Avon has strong third place finish at CCC North championships

WETHERSFIELD – It’s been a young team in the pool this winter for the Avon High boys swimming team. Still, the Falcons nearly grabbed second place in the recent CCC North championship meet finishing just five points behind E.O. Smith/Tolland.

League champion Wethersfield followed up on their CCC North championship season by winning the meeting with 369 points, winning four individual events and two of the three relay races. Blake Fulton won two individual events and swam on two winning relays.

Avon had two individual champions – Andre Richard in the 50-yard freestyle and Alec Traktovenko in the 100 breast stroke. Avon’s 200 freestyle relay team (Justin Arroyo, Traktovenko, Chris Chute, Richard) swam to an easy win.

“If we swam a little better in the front half of the meet, we could have placed second,” Avon High coach Diana Cesaro said. “But as far as good swims, we had many. We didn’t shave many of our top swimmers and they did great. It’s nice to know there is still more left in the tank.”

Frequently for the biggest meets of the year, swimmers will shave their legs and arms to get a little more speed in the water where races can come down to a hundredth of a second.

The Falcons (4-9-1, 3-2 CCC North) will compete in the Class M swimming trials on Saturday at Masuk in Monroe. The Class M championships are Tuesday, March 13 at Wesleyan.

Richard hasn’t shaved yet but he still won the 50-yard freestyle for the second straight year with a time of 22.81 seconds with E.O. Smith/Tolland’s Daniel Ward taking second in 23.10. Chris Chute (24.12) took sixth for the Falcons.

Traktovenko captured his first CCC North title by winning in the 100 breast stroke with a season-best time of 1:05.72 with Wethersfield’s Matthew Iallonardo taking second (1:06.48). Avon’s Lance Morgan had a personal best time of 1:08.66 to finish fourth while freshman Dejvid Valishti (1:15.66) took tenth and Sarah Osiecki finished 11^th.

Avon’s 200 freestyle relay team won a CCC North title for the second straight year with a dominant time of 1:33.71 with Wethersfield taking second in 1:35.43. Arroyo and Richard swam on last year’s winning 200 freestyle relay. The team looks to break the school record in the upcoming Class M championship meet.

Justin Arroyo finished second in the 200 individual medley with a season-best time of 2:09.12, a distant four seconds behind Wethersfield’s Holden Hoon. Traktovenko was sixth with a season-best time of 2:12.01.

In the 100 freestyle, Avon had three swimmers in the top eight. Richard was second with a season-best time of 51.18 while Chute was sixth with a personal-best time of 53.80. Kelly Zhou was eighth with a time of 54.21 seconds.

In the 400 freestyle relay, Avon finished second (Justin Arroyo, Alec Traktovenko, Chris Chute, Andre Richard) with a time of 3:28.87 while Wethersfield dominated with a winning time of 3:22.09. Still, the Falcons swam well. Arroyo had his best 100 yard split (51.93) while Traktovenko (53.07) and Chute (53.06) had their best-ever 100 splits. Richard had the fastest relay leg on the team (50.81).

Diver Brendan Downey couldn’t defend his CCC North title that he won a year ago and finished second.

CCC North championships
At Wethersfield
Team results – 1. Wethersfield 369, 2. E.O. Smith/Tolland 277, 3. Avon 272, 4. Newington 156, 5. Rocky Hill 135, 6. Hartford Public 36

200 yard medley relay: 1. Wethersfield (Blake Fulton, Caleb Skowronek, Austin Bovino, Holden Hoon) 1:42.30, 2. EOS/Tolland 1:46.64, 3. (x) Wethersfield B 1:49.33, 4. (x) EOS/Tolland B 1:53.72, 5. Newington 1:54.11, 6. Avon (Erika Nguyen, Lance Morgan, Kayla Bucci, Brendan Downey) 1:54.17; 7 (x) Avon (Megan Boswell, Dejvid Valishti, Karen Zhou, Sam Fitch) 1:55.89; 10. (x) Avon (Jenny Wall, Sarah Osiecki, Gracey Boman, Emily Foley) 2:02.85

200 freestyle: 1. Daniel Broderick (EOS/Toll) 1:56.94, 2. Shane Bresnahan (Wethersfield) 1:59.22, 3. Patrick McGuane (Wethersfield) 2:01.10, 4. Cameron Graham (EOS/Toll) 2:02.40, 5. Justin Burchell (Wethersfield) 2:02.85, 6. Kelly Zhou (Avon) 2:03.56; 9. Kayla Bucci (Avon) 2:07.85

