Unfinished business

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Naugatuck High boys swim captains, from left, Omari Solomon, P.J. Morrissey, Evan Bombery and Robert Spino will lead the Greyhounds this season. –KEN MORSE

NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck boys swim team comes into the season with a score to settle.

Last year, the Greyhounds finished as NVL runner-up to league champion Holy Cross. That is the closest Naugy has come to a league title since winning four in row from 2007 to 2010.

Naugatuck has a stable of top line swimmers returning to finish what they started.

Senior Evan Bombery finished second in the NVL in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle. Senior Omari Solomon took second at the NVL championship in the 100 backstroke. Junior Brian Goggin placed third at the NVL championship in the 200 freestyle. All three etched their names in school history last year by posting top ten best times.

The 400 freestyle relay squad of Solomon, Bombery, Brian Goggin and senior P.J. Morrissey won the NVL championship and went on to place fourth in the Class L meet.

Needless to say, Naugy comes into the season loaded.

“In the past ten years we’ve had a lot of big teams,” Naugatuck head coach Jim McKee said. “This year we are literally four deep in every event. We graduated maybe six guys who gave us consistent points and three of them were two-event swimmers.

“We have without a doubt the strongest team we’ve had since 2011. I think we will be deeper and stronger than that team. I got three guys deep in every event who will be in the league championship and that’s in the top eight not the top 12.”

The experience and the desire to compete for an NVL title runs throughout the Greyhounds’ lineup with competitors like seniors Graden Beasley, Ben Rossi, David Ruela, Robert Spino, Brandon Thomas, Matt Goggin and Matt Triscritti.

“I don’t mind saying it because if we win the NVL we won’t accidentally win,” McKee said. “The question is do we have a shot. And I think we have the best shot. We have to make up some distance in our diving.”

Naugatuck has a stable diving factor in senior diver Eric Cruz, but will need to add a few more point scorers.

“If you go into a season with nothing to prove then shame on you,” McKee added. “You need to prove yourself every time you get in the pool. The coach needs to prove it every time. You can’t look at what you did last year. You compete in the present. Can you do it again now? That’s what matters. The guys who never swam before competitively who work hard and come along as the season goes along, those are the guys who will make the difference.”

Naugy saw that play out last season with the development of guys like sophomore Dale Wakeley. This year’s team is still going through the evaluation stage as to who is ready to take that leap, but with what the Greyhounds have returning they will be the favorites going in. Only time will tell if they can uphold that expectation.

The Greyhounds will start the season on Dec. 20 when they host Kennedy.