Every single point mattered when the boys went after the Patriot League swim title, and they came up just three short when Scituate/Cohasset edged the Dragons, 314-311, for the league crown at Middleboro High School.

Every single point mattered when the boys went after the Patriot League swim title, and they came up just three short when Scituate/Cohasset edged the Dragons, 314-311, for the league crown at Middleboro High School.{sidebar id=4}

Even though the Dragons won only two events (Hunter Chiasson), their depth and strong performances by swimmers in slots five through seven kept them in the running until the very last event. 

The meet was a nail-biter from the start, as Duxbury led off the first event with Chiasson, Andrew Sommer, Cam Crowell and Drew Husted in the 200-yard medley relay. The quartet dropped two seconds off their previous time, but had to settle for second. With the double points from the relay, Scituate/Cohasset had a marginal lead.

Ben White (3rd), Jason Lijewski (5th), Ben Potash (7th) and Patrick Sullivan (11th) scored valuable points in the 200-yard freestyle to keep Duxbury within shouting distance, but the S/C lead grew to 72-55.

Chiasson stepped up next in the 200-yard IM with a mission to narrow the gap. And narrow the gap he did, winning the event by a whopping nine seconds (2:07.45). A seventh-place finish by Lijewski and Duncan Edgar’s 10th-place showing put the score at. 102-81. 

The Dragons still had a lot of work to do. In the 50-yard freestyle, Scituate/Cohasset took the top spot, while Husted (4th), Jamie Morris (6th),  Devin George  (7th) and Ike Fontaine (9th) finished within a second of the winner and scored points.

The 100-yard butterfly was next up, and in the small field of 11 swimmers, Duxbury had four. They all placed well, as Sommer was third (1:04.39), Brendan Davidson was fifth, Jon Ng was sixth and Ike Fontaine was ninth, giving Duxbury a 147-137 lead.  

Duxbury had its lead cut to four points in the 100-yard freestyle when Mike Wall of Scituate/Cohasset won the event, and Barry Su (2nd) and Husted (3rd) were right behind, joined by Morris in ninth and Drew Cooper.  {sidebar id=1}

The 500-yard endurance competition was next, and it was up to Crowell, White, Potash and Doug Rollack to score some points. After three laps, it was clear that the battle was for second, as Brian McGuinnes of Scituate/Cohasset pulled out with a healthy lead. The sophomore trio of Crowell (2nd), White (5th)and Potash (9th) held its own, but still couldn’t overtake Scituate/Cohasset’s four-point lead.

Because the relays are double points, there was a lot of pressure on Su, Devin George, Chiasson and Ng to swim up in the 200-yard freestyle relay. When the splashing was over, Scituate/Cohasset had touched out anchor swimmer Ng by less than a half second to increase its lead to eight points.

Once again Chiasson took it personally, setting his mind to race the best backstroke of the season. After two laps he was well ahead of the field, and the sophomore coasted to first with a sizzling 56.30, just ahead of Crowell, who took second. Andrew Gilmore and George also placed seventh and eighth, respectively, helping Duxbury regain the lead at 260-253. 

There was no time to relax with the 100-yard breaststroke on deck, and it didn’t go well for the Dragons, as Sommer’s fifth-place swim was Duxbury’s best effort, followed by Su (7th) and Rollock (13th).

With Scituate/Cohasset back on top, it all came down to the last race of the day: the 400- yard freestyle relay with the winner taking the match.

Husted, Su, Crowell and Sommer pushed as hard as they could, but at the end of the race they were in third, leaving the Dragons in second place.

“I’m proud of how our team battled,” said Duxbury coach Jay Craft. “It was a very competitive meet and our swimmers did very well.”{sidebar id=6}