DiSanti Helps Wahconah Boys Tie Monument Mountain on Senior Day
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Wahconah boys swim team Friday all but overcame Monument Mountain’s strength in numbers to earn an 83-83 tie against the Spartans at the YMCA.
Jack Pudlo and Noah Schweitzer each won a pair of races, but the biggest points of the day came from a captain Bailey DiSanti’s second-place finish in the day’s next to last race to give Wahconah a shot of catching Monument in the day’s final relay.
In the girls meet, Asa Stone won a pair of races to anchor Monument Mountain to a 105-65 win.
The boys meet went back and forth all afternoon, and Monument Mountain had a 71-65 lead going into the final two events.
The last race of the day was the 4-by-100 freestyle relay. And, like the other two relays, Wahconah had just one quartet entered. That meant the deeper Monument Mountain team was assured at least six points -- for second and third place finishes -- in the 400 free.
In other words, Wahconah needed all the points it could possibly accumulate in the final two events. It needed its two entrants to take first- and second-place (for 10 points) in the penultimate event, the 100 breaststroke, and it needed to win win the 4-by-100 for eight points in order to get a tie.
“I knew how important it was,” DiSanti said of his swim in the 100 breaststroke. “I had a lot of pressure on me. They have good swimmers, and they’re a helluva team.”
It did not look good for Wahconah’s chances for 75 meters. With Schweitzer well in front for an eventual 11-second margin on the field, Monument’s Hayden Stein led DiSanti most of the way.
DiSanti was just behind when the pair hit the wall for the final turn, but he turned it on from there, coming home in a time of 1:31.07 to edge Stein (1:33.09) for second place.
“I kind of just thought about it, and it was really just down to the wire,” DiSanti said.
Pudlo, DiSanti, Schweitzer and Fred Sears teamed up for an easy 35-second win in the 4-by-100 to secure the tie.
Pudlo’s individual wins came in the 200-yard free (2:19.78) and 50 free (28.53). Schweitzer won the 500 free (4:51.69) in addition to the breaststroke.
The Spartans got a pair of wins from Nick Dillon, in the 200 individual medley (2:34.05) and the 100 butterfly (1:07.57).
Monument Mountain’s Stone won the 100-meter backstroke in 1:12.47 and the 100 fly in 1:12.17. She also swam legs on Monument’s winning medley relay and 4-by-100 free relay quartets.
Wahconah’s Ellie Field of Hoosac Valley won the 200 free (2:18.35) and the 100 free (1:02.27).
Monument Mountain faces Pittsfield at the Boys & Girls Club on Tuesday. Wahconah is off until next Saturday’s Berkshire County Individuals at Simon’s Rock.