200 IM: 1. Holden Hoon (Wethersfield) 2:05.82, 2. Justin Arroyo (Avon) 2:09.12, 3. Brian Speers (Rocky Hill) 2:10.28, 4. Matt Iallonardo (Wethersfield) 2:10.82, 5. Jack Stewart (EOS/Toll) 2:11.21, 6. Alex Traktovenko (Avon) 2:12.01

50 free: 1. Andre Richard (Avon) 22.81, 2. Daniel Ward (EOS/Toll) 23.10, 3. Robert Nagy (Newington) 23.39, 4. Brendon Mansaku (Wethersfield) 23.59, 5. Anthony Scigliano (EOS/Toll) 23.93, 6. Chris Chute (Avon) 24.12

Diving: 1. Hadden Gaunt (Wethersfield) 238.5, 2. Brendan Downey (Avon) 227.15, 3. Brian Puglielli (Wethersfield) 188, 4. Jordan Griffin (Wethersfield) 185.25, 5. John Famiglietti (Newington) 178.50, 6. (x) Ryan McOmber (Wethersfield) 177.25

100 butterfly: 1. Daniel Ward (EOS/Toll) 55.05, 2. Holden Hoon (Wethersfield) 56.24, 3. Austin Bovino (Wethersfield) 57.04, 4. Justin Arroyo (Avon) 59.74, 5. Maksym Ugrak (Newington ) 1:00.73, 6. Matthew Pasini (EOS/Toll) 1:02.21

100 freestyle: 1. Blake Fulton (Wethersfield) 49.58, 2. Andre Richard (Avon) 51.18, 3. Robert Nagy (Newington) 51.76, 4. Riley Beckham (EOS/Toll) 52.71, 5. Brendon Mansaku (Wethersfield) 52.97, 6. (tie) Chris Chute (Avon) and Calen Skowronek (Wethersfield) 53.80; 8. Kelly Zhou (Avon) 54.21

500 free: Brian Speers (Rocky Hill) 5:12.82, 2. Daniel Broderick (EOS/Toll) 5:16.65, 3. Shane Bresnahan (Wethersfield) 5:24.41, 4. Patrick McGuane (Wethersfield), 5:30.52, 5. Erika Nguyen (Avon) 5:33.16, 6. Justin Burchell (Wetherfield) 5:34.30; 9. Kayla Bucci (Avon) 5:43.91

200 freestyle relay: 1. Avon (Justin Arroyo, Alec Traktovenko, Chris Chute, Andre Richard) 1:33.71, 2. Wethersfield) 1:35.43, 3. EO Smith/Tolland 1:36.39. 4. (x) Avon B (Kelly Zhou, Lance Morgan, Sam Finch, Brendan Downey) 1:40.62, 5. Rocky Hill 1:43.11, 6. (x) Rocky Hill B 1:43.43; 10. (x) Avon (Nick Guimaraes, Alan Vinarsky, Tim DelGallo, Neil Bratton) 1:48.11

100 backstroke: 1. Blake Fulton (Wethersfield) 55.55, 2. Riley Beckham (EOS/Toll) 57.89, 3. Rory Stickley (Wethersfield) 1:00.40, 4. Jacob Castonguary (EOS/Toll) 1:00.50, 5. Erika Nguyen (Avon) 1:03.90, 6. Megan Boswell (Avon) 1:03.92; 9. Jenny Wall (Avon) 1:06.42; 10 (x) Emily Boswell (Avon) 1:07.29

100 breast stroke: 1. Alec Traktovenko (Avon) 1:05.72, 2. Matthew Iallonardo (Wethersfield) 1:06.48, 3. Anthony Scigliano (EOS/Toll) 1:06.98, 4. Lance Morgan (Avon) 1:08.66, 5. Paul Issac (EOS/Toll) 1:08.90, 6. Caleb Skowronek (Wethersfield) 1:09.54; 10. Dejvid Valishti (Avon) 1:15.66

400 freestlye relay: 1. Wethersfield (Holden Hoon, Blake Fulton, Caleb Skowronek, Shane Bresnahan) 3:22.09, 2. Avon (Justin Arroyo, Alec Traktovenko, Chris Chute, Andre Richard) 3:28.87, 3. EO Smith/Tolland 3:41.02, 4. Newington 3:45.08, 5. (x) Avon (Erika Nguyen, Mikey Ford, Karen Zhou Kelly Zhou) 3:47.48, 6. (x) Wethersfield 3:48.35; 9. (x) Avon (Sam Finch, Sara Chute, Emily Foley, Kayla Bucci) 3:55.01

(x): Non-scoring entry. Only the top relay team and top three individuals from each school can score in an event.

2018 CCC North boys swimming standings

Avon High boys swimming 2017-18