Published in the February 21, 2018 edition

By DAN PAWLOWSKI

CAMBRIDGE — The Lynnfield/Wakefield boys’ and girls’ co-op swim teams competed at sectionals on Sunday, February 11 at MIT.

The Pioneer boys had plenty of representatives at the meet and finished 19th overall against the very best Division 1 teams in the state.

“Overall, the team did very well as we used the sectional meet as a preparation for the state meet,” said head coach Andrew Digiacomo. The boys swam at states on Sunday.

At sectionals, some of the best performances came from Wakefield swimmers, including Chris Anastasiades, Antonio Anastasiades, Johnny Stumpf, Alex Kent and Omar Risk.

OLIVIA MURPHY competed in the 200 medley relay for the Lynnfield girls’ swim team. Murphy and Liz Sykes, Sara Ho and Caitlin Hooper swam a season-best at sectionals on Feb. 11. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)

The 200 medley relay team of Chris and Antonio Anastasiades, Stumpf and Kent got their best time of the season as they took 14th overall with a time of 1:47.61 to pick up six points for the team.

Chris Anastasiades got personal bests in the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. Anastasiades took 13th overall in the 50 free with a time of 22.91, good for four points for the team. In the 100 butterfly, he took 14th overall with a time of 55.06 for three points. Chris competed in both the 50 free and the 100 fly at the state meet yesterday.

Antonio Anastasiades swam to a 26th finish in the individual medley with a time of 2:09.61. Antonio also competed in the 100 breast stroke where he took 15th with a time of 1:02.98. He swam both events at states.

The 400 freestyle relay, another all-Wakefield team of the Anastasiades brothers, Stumpf and Rizk, finished 19th overall with a time of 3:36.24. The 400 free relay also competed at states.

In the end, it was another great performance from the Lynnfield/Wakefield boys as they prepared for the biggest competition of the year.

The Lynnfield girls’ team took to sectionals as an opportunity to improve on their times and gain experience for the future as most of the swimmers will be back next season.

“The girls’ team overall had a great last meet of the season,” said Digiacomo. “All three relays went best times and we are very excited that many of our underclasswomen were able to get the experience of swimming at MIT against some of the best competition in the state.”

The 200 medley relay team of Liz Sykes, Sara Ho, Caitlin Hooper and Olivia Murphy crossed the line in 2:12.02.

The 200 freestyle relay team got a 1:56.80. That team included Sykes, Hooper, Avery Comeau and Michelle Marder.

Sykes, Hooper and Marder teamed up with Sabrina Al-Mayahi to get a season-best 4:19.74 in the 400 free relay.

Sabrina Bunar placed 2nd in the 1 meter diving competition with a 539.45.

“Sabrina Bunar had a very strong meet and she is very excited to hopefully improve at states and bring home a State Championship,” said Digiacomo.

Bunar competed in the Division 2 State Championship on Sunday, Feb. 18. Full results from both the girls’ and boys’ state meet will appear in next week’s Villager.