By Michael Letendre

It was senior night for the boys of the Bristol Central/Bristol Eastern/St. Paul Catholic swimming and diving co-op on Thursday, March 4.

And the Bristol contingent gave its senior core a victory to remember, defeating Southington, 94-93, in a very special event.

“We had twenty-one best times,” said Bristol coach Adrienne Bentley. 

“This was a virtual meet and our senior meet, so there was a lot of energy!”

And there were plenty of first place finishers up and down the line-up.

Mikel Palaj took the top spots in the 200 free and 500 free events while Colton Litwinczyk earned his fastest times in the 200 IM and 100 breast. 

Drew Fries won the 50 free with a personal best time as did standout Gabriel Bartolome in the 100 fly and 100 back races.

The 200 free relay crew of David Kroll, Aidan Collins, Noah Taylor and Palaj were winners while the 200 medley relay squad put itself in the Bristol record book.

“Bartolome, Litwinczyk, Palaj and Fries not only took first place, but also set a new team record in the 200 medley relay,” reported Bentley. “The previous record stood for seven years.”

And there were other best times with Ryleigh Dionne seeing top results in the 200 free and 100 fly. 

Chris Fiorillo finished with a best time in diving as did Aidan Collins in both the 100 free and 100 breast events.  

Konrad Truszkowski ramped up his best time in 500 free, Jacob Wilson followed suit in the 100 breast, Jedric Sutula did the same in the 200 IM while Joseph Niek established his fastest times in the 100 free and 50 free races.