NEWARK — Salesianum won six of the 12 events and used its depth to clinch a third straight boys swimming and diving state championship on Feb. 23 at the University of Delaware. The Sals outpointed runner-up Charter School of Wilmington, 397-273, and have won every title since 1988 except for 1994, 1998, 2005 and 2016. The Sals finished second in each of those seasons.
The night got off to a good start for Sallies, as the team of Tom Janton, Alek Elder, Justin Fitzpatrick and Cameron Marion won the 200-yard medley relay. Brian Hochman kept up the winning ways for the Sals in the next event, the 200-yard freestyle, winning by a margin greater than three seconds.
They did not win the 200-yard individual medley, but with Elder finishing second and Joey Dickson third, plus Brendan Lewis coming in eighth and Zach Humphrey taking the consolation final, the Sals were able to put more distance between themselves and Charter.
Charter regained some ground with a strong performance in the 50 free, but the Sals got back to the winner’s podium in the 100-yard free. Hochman earned his second individual title of the afternoon. Their next victory came in the 200 free relay, whose members included Marion, Dickson, Fitzpatrick and Hochman. Charter placed second. Elder won the blue ribbon in the 100-yard backstroke, and three other Sals scored in that event, including Janton, who finished fourth.
Salesianum’s sixth victory came in the day’s final event, the 400 free relay. Janton, Dickson, Elder and Hochman returned to the podium for that event as well.
Archmere completed its season with an impressive fifth-place showing, and St. Mark’s came in 12th of the 28 teams.
The girls’ meet was held later the same evening, and Padua swam to a second-place finish behind Newark Charter, which won the event for a second straight season. The Patriots got past the Pandas by a score of 284-229.5. Tower Hill came in a close third place with 214 points.
Newark Charter got off to a positive start, winning the first event, the 200-yard medley relay. The Patriots would win three other events and be in contention in most others. Padua had several strong showings, led by a second-place finish in the 200-yard free relay, and third place in the 400 free relay and also in the 100-yard butterfly by Emily Murphy.
Ursuline’s Mackenzie Brandt was the only individual event winner from a Catholic school. The freshman swam to victory in the 500-yard freestyle, defeating her closest challenger by nearly 11 seconds. Brandt also took second in the 200 free. The Raiders finished seventh overall. St. Mark’s came in 11th.
