Printer Friendly Version - Wu’s Victory Helps Hand Boys’ Swimming Take 2nd in Class M; Girls’ Hoops Loses in State Semis

Chris Wu took first place in the 100 backstroke and also swam on an All-State 400 freestyle relay to help the Hand boys’ swimming and diving team notch its highest finish at a state meet by placing second at the Class M State Championship on March 14. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Source

The Hand boys’ swimming and diving team captured its second runner-up finish of the postseason by taking second place at the Class M State Championship that was held at Cornerstone Aquatic Center in West Hartford on March 14.

The Tigers tallied 583.5 points to finish second behind Weston (644 points) at the Class M meet, marking the program’s all-time highest finish at a State Championship competition. Two weeks prior, Hand recorded its all-time best showing at the SCC Championship by finishing second at that meet on Feb. 28.

Chris Wu highlighted the Tigers’ performance at states by taking the 100 backstroke title with a time of 53.41 seconds, defeating runner-up Blake Fulton of Wethersfield (53.94). Also in the backstroke, Dan Chen was third (55.23), Nate Imbergamo finished fifth (55.78), and Finnian Hamblett came in 10th (59.04) for the Tigers. Any top-three placement in an individual race and any top-two finish for a relay guaranteed the participants a spot on the All-State Team.

In relays, Hand’s 400 freestyle relay unit of Will Porter, Wu, Imbergamo, and Tyler Merritt finished as the runner-up (3:16.60) to Weston (3:15.79). The Tigers’ 200 freestyle relay of John Beiner, Porter, Dylan Merritt, and Tyler Merritt finished third (1:31.21), as did the 200 medley grouping of Wu, Paul O’Connor, Beiner, and Dylan Merritt (1:40.45).

Elsewhere, O’Connor was a silver medalist for the 100 breaststroke by posting a time of 1:00.16, placing only behind Weston’s Charles Palsho (58.09), while Liam Pavlovic finished 20th (1:09.20) for Hand. Wu was the 200 individual medley runner-up (1:59.27) to Weston’s Nate Katz (1:53.80), plus O’Connor (2:01.80) and Chen (2:01.93) followed in fifth and sixth, respectively, while Sean Laragy finished 20th (2:14.80). Tyler Merritt placed third for the 200 freestyle (1:45.62), while Porter was seventh (1:48.71), Hamblett came in 19th (1:59.02) and Dylan Cassidy finished 21st (2:00.35). Porter claimed third in the 100 freestyle (48.71) for the Tigers, who also saw an 18th-place showing by Beiner (51.74) and a 22nd-place finish from Dylan Merritt (52.68).

Tyler Merritt took fourth place for the 500 freestyle (4:50.13) with Imbergamo in eighth (4:58.72), Cassidy in 16th (5:22.27), and John Stein in 19th (5:28.65). Dylan Merritt came in 13th for the 50 freestyle (23.31), and Beiner finished in 16th (24.39). Ryan Harvey swam to 13th place for the 100 butterfly (58.28), while Laragy tied for 19th (1:00.42).

Previously, at the Class M Diving State Championship, Mary Huminski finished 13th with a score of 297.75, and Jessica Murphy finished 23rd by recording a score of 247.60 for the Tigers at Bulkeley High School on March 9.

Following the Class M meet, Hand was represented by several swimmers who combined to score 110 points and put the Tigers in 16th place at the State Open Championship at Yale University on March 17. Wu finished sixth for the 100 backstroke (53.43) and 14th for the 200 individual medley (1:59.55), O’Connor placed 12th for the 100 breaststroke (59.58), Chen swam to 19th for the 100 backstroke (55.25), Porter took 23rd in the 100 freestyle (49.28), and Tyler Merritt finished 18th in the 500 freestyle (4:51.01) and 23rd in the 200 freestyle (1:49.19) at the Open. Hand’s the 200 freestyle relay placed 17th (1:31.53), its 200 medley relay was 19th (1:41.97), and the 400 freestyle relay finished 19th (3:19.95).

The Hand girls’ basketball team saw its season come to an end when the Tigers took a defeat to RHAM in the Class L State Tournament semifinals last week. Hand finished its season with an overall record of 22-5.

The 4th-seeded Tigers squared off against top-seeded RHAM in the Class L semifinals at Bacon Academy and took a 59-40 loss on March 12. The Tigers had finished 17-3 for the regular season and won the SCC Oronoque title with an 8-0 divisional mark prior to reaching the SCC Tournament semifinals, where they lost to eventual Class M state champion East Haven. In states, Hand defeated Avon, Bassick, and Law to reach the semifinal round.

Hannah Martin and the Hand girls’ basketball team saw a tremendous 22-win season come to an end with a 59-40 defeat to RHAM in the Class L State Tournament semifinals on March 12. Photo by Kelley Fryer/The Courier