On the boys side, four local schools will send swimmers to the MIAA Division 2 Swimming and Diving Championships, slated for Sunday at Boston University. The meet will begin at 6:45 p.m.
Fresh off its third-place finish at Western Mass., Belchertown qualified the most swimmers with seven competitors slated to be in action. That contingent is lead by Mitchell Dubey, who could walk away with two individual state titles. Dubey is ranked first in both the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.42) and 500 free (4:32.94); he’s 4.5 seconds ahead of the No. 2 seed in the 200 and a full 11 seconds ahead of the next fastest swimmer in the 500.
Also hoping to bring home some hardware for the Orioles is Luke Giguere, who’s the No. 1 seed in the 100 backstroke (51.99) by nearly two full seconds, and the No. 2 seed in the 100 butterfly (51.19).
Senior Evan Harrington is in the top five swimmers in both of his events, ranked No. 4 in the 200 free (1:47.73) and No. 5 in the 500 free (4:57.24).
In addition to their three individual qualifiers, the Orioles will also race all three of their relay teams. Their 200 medley relay (1:41.13) and 400 free relay (3:17.53) are both ranked No. 2. Their 200 free relay qualifying time is 1:37.10.
The 200 free relay could be a setup for some local bragging rights. The Belchertown team is less than a second behind Amherst’s 200 free relay squad, which qualified in 1:36.56 and will swim in the adjacent lane in that event. The Hurricanes also brought all three of their relay teams, with their 200 medley team (1:45.91) ranked No. 7 and their 400 free relay squad (3:37.45) sitting in the No. 10 spot.
In addition to their relays, Amherst qualified four swimmers in a number of individual events. Samuel Kennedy will compete in both the 100 butterfly (57.03) and 100 backstroke (56.84), Callum McDonald will race in the 200 IM (2:06.38) and the 500 free (5:10.34), Jacob Laney will swim in the 200 free (1:55.48) and 500 free (5:18.63) and Eric Liam will represent the Hurricanes in the 50 free (23.72).
Northampton sophomore Jack Mattison-Gulotta will compete in two individual events on Sunday, swimming in both the 200 free (1:53.83) and the 500 free (5:06.98); Mattison-Gulotta is the No. 10 seed in the 500 free event. The Blue Devils also qualified their 200 medley relay with a time of 1:51.77.
Tyler Hetu rounds out the local competitors as the lone representative from Easthampton. In just his first year of diving, Hetu has earned the No. 7 seed in the 1 meter diving event with a qualifying score of 236.00.