Bonac Swim Team Closes Out the Season at Counties

The East Hampton/Pierson boys swim team competed at the Section XI Swimming Championships on Saturday at Stony Brook University, where it posted 15 new personal bests out of a possible 18. Those efforts led to an eighth-place finish out of 19 schools.

East Hampton junior Liam Knight led the Bonackers by scoring 16 points in his individual events and 30 points as part of relay. He was the team’s highest place finisher, placing fourth in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:47.33. Knight will be the lone Bonacker representing the team in that event at the New York State Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be March 7 and 8 at Ithaca College. Knight earned his state qualifying time at the League II Championships.

Pierson sophomore Ben Kriegsman dropped the largest combined time in his events, subtracting 11.2 seconds from his three races. That led to him being named Swimmer of the Meet by team captains.

“Ben had a breakout meet with massive time drops that were a big inspiration to the team,” head coach Craig Brierley said. “Ben had been dealing with illness for a portion of the season, and it took his body some time to recover. And wow, did it recover in time for him to perform.

“It was a very exciting way to close out the season and carry into the next,” he added.

Fellow Pierson sophomore Nick Chavez continued his barrage on his times after his multitime drops from last week’s league meet, he went best times in two of his three races and contributed 43 individual/relay points to the team. East Hampton junior Zeb Ryan and Pierson junior Dylan Knapik had best times in all three of their events and East Hampton freshman Jasper Samuelson went a best in his leg of the 200-yard freestyle relay. In the final event of the meet, and closing out his varsity swim career, East Hampton senior co-captain Cristian Sigua dropped 4 seconds in his leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“The boys rose to the high standards that the previous teams established; they showed all the skills and characteristics they have been developing over the course of the season, and over the years, with a fantastic display of what makes our team special each year,” Brierley said. “We want the boys to look into a mirror and say ‘I did that!’ And that is something we are all proud of!”

Brierley thanked family and friends who came out to support the team in Stony Brook on Saturday, and the teammates who also made the trip. That included co-captain Jack Ziemer, Ise Haney, Luca Borghi, and Oliver Cappola.

“As our season comes to a close, the coaches want to thank all of the student-athletes that chose to be a part of our family this year,” he said. “Thank you to our seniors and captains, Cristian Sigua and Jack Ziemer, who showed positive, respectful and encouraging leadership that the team benefited greatly from. It is special, as coaches, to observe and be a part of the growth the boys show throughout each season. This was another season where a group of wonderful boys grew into a family and held up the standards left from previous years.”