SPRINGFIELD — Mitchell Dubey ensured a memorial trip to his only West/Central championship swim meet.
The Belchertown senior, competing for the high school for the first time in his career, secured two individual titles and helped the Orioles win the 200-yard medley relay for his third Sunday at Springfield College’s Art Linkletter Natatorium.
“I kind of expected to place very well, but to actually see it happen, it’s super exciting,” Dubey said.
He planned to join the Orioles his freshman year but wanted to put himself in front of more college coaches and opted for a strictly club schedule. Now that he’s committed to Navy, it made sense to participate in the high school season in a lower-pressure environment with his friends.
“This year, I felt like it was my part to do it,” Dubey said.
He won the 200 and 500 freestyle races.
“The 200 is more interesting to swim. I enjoy the 500. I like the longer distances better,” Dubey said. He swims the 1,000 for his club team, Bluefish Swim Club, and called it his perfect distance.
Dubey didn’t want any of his 10 50s to be slower than 27.2 seconds and told his counter Luke Giguere — also a double event winner — to shake the counting board to keep him at that pace. He tired midway through but still broke Belchertown’s school record at 4 minutes, 33.78 seconds. Nathan Dragon held the previous mark, set in 2020 (4:41.53).
“I couldn’t hold it anymore,” Dubey said.
That was still more than 23 seconds clear of the field. His teammate Evan Harrington placed second (4:57.24).
They went 1-2 in the 200 as well. Dubey hit the wall first in 1:41.42, while Harrington finished in 1:47.73.
Both contributed to Belchertown’s medley victory. The Orioles out-touched top-seeded Westfield, who beat them in their earlier dual, by .27 seconds. Giguere, Dubey, Derek Gould and Harrington clocked a 1:41.13.
“All of us being accountable for training and really just working on our own legs of the relay really just put it together,” Dubey said. “Because when we worked individually to better our parts, we could come together as a team and really made it happen.”
Giguere also brought home the first sectional titles of his career in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. The sophomore was the top seed in the 100 back and still dropped nearly three seconds from his seed time to win in 51.99 seconds, breaking the school record. It was also set in 2020 by Chris Chumbley (52.16).
In the fly, he was seeded first but surprised himself with a winning time of 51.91.
“I did not expect to go that fast,” Giguere said.
The Orioles couldn’t close the meet quite as strong as they started, when Longmeadow edged them by .49 seconds in the 400 free relay. The Lancers touched in 3:17.04, while Belchertown was second at 3:17.53. Dubey, Harrington, Gould and Giguere composed the legs again.
They’ll get another shot at Longmeadow at the Division 2 state championships in Boston on Feb. 27.
The Orioles placed third as a team with 203 points. Longmeadow won (306). Amherst Regional was fifth (147), Northampton 13th (81), Holyoke tied for 19th (18) and Easthampton placed 21st (17).
The Hurricanes turned in three bronze medal-winning performances.
Callum McDonald took third in the 200 individual medley (2:06.38) and 100 breaststroke (1:04.71). Samuel Kennedy placed third in the 100 back (56.84).
Northampton’s Jack Mattison-Gulotta was fifth in the 500 (5:06.98) and sixth in the 200 free (1:53.83).
Freshman Brady Pijar carried the torch for Holyoke. He was 10th in the 100 back (1:01.06).
Easthampton’s Tyler Heetu followed the gymnastics to diving pipeline and took second for the Eagles, scoring 421.75 points.
The Hampshire Regional student was also part of the Raiders’ Western Mass champion gymnastics squad.
It’s his first year diving. He set the Easthampton school record in his first meet and bettered it Sunday.
“It was pretty smooth for me. I was really happy with it, and I love diving. Once I figured out the logistics, it was a lot of fun,” Hetu said.
It was Easthampton’s best-ever finish in boys diving at the sectional championships.
Saint John’s Joel Picard finished first with a 475.65.
Northampton’s Henry Bayne placed sixth (319.15).
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.