On Wednesday, Feb. 14, the Northampton varsity swimming and diving team traveled to Liberty High School for the last meet of their regular season. In this “sweetheart” of a meet, the boy’s team bested the Liberty Hurricanes, producing a win that put Northampton’s record to a monumental 11 wins and only two losses, but the biggest news was the boys’ first win over Liberty High School in 20 years.

“This is the first time the boys beat Liberty since 2004,” celebrated Northampton head coach Cullen Mentzell. “This was definitely a great regular season for the boys.”

The meet began with second and third-place finishes by the Northampton relay teams in the boys’ 200 medley relay. While not a first-place finish, clinching second and third place scored the team valuable points. The relay team of Josiah Hippert, Ryan Franke, Ethan Brobst, and Logan Saylor took second place and the team of Gabe Gower, Aiden Kuntz, Tobias Scott, and Nick Isaac grabbed third.

Turning to the individual events, Ryan Franke was first to the wall in the boy’s 200 freestyle, Ethan Brobst and Logan Saylor grabbed second and third place points in the boy’s 200 individual medley with Josiah Hibbard and Tobias Scott scoring first and second place honors in the 50 freestyle sprint. As the Northampton divers took center stage, Northampton’s Alex Szeplaki, Andy Szeplaki, and Samuel Hayes clinched first, second, and third place, respectively, in the diving event, and the Northampton boys’ points totals continued to climb.

As the individual events commenced once again, Northampton’s Logan Saylor and Tobias Scott scored points for 3rd and 4th place in the boy’s 100 butterfly. Hippert and Steven Carrasco tallied additional points in the boy’s 100 freestyle with second and 4th place finishes. The boy’s 500 freestyle event saw a Northampton battle for first as teammates Nick Isaac and Ethan Brobst raced for the wall. In the end, it was Isaac with a first-place finish, and Brobst just over a second later, claiming second.

The second boy’s relay event of the evening was the 200 freestyle relay in which Northampton’s Stephen Carrasco, Aiden Kuhns, Nate Scheirer, and Andrew Szeplaki placed second. The last of the individual events saw Ryan Franke with his second first-place win of the night in the 100-yard backstroke and Aiden Kuhns followed closely by teammate Nate Scheirer with second and third-place finishes in the 100 breaststroke event.

The final contest of the night was the boy’s 400 freestyle and a decisive Northampton 1, 2 punch with the relay team of Hippert, Brobst, Saylor, and Franke claiming first, followed closely by the team of Carrasco, Scott, Isaac, and Scheirer in second. The meet ended with a long-time losing streak vs. Liberty broken by the boy’s team score of Northampton 108 and Liberty High School 78.