The boys and girls swimming and diving teams were separated for meets this past second week of competition. On Tuesday, the girls swam against Bedford at home, and the boys were away against Boston Latin. On Friday, the girls were home again against Arlington, and the boys were away against Acton-Boxboro.

“It was definitely an unusual week with the boys being away and the girls being home, as well as splitting the coaching staff between meets,” said Wayland coach Keith Meliones. “But it gave the girls the opportunity to focus on just the girls.”

At the Wayland Town Pool on Wednesday, the Warrior girls started strong against Bedford by coming in first and second in the medley relay. Junior Emily Downs and freshman Kristina Barakov swam strong in the 200-yard freestyle, Downs just getting out touched for first place.

In the 50-yard freestyle, senior captain Emily Wright led the underclassmen sprinters to personal bests, including freshman Pippa Edwards who is improving steadily. The girls won 63-37.

“Once we got through the unfamiliarity we were able to have successful meets,” explained Meliones.

For the boys, their meet against Boston Latin started well with senior captain Bobby Dresser, juniors Michael Ren and Ian Stack, and senior Andy Gusev dominating the medley relay, winning by more than six seconds.

From there, Wayland used the momentum to finish first, second, and third in the 200-yard freestyle where freshman Matt Devlin improved his time. In the back half of the meet, junior Graham Mellen also showed improvement in his 100-yard breaststroke. The boys won 84-81.

On Friday, the back half of the meet showed improvement too, starting with Wayland girls diving senior captain Whitney Fletcher, and sophomores Carolyn Jones and Courtney Owens.

In the 100-yard butterfly, freshman Meghan Pierce flew to make the state cut, and sophomore Erin Curtin dropped three seconds from a week earlier this season. Freshman Allie Wuerfl showed determination in her steady improvement in the 100-yard freestyle, and freshman Isabel Swartz showed her endurance in the 500-free after swimming the 200-yard freestyle earlier in the meet.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Wayland won first with the “Emily” relay team. “The Emily relay had a great race,” laughed Meliones. “Emily Wright, Emily Nuss, Emily Downs, and Emily Huber, our first ever.”

Breaststrokers Val Eisenson, Ellen Barber, and captain Susan Cunningham finished the meet showing improvement individually. The girls beat Arlington 46 to 43.

At Acton-Boxboro on Friday, the Wayland Warrior boys dominated over the very young Arlington Colonials. The 100-yard butterfly pushed Wayland ahead with improvements from Stack, Dresser, and sophomore Mark Crisafulli.

The 500-yard freestyle event was a battle, and freshman Mark Karlson came in third for the Warriors. Junior Patrick Curtin, and senior Dan Crisfulli also improved in the event.

In the backstroke, freshmen Sasha Parfenov and Rory McHarg swam well, improving on their times. The boys beat Acton-Boxboro 91-86.

The Warriors reunited as whole over winter break to swim away against long-time rival, Weston.

“[Weston] is always a highlight of the year; it is always a close meet. We look forward to seeing alumni from Wayland and even Weston alumni that we have known over the years who come to the meet,” explained Meliones. “It will be hard to capture the excitement from last year, of winning both the boys and the girls in our home pool, but I think it will still be a battle this season.”