By Wendi Reardon Price
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Independence Township — Clarkston Boys Swim and Dive opened the season with a 115-68 win over Brandon High School last Thursday at home.
“They are great friends to us,” said Amber Miller, head coach for the Wolves. “They have let us use their pool and some of our kids used to swim at their club. We like doing that. We like our first meet to be local hometown feel.
“We were excited they were able to come to us this year,” she added. “We were at their pool last year. It gives us an opportunity to assess and see where we are at and get the nerves out. It helps get the nerves out with a friendly meet. Some great competition with some good friends.”
Highlights for the night including returners beating times from last year which included Andrew Musson. Musson finished in 59.73 in the 100-yard butterfly.

“It is a big deal,” said Miller. “It was a lifetime goal for him and he had done that tonight. To do that the first meet out of the gates is a great start.”
She added they have a lot of new athletes on the team.
“We didn’t know what we had yet,” Miller said. “We knew our returning guys and what they were capable of and they showed up and represented.
Scoring points in individual events with their finishes were: in the 50-yard freestyle, Owen Guzal in second place in the time of 24.01; Will Paul, third, 25.97; Charlie Rowe, fourth, 26.94; 100-yard butterfly, Musson, second, 59.73; Leonardo Vezzu, third, 1:06.24; Craig Popiolek, third, 1:11.69; 100-yard freestyle, Owen Guzal, first, 56.66; Paul, second, 1:00.24; Zac Montgomery, fourth, 1:04.79; 100-yard backstroke, Ben Guzal, first, 1:05.67; Jack Smith, second, 1:12.17; 100-yard breaststroke, Montgomery, second, 1:20.61; Rowe, third, 1:20.96; Andrew Craig, fifth, 1:31.70; 200-yard freestyle, Jeffrey Ellingsworth, first, 2:06.31; Smith, fifth, 2:24.44; 200-yard IM, Musson, first, 2:15.59; Ben Guzal, second, 2:32.34; Craig, third, 2:43.54; and 500-yard freestyle, Ellingsworth, first, 5:42.84; Diego Cordoba, fourth, 7:39.27.
“We have some new athletes on the team that really shocked us and did fantastic,” Miller said. “Will in the 100-yard freestyle, he almost beat our top dog Owen just out of sheer force and will power. He has never been on a competitive team before.
“We have some talent we are developing, We are excited to see what we can do with it over the next four months,” Miller continued. “It’s a great way to start the season – see what they can do and give them the taste of what’s possible. We are only a week and a half into the season and we haven’t had much time yet. It’s good to see them looking like they are picking it up.”
The team of Rowe, Musson, Ben Guzal and Owen Guzal finished in first place in the time of 1:52.52 in the 200-yard medley relay. The team of Smith, Montgomery, Popiolek an Leonardo Vezzu finished in third place, 2:03.47.
The team of Paul, Rowe, Vezzu and Ellingsworth finished in second place in the 200-yard freestyle relay in the time of 1:46.60.
The team of Musson, Ellingsworth, Ben Guzal and Owen Guzal finished in first place in the 400-yard freestyle relay in the time of 3:54.96. The team of Cordoba, Craig, Montgomery and Popiolek finished in third, 4:55.51.
For 1-meter diving, Mike George finished in first place with 209.85 points. Lucas Breeden finished in second place with 156.10 points and Jon George, third, 111.30 points. Rockett George finished with 75.90 points.
“Mike is our returning state diver and had a fantastic first night,” said Miller. “Him and his two brothers are diving this year. So we have three brothers and Lucas on the dive squad. It’s fun to watch them. It’s fun to see them out there coaching each other and cheering each other on.”
The Wolves head to Royal Oak this Thursday, 6 p.m.

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