One side may have employed the star power and the ability to rewrite the record books. But the other side had a determined sister tandem, more depth – and ultimately, possession of the Onondaga High School League regular-season title.
Jamesville-DeWitt, led by Kalie and Alden Coyne, put an end to Christian Brothers Academy’s OHSL reign last Tuesday night, prevailing by a score of 103-83 at the Red Rams’ home pool.
Both sides entered the meet with 4-0 league marks, and both had strong foundations to build on, whether it was the Red Rams’ all-around balance or the Brothers’ star power at the top.
CBA took the first two events. Summer Schmitt, Kathryn Coughlin, Maggie Fletcher and Honor Bowman tore through the 200 medley relay in 1:53.28, holding off J-D’s quartet of Molly Hair, Sophia Farchione and the Coyne sisters.
Then, after Annie Fletcher, in 2:11.14, held off the Rams’ Meghan Parker (2:12.07) in a tight 200 freestyle, the Coynes struck, winning a pair of close races to give J-D crucial early points.
Kalie Coyne went first, chasing down Coughlin in the 200 individual medley to take the title in 2:16.25, just 0.20 seconds ahead of Coughlin (2:16.45). Then Alden Coyne, in a classic 50 freestyle, touched the wall in 25.28 seconds to edge out Maggie Fletcher, who was 0.01 seconds behind.
Taylor Cook, already the OHSL diving champion (earned Oct. 12 at Skaneateles), won here, too, with 209.65 points to easily pull away from CBA’s Erin Wind (164.30 points). That helped add to the Rams’ margin.
Now the Coyne sisters returned, Alden dominating the 500 freestyle as, in 5:37.87, she beat Annie Fletcher (5:48.98) by more than 10 seconds. More importantly, Alden and Kalie Coyne helped Hair and Samantha Coombs prevail in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.86, just ahead of CBA’s 1:44.75.
Also, Kalie Coyne swam the 100 butterfly in 1:01.79, which wins most races – but not this one, as Schmitt, in 57.33 seconds, set the J-D pool record. Later in the meet, Coughlin set a second pool mark in the 100 breaststroke, prevailing in 1:07.32 as the Rams’ Hailey Schultz (1:14.17) was second.
Despite this, and despite Schmitt breaking the one-minute mark in the 100 backstroke (59.40 seconds, to be exact) to beat Sophia Farchione’s solid time of 1:03.43, J-D clinched the meet, and the league title, when Farchione, Coombs, Bess Murrad and Marissa Potaminos claimed the 400 freestyle relay in 4:01.81.
The story will continue next week at Nottingham, where the Section III championships will get handed out and berths in the Nov. 16-17 state meet at Ithaca College will be at stake, too.
