LYNN — The Classical swim team put forth a full team effort against Gloucester Thursday, but a second-place finish in the final event of the meet left the Rams just a few points shy of a victory in a 97-88 loss in a Northeastern Conference battle in the Lynn Tech pool.
With the score at 87-84 Gloucester going into the final event, Classical needed at least a first- and third-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay to get the win. But the team of Sydney Finnigan, Adam Mariano, Zachary Westin and Jacob Lang ended up finishing in second place with a time of 4:15.06.
“Obviously it would’ve been great to get the top finish in that last event and earn the win, but I’m so proud of the way we swam out there,” said Classical coach Denise Silva. “We had so many events come down to just a second or two, so you really can’t be too upset. That last relay team swam one of its best times of the year and came up a little short. You can’t ask for much more than that.
“It truly was a wonderful meet all the way around, and both teams put everything they had into each race,” Silva added. “Everyone stepped up. It wasn’t just the top kids leading the way, but we got points from all up and down the roster. The camaraderie that I saw with our team was outstanding and I think it had a lot to do with how well we swam out there.”
It was an exciting meet overall, with two photo-finishes and a host of close races. The first photo-finish came in the 100 freestyle, where Zachary Westin took first place with a time of 1:01.21 — just 0.13 seconds ahead of second place. The other close finish came in the 200 freestyle relay, where the Rams’ team of Westin, Christian Flores, Daniel Puma and Maxwell Gonzalez won with a time of 1:53.10 — just 0.29 seconds ahead of second place.
“The entire place was going crazy after both of those races, they were just so exciting,” Silva said. “It was great to see everyone — on both teams — so invested in a race even if they weren’t swimming in it. That’s what high school sports is all about.”
The Rams also had a number of individual winners on the day, including Lang, who was the lone double-winner. Lang won both the 200 individual medley (2:19.98) and the 500 freestyle (5:41.23). Puma finished first in the 50 freestyle (27.34), while Sydney Porter (178.25) and Cate Hines (176.50) finished first and second in diving, respectively.
“We were right there until the very end, and our kids worked really hard out there for this one,” said Silva.
Classical (2-4) has a chance to get right back in the pool with a make-up meet against Swampscott Friday (4:30) back at Lynn Tech.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to ride this good momentum and get a win against Swampscott,” Silva said. “The kids will be ready to get right back at it (Friday).”
