A bevy of local swimmers and divers made a splash at the MIAA Division 2 Boys Swimming & Diving Championships on Sunday morning at MIT in Cambridge, highlighted by two top-three finishes by Belchertown’s Luke Giguere. 

Giguere swam away with a runner-up and third place finish in his individual events. Giguere finished second in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.38 seconds, just two one-hundredths of a second behind first place Tim Johnson of Nauset.

He also placed third in the 100 butterfly, touching the wall in 51.25 seconds. 

Easthampton’s Tyler Hetu also earned runner-up honors in the diving competition, finishing with a score of 473.40 points. Northampton’s Tyler Palm came in sixth place with 406.45 points.

Amherst had the top-placing relay team of the day in the 200 IM – the quartet of Samuel Kennedy, Callum McDonald, Eric Lian and Evander Maradiaga placed fifth with a time of 1:42.33. 

The Orioles finished 11th as a team with a final score of 83 points, just two points ahead of Amherst (81) in 12th.

Amherst and Belchertown’s 400 free relays finished just two seconds apart; the Orioles came in eighth with the team of Giguere, Shea, Ryan Gould and Derek Gould (3:27.16) while Amherst’s quartet of McDonald, Maradiaga, Kennedy and Lian placed 10th (3:29.09). The eighth place finish gave Belchertown an eight-point gap to leapfrog the Hurricanes into 11th place in the standings. 

Kennedy also medaled in the 100 backstroke with a sixth place finish (55.69) and placed 11th in the 100 fly (54.94). 

McDonald just made it onto the awards podium in the 200 IM, placing eighth with a time of 2:02.59. He also finished ninth in the 500 free with a time of 4:58.25. 

The Orioles’ 200 free relay team of Ryan Shea, Caleb Perron, Brady Perkins and Derek Gould finished 12th with a time of 1:37.10. 

Lian tied for 18th in the 50 free, touching the wall in 23.54. 

Amherst’s Jacob Laney finished 22nd in the 200 free with a 1:59.07. 

Ryan (57.61) and Derek Gould (57.70) both competed in the 100 fly, placing 22nd and 23rd, respectively. They were followed closely by Amherst’s Maradiaga (24th, 57.71). 

Ryan Gould also swam in the 100 backstroke, where he finished 17th with a 59.32. 

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