All sorts of tests awaited the Skaneateles girls swim team in the wake of its season-opening victory over Holland Patent on Sept. 8.
Going to Mexico last Tuesday night, the Lakers found some success, but not enough of it to prevent a 101-83 defeat to the Tigers. In fact, Skaneateles prevailed just once in an early race besides Gabriella Capozza edging Kyra Cottrill, 189.10 points to 183.05, in the diving competition.
Lily Buchholz took the 200-yard freestyle in two minutes, 4.13 seconds, edging Mexico’s Carolyn Zedack (2:04.23) by one-tenth of a second. Buchholz would also swim the 500 freestyle in 5:34.79 to finish second behind Zedack, who got even by winning in 5:31.20.
Gabriella Capozza swam the 50 freestyle in 29.74 seconds, runner-up to the Tigers’ Sydney Lawton (28.14 seconds), while Grace King went 1:07.15 in the 100 butterfly to take second place behind Alexa Van Holtz’s 1:03.99.
A close 200 freestyle relay saw the Lakers’ quartet of King, Capozza, Spaulding and Buchholz post a time of 1:50.98, less than a second behind Mexico’s team of Zedack, Lawton, Jessie Faulkner and Abigail Hinman, who won in 1:50.37. Faulkner, on her own, won the 200 individual medley (2:28.98) and 100 breaststroke (1:16.04) as Van Holtz won the 100 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
Now the Lakers returned home to the Community Center pool to face Baldwinsville, who was off to an 0-2 start. And Skaneateles would not make things easier as King and Buchholz helped spur a 103-70 victory over the Bees.
King got going in the 200 freestyle when she posted 2:13.35 to hold off B’ville’s Clare Burke (2:13.67) at the wall. Then King broke the six-minute mark in the 500 freestyle, prevailing in 5:58.58.
As for Buchholz, she swam the 50 freestyle in 26.50 seconds as Capozza was second in 29.35 seconds before tearing through the 100 freestyle in 57.58 seconds. Anna Kissel was victorious in the 100 breaststroke in 1:32.07 as Cottrill posted 1:18.34 in the 100 backstroke.
Spaulding won the diving competition with 157.25 points to edge Carlee Pitman (153.00 points) and then was second in the 100 butterfly in 1:12.21 after she helped Cottrill, Capozza and Ava Prochna win the 200 medley relay in 2:15.54.
Having improved to 2-1 on the season, Skaneateles faces Syracuse City on Tuesday at the Nottingham High School pool.
