Melrose earns medals at ML meet to finish season
Published July 2, 2021
By JENNIFER GENTILE
MELROSE—The Melrose High boy’s varsity swim team finished their season off on the right note: with a strong showing at the 2021 Middlesex League Meet held virtually on June 13 at the Melrose YMCA pool.
Melrose placed fifth overall with 196 points, ahead of rivals Winchester and Burlington, thanks to the hard work of their varsity squad. Melrose cracked the top six to medal several times during the meet and saw junior Andrew DiFiore earn two 3rd place finishes in the 50 and 100 yard free to earn him a Middlesex League All Star nod.
“Overall I’m am proud of how the boys swam. It’s not easy having to save yourself all season but they did a great job knowing their best times and working to beat that,” says Melrose head coach Alex Pennachio.
Competing for Melrose were Damian Am, Will Burke, Ethan Cesar, Andrew DiFiore, Nick Dulling, Luke Hoffman, Nickolai Mohan, Anderson Phan, Nick Sasso, Ian Smith and Ben Terentiyev.
Melrose started the meet off in the 200 medley relay and had a solid 5th place finish from the work of Will Burke, Luke Hoffman, Nico Mohan and Anderson Phan. Melrose’s Nick Sasso and Nick Dulling competed in the 200 free and freshman find Ben Terentiyev had a great 6th place finish in the 200 IM, an event that Anderson Phan also competed in.
Andrew DiFiore medaled in the 50 free with a great time of 22.78 and a third place finish. Teammate Damian Am also joined him in the event. Melrose was well represented in the 100 fly with Will Burke and Ian Smith competing with solid times. And DiFiore struck again in the 100 free with a third place time of 51.62. Also competing in the event were Damian Am and Nick Dulling. Melrose junior Nick Sasso had a great 500 free swim, placing fifth with a time of 6:36.24. Teammate Ethan Cesar joined him in the race and finished 11th.
Melrose earned another medal in the 200 freestyle relay behind the team of DiFiore, Sasso, Ian Smith and Ben Terentiyev. Terentiyev made a big impression in the 100 breaststroke, medaling in 4th with a time of 1:07.13. Teammates Ian Smith and Anderson Phan also had solid times of 1:22 and 1:26 in the race, respectively. Melrose also had plenty of representation in the 100 back thanks to Will Burke, Nico Mohan and Luke Hoffman.
For their finale, Melrose called to the pool Andrew DiFiore, Nick Dulling, Nick Sasson and Ben Terentiyev in the 400 free and enjoyed a great 5th place finish.
After such a solid showing, coach Alex Pennachio could not be more pleased, especially for his departing seniors: Will Burke, Ethan Cesar, Nick Dulling, Adam Drafts Johnson, Luke Hoffman and Anderson Phan. Phan has been the lone swimmer on the team since freshman year. Says the coach, “I’m proud of our seniors, especially Anderson Phan, the only swimmer who has been on the team for four years. He really stepped up this year to make sure team traditions didn’t die.”
After wrapping up this most unusual spring season, Melrose will return to winter swim next December.
