Naugy takes final strokes

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Naugatuck’s Marcus Cruz (pictured) along with John Dean, Mitchell Santos, Adam Branco finished 10th in the 200-yard medley relay at the Class L state championships. –RA ARCHIVE
Naugatuck’s Marcus Cruz (pictured) along with John Dean, Mitchell Santos and Adam Branco finished 10th in the 200-yard medley relay at the Class L state championships. –RA ARCHIVE

NAUGATUCK — Naugatuck boys swim season wrapped up at the Class L state championships last week.

The ‘Hounds had a total of five swimmers who qualified for the finals in five different events. In addition, Naugy had numerous swimmers invited to the states with a chance to compete.

“This competition starts at our league championship meet and how many guys can you get to the states,” Naugy head coach Jim McKee said.

John Dean qualified for the finals in three events, including the 200-yard medley relay with Mitchell Santos, Adam Branco and Marcus Cruz. The team finished 10th overall in 1 minute, 46.75 seconds.

Dean also finished 24th in the 50 freestyle in 23.80 seconds, and competed in another relay, the 400 free. He joined Jake Morrissey, who had an impressive split of 54.4 seconds, along with Cruz and Vinny Thoren to finish 10th overall in 3:35.21.

Santos took 16th in the 100 backstroke in 1:00.53 and Branco finished 22nd in the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.22.

Naugy finished 17th as a team with 83 points. Pomperaug won the meet with 818.5 points.

Beyond the finals results, McKee was pleased with many performances of swimmers who did not make the finals round.

Freshman Evan Bomberry shaved 2 seconds off his seed time in the 200 free and beat his lifetime-best time set at the NVLs. Junior Mike Lauer, and Thoren, a senior, both narrowly missed their best times in the event.

Bomberry also dropped 2 seconds in the 500 free, while Lauer also saw his time fall in the event.

McKee said Dean tried the 100 back at an invitational meet at Pomperaug after the NVLs. Dean liked it so much that he asked his coach to try it at the states and nearly qualified for the finals in 1:02.74.

“It’s amazing what he has accomplished,” McKee said of Dean.

Freshman Omari Solomon finished right behind Dean in the 100 back for his second-best time ever.

In the breaststroke, exchange student Osmund Tingstad impressed with a time of 1:10.32. McKee said Tingstad missed time during the season and still put up a time that would have been among the top at the NVL finals.

“All in all, it was a good end to a good season,” McKee said.