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03/18/2018 12:00 AMWill McCleery swam his way to a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle for North Haven at the Class M Boys’ Swimming Championship at Cornerstone Aquatics Center in West Hartford on March 14.
McCleery, a junior, recorded a lifetime-best time of 22.18 seconds in the 50 freestyle to take first by edging out runner-up Paul Riter of New Fairfield, who swam a time of 22.24 seconds. McCleery, who had previously posted a time of 22.75 at the Class M Qualifying scored 30 points for North Haven with his victory at the championship. As a team, the Indians totaled 209 points to finish 12th out of 21 teams at the meet.
McCleery also scored 17 points in the 500 freestyle by taking 10th place with a lifetime-best mark of 5:01.09 at the Class M State Championship, considerably improving upon his time of 5:10.69 from the qualifying meet. In addition to that, he also swam on two relays for North Haven at states. In the 200 freestyle relay, North Haven’s quartet of junior John Stoeffler, freshman Tanner Powell, sophomore Carlo Frunzio, and McCleery took sixth place by swimming a time of 1:34.23 to score 46 points. For the 200 medley relay, McCleery, Frunzio, junior Kevin Powers, and Stoeffler posted a mark of 1:47.58 to finish seventh and score 44 points.
Stoeffler also turned in a pair of quality swims in his individual events at the Class S Championship. In the 50 freestyle, Stoeffler went a lifetime-best 22.68 to come in sixth place and score 23 points, while improving on his 22.82 from the qualifying. A few events later, he swam a time of 52.57 in the 100 freestyle to finish 15th and score 12 points for the Indians.
In other individual events, Frunzio scored 12 points by finishing 15th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:09.11, while senior Riley Powell placed 22nd in the breaststroke at 1:09.53, scoring three points and bettering his 1:09.56 from the qualifying.
Additionally, North Haven’s 400 freestyle relay of freshman Cameron Cargan, Powers, Riley Powell, and junior Thomas O’Connor finished in 16th place by posting a time of 3:51.71 to score 22 points and improve on their 3:52.83 from the qualifying meet.
On March 17, McCleery competed in the 50 freestyle at the State Open Championship that was held at Yale University. McCleery finished in 23rd place with a time of 22.48 to score two points for North Haven. Also at the Open, the Indians’ 200 freestyle relay team of Stoeffler, Tanner Powell, Frunzo, and McCleery scored four points by taking 23rd with a mark of 1:33.40, which was faster than their time from the Class M meet.
On the season, North Haven finished completed its regular season with a mark of 7-4 that included a mark of 6-1 in SCC Division II meets, putting North Haven tied with Sheehan for the best record in SCC Division II this season. Head Coach Martha Phelan was named the SCC Division II Coach of the Year prior to the SCC Championship, where the Indians finished in 10th place.
“When I first took over this program in 2012, we had a small roster and finished with only two wins for the season. This year we finished 6-1 in our division and 7-4 overall, the best in my tenure,” Coach Phelan said. “This is a growing program, and I am thrilled the boys are getting the recognition they deserve. It has been a most gratifying season.”