By JOHNNY PEPPO

Sports Editor

The Willowdale Country Club squad took a narrow victory as a team this past Monday at home, with clutch swimming in the final events to sneak ahead of the Jewish Community Center by a score of 491-462.

Willowdale got off to a bit of a slow start in the River Parishes Swim League match-up, falling behind after the opening races and using a string of first place finishes to even things back out. After placing 1-2-3 in the boys 8 and under freestyle, they managed only two more first place finishes in the event and went into the backstroke trailing, but close in the meet.

In the second event, Willowdale took four first places and seven seconds to make it a contest. A good start in the butterfly saw three consecutive first place finishes, including a sweep of the girls 9-10 year old age group, to give the Gators an edge. A push in the final races of the evening got Willowdale some second and third place finishes to secure their win by the final of 491-462.

Highlights of the meet include the performances of Cameron Freman, Michael Bell, Leah Wilson, Blaise Wise, Sheydon Botheras and Sean-Michael Morgan. Freman took first place in the boys 11-12 freestyle, backstroke and breaststroke. Bell got first in the boys 13-14 backstroke, and second in the butterfly. Wilson placed first in the girls 8 and under butterfly and freestyle while getting second in the breaststroke. Wise took first in all three of his events while Sheldon, Botheras and Morgan combined for three firsts, four seconds and a third.