Led by Madison Sestak and Madeline Murphy, the Liverpool girls swim team won a tightly-fought CNY Counties League opener Thursday night, beating Fayetteville-Manlius 93-90.
As in years past, the Hornets schedule home meets at Nottingham High School, giving the Warriors a chance to compete in the same pool where the Section III championships are decided in early November.
Sestak took full advantage. First, she teamed with Madison Hall, Jessica Hebblethwaite and Olivia Corlett to win the opening 200 medley relay in a time of 2:05.08.
On her own, Sestak beat the field in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.07 and, in the 100 breaststroke, earned another victory in 1:15.53. She also found time to help Murphy, Renee Stromski and Madison VanSlyke claim the 200 freestyle relay in 1:50.44.
Murphy first struck in the 200 individual medley, battling to first place in 2:29.13, and followed that up with a top time of 57.20 seconds to win the 100 freestyle.
Hall needed 27.34 seconds to win the 50 freestyle as Corlett claimed the 100 backstroke in 1:09.73. Kelsey Austin was first in the diving competition. F-M’s Katie Pechacek led her side with wins in the 200 and 500 freestyle.
As this went on, Cicero-North Syracuse opened its season against Auburn, falling to the Maroons 92-78 at the LeMoyne College pool, where the Northstars conduct home meets.
Kim Norris, on her own, prevailed in the 100 backstroke (1:09.38), and helped the Northstars win the 200 medley relay, too. Breanna Ruffrage, Nicole Blidy, Stacey Radder and Nisha Sposato teamed up to claim the 200 freestyle relay in 1:56.67.
CNS visits New Hartford Tuesday and takes on Oswego next Thursday in the LeMoyne pool. In between these events, Liverpool goes to Auburn on Wednesday night.
