Rivals Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse had their annual girls swimming clash last Wednesday night at the LHS pool, and it was in doubt all the way through.
Not until the final relay did the Warriors pull it out, beating the Northstars 96-89, though both sides had plenty of reason to be proud of their respective efforts.
They split the first two relay events. Liverpool’s quartet of Madison Sestak, Ashley Zemotel, Emily Ippolito and Olivia Corlett claimed the 200 medley relay in 2:04.82.
CNS countered in the 200 freestyle relay, where Nicole Blidy, Breanna Ruffrage, Emily Altieri and Kayla Massena prevailed in 1:49.67, edging out the Warriors (1:51.10).
However, in the decisive 400 freestyle relay, Liverpool saw Sestak, Madison Hall, Renee Stromski and Madeline Murphy finish in 3:59.22, comfortably ahead as Altieri, Massena, Kim Morris and Elizabeth Hall gave the Northstars a time of 4:10.72.
Individually, Murphy held off Altieri, 2:06.46 to 2:07.24, in the 200 freestyle, and Murphy went on to win the 500 freestyle in 5:41.92 with Altieri (5:44.28) again in the runner-up spot.
Hall had a top time of 59.25 seconds in the 100 freestyle. Corlett won the 100 backstroke in 1:08.87), beating out Morris (1:10.48), while Liverpool’s Ashley Zemotel handled the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.12.
CNS had its own individual standouts, including Stacey DeCarr, who amassed 210.0 points to easily win the diving competition. Ruffrage, second in the 100 free, emerged to take the 50 freestyle over Hall, 27.02 to 27.25 seconds, while Blidy, third in the 50 free, won the 100 butterfly, edging Sestak, 1:07.27 to 1:07.45.
The Northstars take on Fayetteville-Manlius next Thursday at the Nottingham High School pool, while Liverpool pays a visit to Baldwinsville that same night.
