By TONY BELLISSIMO
"I'm very pleased because we had two county champs and a lot of kids swam their best times," Davis said. "We only have seven seniors, so to finish second is a pretty good showing."
Long Beach has won five of the past eight county titles and maintained its status as one of Nassau's elite by giving undefeated Syosset a run for its money before coming up 26.5 points short. The Marines went 10-1 in dual meets to capture the Division A crown and will look to make a big splash at the state qualifying meet on Feb. 24.
Senior diver Chris Griffin is headed to the states again. He won the county 1-meter dive title with 380.85 points for 11 dives. The Marines' other champ was senior Trevor Hughes, who captured first in the 100-yard butterfly. He won it in 52.41 seconds, setting a new school record in the process. Hughes was also third in the 200-yard individual medley, finishing in 2:03.61, and was part of two successful relays.
"The record Trevor broke stood for 20 years," Davis said. "He was fantastic. He took it right from the first lap."
Senior Victor Stoyanov was second in the 100-yard freestyle (49.15) and third in the 50 free (22.64). Like Hughes, Stoyanov was a key in Long Beach's 200 freestyle and 400 free relays.
Both foursomes placed second. In the 200, it was Hughes, Stoyanov, senior Todd Rubin and junior Mike Demerest finishing in 1:32.81. In the 400, sophomore Eric Gonzalez and freshman Ben Gross teamed with Hughes and Stoyanov to complete the event in 3:24.60. In the 200 medley relay, the Marines were third with Demerest, Gonzalez, Rubin and sophomore Duncan Fraser getting the job done.
"Overall we had a 75-80 percent stroke improvement," Davis said. "Everyone did great. We'll be back on the 24th and see what else we can do."
