish, leading to a 128-40 victory over the Elizabeth Minutemen.
The Blue Devils got out to an early lead, commanding the 200 Medley Relay, finishing first, second and third in the race. This proved to be a common theme throughout the match with Westfield controlling leads in most races. Staying focused can be difficult against a team that is not statistically ranked at the same level, but senior co-captain Logan Welsh said, “In a match like this, we wanted to race each other. We went in with a lot of energy against each other, and that was kind of our thing, that’s how we pushed ourselves.”
There was also a level of revenge Westfield felt, propelling their dominance. On Dec. 23, Westfield lost to SPF for the first time in 15 years, and in their next match against Oratory Prep the day before the Elizabeth meet, they didn’t show up with the dominance they expected to. Welsh said, “We weren’t happy with how we swam yesterday, so we wanted to get our get back and swim better today. We’re using every opportunity as one to race and one to push ourselves and hopefully get best times.”
Head coach Jeff Knight echoed Welsh, saying, “It’s just another opportunity for growth. It gives these guys a chance to try some different events, and maybe somebody pops off and does something that we can really build from.”
Coming off of a win in such dominant fashion, the Blue Devils look to use this momentum as they approach tournament play. “We felt fast. I feel like building off of this energy, we continue to compete with each other as well as the other team,” said senior Liam Mulkeen. “You kind of build that momentum, especially as we hit counties in the next few weeks.”
Westfield knows that the season is far from over. Knight said, “We got a long season ahead of us. We got counties in a few weeks, and we’re just continuing to build towards that. We want to be ready to go because Union County is very competitive this year.”
The team is back in action on Dec. 12 at 3:30 p.m. against Bergen Catholic. They look to continue an impressive season, carrying the success into counties and further.
