Nick D'Innocenzo's hair-raising night included a record in the 200 IM.
(Jay connor/for the Globe)
Division 1 boys' swimming
St. John's Prep proved that it doesn't matter how many first-place finishes you take, it's how many points a team can collect.
The Eagles soared over everyone once again at the MIAA boys' Division 1 championship at Harvard's Blodgett Pool yesterday, racking up 261 points to beat Andover (175) and BC High (146).
This was St. John's third straight state title.
"That was the idea of a team competition. We don't worry about first place; we worry about scoring the most points in every event," said Prep coach Tony Padvaiskas. "And that's with four boys trying to place across the board.
"Our seniors really stepped up for us. We had six seniors who just came out of nowhere."
Mark Scalise had a great night for St. John's, as the senior had first- (50-yard freestyle, 21.53 seconds), second- (200 medley relay, 1:38.64), and third-place finishes (100 free, 48.19).
The big individual story of the night was Andover junior Nick D'Innocenzo. After setting the state record in the 200 IM last weekend, D'Innocenzo set a meet record with a time of 1:50.94. His winning time bettered that of BC High's Erik Vendt, who set the record in 1999.
D'Innocenzo was almost six seconds faster than second-place finisher Sean Reams of BC High.
"Everyone comes out here and expects to swim their hardest. I think that's the great thing about high school swimming," said D'Innocenzo. "The atmosphere at high school states is so much different than the atmosphere at US swimming."
But he wasn't finished there. He would set a meet and state record in the 100 breaststroke, bettering the mark that had stood for 19 years. The junior swam an incredible 57.26, beating the mark set by Malden Catholic's Joe Sheehan (57.64) in 1989.
Andover made some noise, setting a meet record in the 400 freestyle relay (3:12.05), surpassing the record set by Weston (3:12.82) in 1991.
Opening the meet, Andover's Paul Hunter, Zach Hamil, Peter Saunders, and D'Innocenzo outswam St. John's Prep in the 200 medley relay, winning in 1:38.48. The Eagles' team of Kyle Jendrock, Joe Hines, Tyler Lareau, and Scalise settled for second place.
In the 100 free, Xaverian senior Ryan Brooks took first place in 47.59.
© Copyright 2008 Globe Newspaper Company.
