By TONY BELLISSIMO
Hughes, the county champion in the 100-yard butterfly and third-place finisher in the 200 individual medley, qualified in both of those events and came through with a memorable performance at Erie Community College's Flickinger Aquatic Center. Hughes placed third in the 100 fly with a time of 52.47 seconds. He missed second by the slimmest of margins.
"Trevor turned out to be the story," Marines coach Woody Davis said. "He was seeded 12th in the fly. He qualified second and came in third. It was an outstanding effort and one he was thrilled about."
Hughes had broken a 20-year Long Beach record in the 100 fly at the county championships when he swam a 52.41. He had a 52.45 at the state qualifier on Feb. 24 and kept his momentum going under great pressure at the states.
"He broke a long-standing record three times over a span of 10 days," Davis said. "That's quite an accomplishment. It capped his high school career."
When Hughes boarded the plane for Buffalo last Thursday morning, he had his sights set on a top-five finish in the fly. But he exceeded his own goals despite a tiring schedule.
"I thought third was within reach, but I wasn't sure I could make it happen," said Hughes, who had parents Kevin and Carol in attendance. "Being focused was the difference."
Hughes placed third in Nassau in the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.61), but came up a little short against the best competition the state had to offer. He swam a respectable 2:06.20 last weekend.
Stoyanov, second in the county in the 100 freestyle (49.15) and third in the 50 free (22.64), was called for a moving start in the 100 at the states and was disqualified as a result. He held his own in the 50. "Victor had another strong season," Davis noted.
Griffin, Nassau's 1-meter diving champion, was right in the thick of things until his final attempt. He placed 30th in the state. "Chris dove well," Davis said. "He needed a better performance than he had at counties and he came close to making the cut."
The Marines came close to sending a relay to the states as well, but county champion Syosset made sure they didn't. "We took second in all three relays at the qualifier," said Davis, who stocked the 200 medley relay with sophomore Eric Gonzalez (backstroke), junior Mike Demerest (breaststroke), Hughes (butterfly) and Stoyanov (freestyle). The foursome finished in 1:42.89, less than a second behind the winners.
"It's tough losing the seniors, but we've got a very young team and we're already looking forward to next season," Davis said.
