WEST HARTFORD — The New Canaan boys swimming team won the Class L championship meet for a fourth season in a row Tuesday at Cornerstone Aquatics Center.
The New Canaan boys program has now won 15 class state championships all-time, as well as one State Open back in 2007.
New Canaan led the field with 760 cumulative points and was trailed by runner-up Fairfield Prep for the second straight year. Fairfield Prep finished with 648 team points and Ridgefield placed third with 552 points.
"I am feeling really good, a win is always so exciting," New Canaan coach Kat Munson said. "This was one of our goals throughout the season and a lot of boys stepped up really big. We had a little bit of a challenge with our 100 butterflier getting disqualified which was pretty brutal. That could have been something that defined the meet for us, but we rallied and made sure to lock it down. I am really proud of them."
New Canaan was led by senior Deacon Mascarinas, who won each event he competed in for a second year in a row.
Mascarinas earned gold medals in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 46.00, the 100-yard breaststroke in 58.17, and as part of both New Canaan's first-place 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relay teams. He is a repeat champion in all four events.
"(Mascarinas) is quite possibly the most talented athlete to come through our program," Munson said. "I could have put him in several other events and he likely would have been state champion. He is a kid who works insanely hard and has natural talent, but more than that he is somebody who swims for the team. He really is the heart of our team."
Juniors Eric Huang and Jack Haley each earned two gold medals as members of Ridgefield's two first-place relay teams with Mascarinas.
Senior Nate Codd also took home gold for New Canaan, claiming the Class L title in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.41.
Mascarinas, Codd and their fellow seniors will graduate high school having been state champions every year of their careers.
"Winning every year is really special to me, it is the experience that everyone wants," Mascarinas said. "I am just really proud of us for making it happen. The progression I have seen on this team since I started has only gone up, and I hope that continues even when I am gone."
Broken Records
The New Canaan 200-yard medley relay team of Eric Huang, Mascarinas, Jack Haley, and Oliver Carr broke the Class L meet record with a time of 1:34.33. The previous record of 1:34.91 was set by Pomperaug in 2017.
"I was really excited about that," Mascarinas said. "Us four guys, we have been training together all season so we really have had a connection all year. I felt like this was kind of bound to happen."
Two swimmers broke the previous 200-yard freestyle record of 1:40.06 set by Simsbury's Matthew McLean in 2008, but only one stands as the new record holder. Ridgefield senior Jack Clancy clocked in at 1:39.59 to set the record and earn gold, while New Canaan junior Jack Haley finished in 1:39.75.
Multiple Golds
Ridgefield senior Jack Clancy won two individual gold medals in events he had won last year at the Class LL championships. Clancy was the Class L state champion this year in the 500-yard freestyle (4:32.86) and broke the meet record in the 200-yard freestyle (1:39.59).
Clancy also added two silver medals to his day as lead leg of Ridgefield's second place 200-yard freestyle relay and 400-yard freestyle relay teams.
Fairfield Prep junior Owen Tharrington won two individual gold medals as well, finishing first in both the 200 IM (1:54.69) and the 100-yard backstroke (50.93).
Tharrington's teammate, freshman John Cunningham, earned gold medals in the 50-yard freestyle (21.46) and as the lead leg in Fairfield Prep's winning 200-yard freestyle relay team.
CIAC Class L Swimming and Diving Championships
Team scores: 1. New Canaan, 760; 2. Fairfield Prep, 648; 3. Ridgefield, 552; 4. Amity, 365; 5. South Windsor, 310; 6. Hall, 299; 7. Darien, 293; 8. Conard, 274; 9. Daniel Hand, 249; 10. Farmington, 212; 11. Newington, 205; 12. Plainville, 193; 13. Shelton, 171; 14. Naugatuck, 132; 15. Foran-Law, 113; 16. Barlow-Bethel, 103; 17. New Milford, 88; 18. Waterford, 79.
Individual Results
200-yard medley relay: 1. New Canaan (Eric Huang, Deacon Mascarinas, Jack Haley, Oliver Carr), 1:34.33; 2. Fairfield Prep (Owen Tharrington, Gabe Swarowsky, Timothy King, John Cunningham), 1:37.23; 3. Ridgefield (Derek Yin, Shaun Li, Edward Westcott, Noah Floegel), 1:39.43; 4. Amity (Patrick Yang, Adam Liu, Markiyan Yukhno, Tyler Derosa), 1:41.47; 5. South Windsor (Ryan Nguyen, Aaron Park, Isaac Gonzalez, Quinn Yanaway), 1:41.81; 6. Conard (Nathan Lowney, Nicholas Hall, Luke Schenifeldt, Andrew Filotto), 1:42.19.
