Skaneateles swimmer Reid Swartz will represent his school later this month in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet at Erie Community College in Buffalo.
Swartz, a junior, earned his spot by nearly winning the 100-yard backstroke during last Thursday’s Section III Class A championship meet at Nottingham High School – and also excelling in the 200-yard freestyle.
With a time of 54.86 seconds in the 100 backstroke, Swartz qualified for the state meet and finished second, beating everyone except West Genesee star Pat O’Donnell, who won in 51.77 seconds.
Two days later, in the overall sectional finals, Swartz worked his way to fifth place in the 200 freestyle – and his time of 1:47.23 also was good enough to reach the state meet in that event.
With just three swimmers (Swarts, Matt Leverich and Brian Stokes-Cawley), Skaneateles finished 12th in the sectional team standings with 71 points, ahead of full squads from, among other places, Cicero-North Syracuse, Weedsport and Rome Free Academy.
During the season, this trio competes with Auburn, but their races and times do not count in team meets. Had they done so in the sectional meet, the Maroons (who were third with 214 points) would have challenged West Genesee for the top spot.
Leverich, worked his way to fifth place in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:48.77, just missing the state qualification mark.
Leverich also was eighth in the 100-yard freestyle in 50.65 seconds, just behind Stokes-Cawley, who was sixth in 50.46 seconds.
In the overall sectional finals on Saturday, Swartz again placed second in the 100 backstroke, improving to 54.16 seconds though O’Donnell still won. Leverich was sixth in the 200 freestyle in 1:48.84, just below his time from Thursday, as Stokes-Cawley got sixth in the 100 freestyle in 50.01 seconds.
