By John Shimer
Jeff Cook may not be a household name in many high school athletic circles because he doesn’t play one of the major sports – football, hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, or even golf.
But like no other athlete at Lynnfield High School, the junior has completely dominated sport smashing school record after school record – many of which were his own already.
This past weekend at All-States, Cook had his coming out party placing second in the state in the 200 meter freestyle (1:46:54) where he was originally seeded 11th, and placing fifth in the 100 meter freestyle (49.04) where he was originally seeded eighth. And yes, both were new school records. Cooke also broke the school record in the 50 meter freestyle in his leg of the 50 freestyle relay with a time of 0:22.93.
Wanting to keep his swimmer fresh, Lynnfield coach Jeff Boyd held Cook out of the first relay event of the meet.
“I didn’t put him in the first relay of the meet as we usually do because I wanted him to have a shot at one of the top spots in the individual events,” Boyd said. “He got to go into every event totally fresh for the absolute first time all year.”
The move paid off big time as Cook ruined many swimmers’ day by dropping more time (4 seconds) than even his coach could imagine.
Cook’s performance in the 200 was especially eye-opening because he was not even in the final heat where all the best swimmers race. Instead, he swam in the second to last heat beating his nearest competitor by two body lengths before waiting to see what the final heat would produce. In fact only one senior would beat his time.
“Jeff is so talented that he very rarely surprises me, or even himself, but when 1:46 came up on the board, we both couldn’t believe it,” explained Boyd, who added Cook’s three new school records also qualify him to go nationals in Florida in April to swim against the best in the country.
“Somehow he dropped four seconds and jumped nine spots to take second in the state.
“Jeff actually wanted me to move him out of the 200 and into the 50, but I really had a feeling he’d do better in the 200,” Boyd said. “Needless to say, he delivered and put forth the single greatest performance this team has ever had.”
And the most exciting prospect, Cook has another year in high school returning most likely as one of the top swimmers in the state.
Goodwin and Knox impress
Both Lynnfield track stars Meghan Goodwin (300 meters, 42.6) and Steve Knox (shot put, personal best 46-4.25) delivered great performances once again in the final indoor track meet – the All-States at the Reggie Lewis Center.
Goodwin, who was just a shade off her best time of 42.4, finished 12th in the state in the 300 meters with a time that was very consistent with what she had run all season.
“Meghan had to try to weave into lane two and that cost her a little bit of time,” said Lynnfield track coach Mike Mischo.
“Weaving wide and trying to pass someone in the final straight away just cost her too much time.
“But Meghan just runs her heart out,” Mischo praised. “We knew Meghan was one of the top 20 300 meter kids in the state and I would find it hard to believe there is more than a handful of kids that work harder than she does. She’s constantly working in the gym and she takes tremendous care of herself with her diet and sleep.”
With a little more wiggle room to improve Knox, who was throwing close to 50 feet in warm-ups, had a couple of textbook spin throws to hit his longest throw of his career and earn 17th place in the state.
“Steve was a little more of a surprise,” Mischo admitted. “He sometimes has the tendency to release too fast, which will effect the length of the throw. But on a couple of occasions he was picture perfect hitting his longest throw of the year.
“It was nice to see Steve bang off that throw and nice to see him smile,” continued Mischo, who said both Knox and Goodwin have been extremely coachable their entire careers.
“He concentrates a lot and stays to himself, but when they announced that throw he knew he had his best throw and he was just elated.”
Taylor and Curran
meet the best
For Pioneer senior wrestlers Trent Taylor (140, 0-2) and Matt Curran (160, 0-2) their last chance to make a little noise on the Massachusetts wrestling scene ended quietly as both wrestlers were pinned in their matches against the best in the state in the double-elimination format.
Despite the quick exits at All-States, each wrestler had a terrific senior season. Taylor went 15-7 in dual meets, placed in all six tournaments throughout the regular season, and had a overall mark of 34-16 this season to bring his career total up to 66-36. Curran was even better going 18-1 in dual meets, also placing in all six tournaments this winter, and a fabulous 37-9 senior season record to bring his career record to 74-47.
“The All-States tournament is loaded with talent and just to be there and qualify to be there is a credit to each of them,” Lynnfield wrestling coach Craig Stone said.
“This was a great class of eight seniors, including those two. It was a banner year and we were so successful because of their leadership.”