200-yard freestyle: 1. Jack Clancy, Ridgefield, 1:39.59; 2. Jack Haley, New Canaan, 1:39.74; 3. Cyrus Xu, Hall, 1:43.91; 4. George Wang, New Canaan, 1:45.01; 5. William Trotman, Ridgefield, 1:46.18; 6. Mathttew Michitti, Farmington, 1:46.80.
200-yard IM: 1. Owen Tharrington, Fairfield Prep, 1:54.69; 2. Shaun Li, Ridgefield, 1:55.98; 3. Evan Vanvelzor, Fairfield Prep, 1:59.21; 4. Finn Greiner, New Canaan, 2:00.90; 5. Thomas Goertel, Darien, 2:01.07; 6. Nicholas Hall, Conard, 2:02.12.
50-yard freestyle: 1. John Cunningham, Fairfield Prep, 21.46; 2. Brandon Bonilla, Fairfield Prep, 22.02; 3. Nate Codd, New Canaan, 22.16; 4. Marko Katra, Ridgefield, 22.27; 5. Oliver Carr, New Canaan, 22.30; 6. Filip Szymczyk, Plainville, 22.31.
Diving: 1. Jake Simon, Darien, 428.55; 2. James Auciello, Conard, 409.00; 3. Nick Montini, Naugatuck, 334.35; 4. Griffin Wilson, Darien, 302.45; 5. Gianmarco Barrato, Fairfield Prep, 296.95; 6. Quinn O'Neill, Hall, 295.65.
100-yard butterfly: 1. Nate Codd, New Canaan, 51.42; 2. Timothy King, Fairfield Prep, 51.67; 3. Derek Yin, Ridgefield, 52.83; 4. Markiyan Yukhno, Amity, 54.09; 5. Benjamin Hauptman, Fairfield Prep, 54.17; 6. Adam Signorello, Hand, 54.41.
100-yard freestyle: 1. Deacon Mascarinas, New Canaan, 46.00; 2. John Cunningham, Fairfield Prep, 47.18; 3. Marko Katra, Ridgefield, 49.12; 4. Jacob Collette, Foran-Law, 49.68; 5. Giancarlo Rubio, Shelton, 49.89; 6. Rohan Thung, Fairfield Prep, 50.07.
500-yard freestyle: 1. Jack Clancy, Ridgefield, 4:32.86; 2. Jack Haley, New Canaan, 4:36.06; 3. William Trotman, Ridgefield, 4:48.49; 4. Matthew Michitti, Farmington, 4:48.71; 5. Evan Vanvelzor, Fairfield Prep, 4:49.36; 6. Jack Ackerman, Hall, 4:53.04.
200-yard freestyle relay: 1. Fairfield Prep (John Cunningham, Brandon Bonilla, Oskar Sulkowski, Timothy King), 1:27.23; 2. Ridgefield (Jack Clancy, Shaun Li, Marko Katra, William Trotman), 1:27.72; 3. New Canaan (Nate Codd, Oliver Carr, Finn Greiner, George Wang), 1:28.91; 4. Hall (Jack O'Neill, Cyrus Xu, Quinn O'Neill, Jack Ackerman), 1:29.23; 5. South Windsor (Aaron Park, Gregory Bouvier Kratz, Quinn Yanaway, Brian Garver), 1:31.83; 6. Amity (Adam Liu, Jack Winzer, Tyler Derosa, Julian Virgil), 1:32.08.
100-yard backstroke: 1. Owen Tharrington, Fairfield Prep, 50.93; 2. Eric Huang, New Canaan, 51.26; 3. Cyrus Xu, Hall, 52.90; 4. Derek Yin, Ridgefield, 53.17; 5. Markiyan Yukhno, Amity, 55.43; 6. Filip Szymczyk, Plainville, 55.45.
100-yard breaststroke: 1. Deacon Mascarinas, New Canaan, 58.17; 2. Shaun Li, Ridgefield, 1:00.37; 3. Matthew Gentil, Hand, 1:00.58; 4. Kuba Latawiec, Newington, 1:01.17; 5. Adam Liu, Amity, 1:01.23; 6. Aaron Park, South Windsor, 1:02.11.
400-yard freestyle relay: 1. New Canaan (George Wang, Eric Huang, Jack Haley, Deacon Mascarinas), 3:10.21; 2. Ridgefield (Jack Clancy, William Trotman, Derek Yin, Marko Katra), 3:12.20; 3. Fairfield Prep (Evan Vanvelzor, Oskar Sulkowski, Rohan Thung, Owen Tharrington), 3:15.81; 4. Hall (Jack Ackerman, Dominic Roussos, Thomas Le, Cyrus Xu), 3:19.23; 5. South Windsor (Isaac Gonzalez, Gregory Bouvier Kratz, Ryan Nguyen, Brian Garvery), 3:20.73; 6. Hand (Adam Signorello, Justin Li, Brandon Beaudoin, Matthew Gentil), 3:24.31.