By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Long Beach boys swimming team will be well represented at the county championships this week at the Nassau Aquatics Center at Eisenhower Park.
The Marines, who finished 9-2 in dual meets, turned in some fine performances at the division championships at the site last Saturday. They finished second behind Hewlett in Division C despite winning eight of the 11 events. As a result, Coach Woody Davis' team is sending at least 15 participants to compete in the counties on Feb. 8-10.
"We had a great meet but Hewlett's depth made the difference in the end," Davis said. "We won all but three events, but they were able to gain a lot of points after the top spot.
"We're such a young team and our sophomores did well going up against juniors and seniors," Davis added. "I have no complaints. I'm very pleased with the season and we're not done yet."
Long Beach, the defending county champion, hopes to give favored Garden City, Great Neck North and Hewlett all they can handle. Both Garden City and Great Neck North defeated the Marines in dual meets. Long Beach beat Hewlett on Feb. 6, 68-34.
"We graduated 17 kids from last season and we started this year with so many sophomores and other younger kids that I didn't know what to expect," Davis said. "I've done a lot of shuffling with the lineup and it's been nice to see the kids develop as the season unfolded."
Three of Long Beach's top tenth-graders each took home a pair of individual Division C titles last Saturday. Victor Stoyanov won the 200-yard freestyle (1:52.39) and the 500-yard freestyle (4:58.16); William Skudin the 50-yard freestyle (22.46) and 100-yard freestyle (49.49) and Trevor Hughes the 200-yard individual medley (2:14.33) and 100-yard butterfly (59.81).
"It's great to see the young kids accomplish so much," Davis said. "They're all looking to parlay their performances into top finishes in the county."
Junior Timothy Salter won the Division C 100-yard backstroke in 1:01.35, while eighth-grader Eric Gonzalez was second in the event in 1:03.23. Salter was also the runner-up to Hughes in the 200 individual medley and swam the opening leg to help Long Beach's 200-yard medley relay team place second.
As a whole, Long Beach's relay teams sparkled last Saturday. In addition to Salter, the 200 medley included Skudin, Todd Rubin and Miguel Ochoa. The 400-yard freestyle relay of Hughes, Ochoa, Skudin and Stoyanov captured first place in 3:40.42, while the 200 freestyle relay of Hughes, Andrew Mininsky, Danny Powers and Stoyanov finished second with a time of 1:37.37.
"Our relays have been solid all season," Davis said.
Ochoa, a junior, was the runner-up to Hughes in the 100 butterfly. Senior captain Nick Colucci placed third in the 500-yard freestyle in 6:08.44, and sophomore diver Chris Griffin was second with 310.80 points.
"The key for the kids is for them to be at their peak at this time of the season," Davis said. "They've all worked very hard."
The Marines won their last five regular-season dual meets and each of their victories had a standout performance. Stoyanov won the 200 free in 1:53.10 and the 500 free in 5:13.46, while Skudin took first in the 50 free (23.50) and the 100 free (50.31) in last week's win over Hewlett; Griffin won the diving (184.80) to lead the way against Farmingdale; Hughes won the 200 individual medley in 2:18.38 and the 100 butterfly (58.0) in a win over Wantagh; Rubin won the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke and Gonzalez won the 100 butterfly and the 100 backstroke in a triumph over Freeport.
"We've made great strides," Davis said. "I don't know what our chances are at defending the title, but we're sure going to try."
