Hills' DeBlasio strong in 200 IM prelims

Half Hollow Hills' Matt DeBlasio, who won the 200-yard individual medley at the state championships in 2010, is on the verge of a state Federation title Saturday after he placed at the top of the final heat in preliminaries Friday night at Nassau Aquatic Center. The preliminary round sets which lanes the swimmers will take Saturday.

DeBlasio's time of 1:51.43 is nearly two seconds better than his closest competitor. He also placed first in the 100 backstroke (50.95) at prelims.

Nassau vs. Suffolk rears its head in the 100 butterfly as Patchogue-Medford's Everett Vazquez, who placed second in the event last year, took the top prelim time with a 50.82. On his heels is Great Neck South's Sam Mo, who clocked 50.90.

St. Anthony's 200 medley relay finished third (1:36.32) and Islip's Matthew Goetz was third in the 100 breaststroke (57.62), just 0.28 seconds off the top time.

The final three rounds of diving begin at 10 a.m. Saturday, followed at noon by the swimming finals.