Half Hollow Hills continues to breeze past competition
Michael Mattera of Half Hollow Hills competes in the 200-yard individual medley race during the Suffolk County varsity boys' swimming championships and state qualifiers at Suffolk County Community College Grant Campus. (Feb. 16, 2013) Credit: James Escher
Half Hollow Hills boys swimming have been successfully breezing by their competition. They are currently 9-0 and have defeated each team in their league.
On Monday night, they took down league rival Sachem East 92-89.
“My team has already exceeded my expectations for this year,” coach Jason Wiedersum said.
Senior Michael Mattera is one of the top swimmers on the squad. He has already qualified for three events at the state championship meet, including the 200-individual medley, the 100-backstroke and the 400-freestyle relay.
Against Sachem East, Mattera took first in the 100-butterfly in 1:57.78 and first in the 100-breaststroke in 1:09.25.
“He’s a strong swimmer and he’s very versatile,” Wiedersum said.
During the meet, Mattera, Daniel Lee, Justin Chang and James Gordon finished first in the 200-medley relay in 1:40.70, missing the state cut by .02 seconds. Gordon, Chang, Alex Park and Dylan Chan finished first in the 200-freestyle relay in 1:30.38, missing the state cut by .26 seconds.
But Wiedersum has not lost hope for his relays.
“We have three more opportunities to make the cut,” Wiedersum said.
And with a team as strong as Half Hollow Hills, making the cut is doable.
Half Hollow Hills will have a chance to showcase their talent when they compete in the county championships on February 14th and 15th at Suffolk Community College.
“It’s the toughest meet of the year,” Wiedersum said.
At counties, Half Hollow Hills will be competing against both League I and League II teams.
“Counties are a little bit tougher than leagues because we’re competing against teams from League II, and we don’t see many of those meets throughout the year,” Wiedersum said.
But for the undefeated squad, their head coach is looking forward to the future.
“We’re anxious to see what we have in regards to the future and who we can send to states,” Wiedersum said. “I would love to send a couple of middle-schoolers, freshman and sophomores, even if just for the experience.”
Half Hollow Hills will look to continue their streak of perfection on Wednesday, where they will be swimming at home against Lindenhurst.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
Sarra Sounds Off, Ep. 15: LI's top basketball players On the latest episode of "Sarra Sounds Off," Newsday's Gregg Sarra and Matt Lindsay take a look top boys and girls basketball players on Long Island.
