Seaholm boys swimming won their first state championship since 1965.
The boys pulled it off not with swimmers with the best times in the state but with depth.“We weren’t a team of superstars,” said junior Harrison Watt. “We had some great swimmers, but no one like Ted Howard, Morgan Priestley, or Paul Collins.”
Seaholm won the Division II championship with 295 points, without getting a first place in any event. The boys were able to beat their closest competitors: 2010 champions Groves with 287 points and Dexter with 265. Groves took first in 5 events and Dexter in 3.
“We were just deep with solid swimmers.” Watt said.
Over the past few years the Maples have been just been a few arms lengths from victory. Last year the boys came in 4th place.
“This season was different because we finally showed everyone that we weren’t a team that got close and fell anymore,” Watt said.
Seaholm and Groves have battled for the number one spot ever since Groves’s championship last year.
“To be seeded first all season and actually come away with the title that we haven’t won in 64 years is something that I’ll never forget,” senior Matt Maniaci said.
But Seaholm’s pre-finals promise never got in the way of their goals for the end of the season.
“[Coach Wylie] wouldn’t let us get complacent with being #1 during the season,” Watt said.
“You just can’t ask for a better way to end a high school swimming career,” senior Captain Spencer Rogers said.
While the victory is still sweet, the younger maples are not satisfied.
“We have an amazing incoming freshmen class next season,” Watt said. “What’s next is hopefully the beginning of a couple more championship runs.”
