Lincoln-Sudbury Boys Swimmers Best in the Dual County League

The Lincoln-Sudbury boys swim team blew away the competition at on Friday, earning the 2011 Dual County League Championship. This is the third win for the L-S boys in DCL history that dates back to 1974.

The L-S boys won eight of the 12 events and earned a total of 427 points.  It was a special night for L-S seniors Ryan Shelley and Tim Storer (captains), Pierre Baize, Sam Gyory and Justin Tse, who are the team's foundation.

The Dual County meet started off with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay by the team of Gyory, Storer, Sam Mackie and Ryan Fleming, with time of 1:39:78. The "B" relay team of twins Dylan and Taylor Brown, Ryan Kenney and Joe Merullo placed eighth with a state qualifying time of 1:51:49.

In the 200 freestyle event, Tse was out-touched for first place by .10 seconds and settled for second with an impressive time of 1:46:00. Bryan Johnson placed fifth in this event with a personal-best time of 1:53:46, followed by freshman Tom Edwards ( 1:54:68). Matt Shelley placed 15th followed by Baize and Alex Smith, who all swam personal-best times. 

The 200 IM delivered a one-two punch by Tim Storer (1:59:63) and Mackie (2:03:51), who came away with first- and second-place medals. Taylor Brown finished in seventh place, taking 4 seconds off his seed time with an impressive finish ( 2:14:67). JK Ruymann came in 16th place and swam a personal-best time.

In the 50-yard freestyle, Fleming took home the gold with a winning time of 22.68. Joe Merullo swam strong to a 14th-place finish (24.36), followed by Ian Carlson (24.71, PB). Shelley swam strong in this event and just behind him was Jack Hurley, who swam a personal-best time. Alex Yamron took a second off his seed time, as did freshman Jack Walker. 

Moments of inspiration and a standing ovation came midway through the meet when the DCL officials honored Waltham swimmer John Causland with a Courage Award. Causland was recognized for his determination in getting back into the pool and swimming after recovering from a near-fatal accident in December 2009. Causland swam in the 200 free relay, 50 free, 100 free races.

Senior Sam Gyory had an impressive showing winning the 100 yard butterfly in 52.82 seconds. Captain Storer placed fourth in the 100 fly ( 55.99) while Kenney placed 16th (1:02:14). Dylan Brown and Yamron both swam their personal best times in this event. 

Tse soared as the leader from start to finish and nailed the 100 freestyle for the second year in a row at DCLs ( 48.56). Edwards swam with power and placed 13th at 53:45. Eddie Hurtig, Carlson, Hurley, Walker and Alex Smith all swam with enthusiasm and effort. 

In the 500 freestyle, Westford Academy took the top two spots and A-B took the third spot, with each participant swimming under 5 minutes. Johnson placed fourth for L-S (5:14:43). Matt Shelley came in 16th, followed by Baize, who took 17 seconds off his seed time. 

The 200 free relay team of Fleming, Edwards, Johnson and Tse won the silver (1:32:44) with the gold going to Weston (1:31:66). The second relay team of Hurtig, Carlson, Matt Shelley and Merullo placed ninth with a respectable time of 1:39:23. 

Gyory crushed the competition in the 100 yard backstroke with an outstanding time of 52.86. Fleming was close behind and backed into a third-finish (58.08). Hurtig swam a personal-best time of 1:01:93, qualifying him for sectionals. Dylan Brown placed 15th and next in was Ruymann. 

The 100 breaststroke race was a nail-biter. Sam Mackie was on the ear of Wayland's star Mike Ren for the whole race. Mackie placed second  (1:01:02) just 0.49 seconds shy of Ren. Taylor Brown, Kenney and Merullo were next in and took 11th, 12th and 15th place, respectively. Anthony Foscolos swam his best swim along with his team.

The final event of the meet was the 400 free relay. The team of Gyory, Storer, Mackie and Tse dominated the lanes from start to finish and won (3:17:64). Coming in seventh was the "B" relay team of Carlson, Hurtig, Edwards and Johnson with a state qualifying time of 3:35:89.

The sectional meet which will take place on Feb. 12 at 9 a.m. at the Aquatics Center at MIT.