McClelland helps Barrington dethrone Hendricken for RIIL boys swimming championship

PROVIDENCE — Saturday morning saw the end of a dominant Bishop Hendricken run and the start of what members of the Barrington boys swimming team hope will be a new dynasty in Rhode Island.

The 2022 RIIL Boys State Swim Championship Meet was never in doubt for the Barrington Eagles. Inside the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center on the Brown University campus, coach Sandy Gorham’s team looked dominant. The school won the first event and kept a steady lead over Hendricken to capture its first state boys swim championship since 1989, outscoring their rivals, 402-365.

Junior Will McClelland put on a show for Barrington, winning two gold medals, two silver medals and setting two state records.

Photos: Lincoln School swims to a 66-28 win over Portsmouth

“It means everything to us. This has been our goal since I joined the team freshman year,” McClelland said. “Sandy talks about it almost every day, about our goal. Hendricken gave us a run for our money. They’re a fantastic team. They have a history of winning, but we want to put our name on that list. We want to be that team that comes back every year that everybody wants to beat and I think this year we’ve proven that. We have the ability to be that team.”

The Hawks came into this meet with 34 state titles. Their dynastic run has seen them win the last seven titles and 31 of the last 32 championships dating back to 1990. The dominance has left Barrington with seven-straight second-place finishes.

“It’s been a long time, but Hendricken is a great program,” said Gorham. “For us to be able to do it this year —we’ve come close seven years in a row, we've won second. So to be able to get over the hump for the kids is great.”

Barrington was the favorite heading into Saturday morning’s meet. Gorham reminded his swimmers that no one has won a state title on paper, and they needed to perform in the pool. From the first event, you could tell the Eagles were focused, easily winning the 200-yard medley relay. By the fourth event, Barrington led, 151-138, and that trophy was never in doubt — especially with McClelland leading the charge.

The junior set a state record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 20.97, breaking CJ Sheldon’s 21.17 time from 2020. McClelland then won second in the 100-yard butterfly. His next record came as a part of the 200-yard freestyle relay along with Maximillian LaRoche, Lucas Jauregui and Alex McClelland, his brother. Barrington’s time of 1:27.75 beat the 2018 record set by Barrington (1:28.46).

The McClelland family had three boys on this state title team with Will, sophomore Alex and freshman Ben.

“Swimming was my mom’s thing. Football was my dad’s thing,” Will McClelland said. “(My brothers are) football players. I’m a swimmer. This is like a family and they want to come here and be a part of it and help us take home the trophy. It’s really special. I hope I can get them to do it again next year and maybe get all three of us on (the relay). I’ve got another little brother coming up from middle school. It would be pretty great to have four McClelland’s on a relay.”

In the final event, McClelland added his fourth medal with Barrington coming in second in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

“It feels good. We put in the work,” McClelland said. “All we could do is listen to Sandy. Sandy, he says it’s our award, it’s his. We’ve got football players on this team, basketball players. We have year-round swimmers like myself, but I don’t think many people in this world could make it work, but Sandy has a fun way of doing it every single day.”

Hendricken was led by junior Nick Andrews, who took home three golds — in the 200 free, 100 free and 400 free relay. Bryan Zapata, of Blackstone Valley Prep, won two golds in the 100 back and 200 IM.

TEAM RESULTS

1, Barrington, 402; 2, Bishop Hendricken, 365; 3, Wheeler, 139; 4. South County co-op, 136; 5, Cumberland, 133; 6, North Kingston, 121; 7, Moses Brown, 118; 8, Lincoln, 102; 9, South Kingstown, 87; 10, LaSalle, 77.

INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

200 medley relay – 1, Barrington (Lane Kellan, Maximillian LaRoche, Lucas Jauregui and Alex McClelland), 1:37.65; 2, Hendricken; 3, South County co-op.

200 free – 1, Nick Andrews, Hendricken, 1:43.73; 2, Tyler Lutz, Lincoln; 3, Zach O’Connor, Barrington.

200 IM – 1, Bryan Zapata, Blackstone Valley, 1:56.26; 2, Jordan Mowad, Moses Brown; 3, Tim Andrews, Hendricken.

50 free – 1, Will McClelland, Barrington, 20.97; 2, Drew Jalbert, South County; 3, Lucas Jauregui, Barrington.

100 butterfly – 1, Drew Jalbert, South County, 49.26; 2, Will McClelland, Barrington; 3, Tim Andrews, Hendricken.

100 free – 1, Nick Andrews, Hendricken, 46.52; 2, Kellan Lane, Barrington; 3, Alex Walsh, Hendricken.

500 free – 1, Jordan Mowad, Moses Brown, 4:38.68; 2, Tyler Lutz, Lincoln, 3, Mateo Smith, Wheeler.

200 free relay – 1, Barrington (Alex McClelland, Maximillian LaRoche, Lucas Jauregui and Will McClelland), 1:27.75; 2, Hendricken; 3, South County.

100 back – 1, Bryan Zapata, Blackstone Valley, 51.22; 2, Zachary Szabo, North Kingston; 3, Matt Walden, Hendricken.

100 breaststroke – 1, Maximillian LaRoche, Barrington, 58.40; 2, George Groves, Classical; 3, Owen Bradner, Classical.

400 free relay – 1, Hendricken (Jordan Tristan, Matt Walden, Tim Andrews, Nick Andrews), 3:13.79, 2, Barrington; 3, Moses Brown.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Barrington boys sink Bishop Hendricken to win swimming state title