Named as Section III’s top swimmer in the 2014 season, West Genesee’s Olivia Castro had one more chance to earn top honors when she went to Ithaca College for last weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet.
Castro, a senior, had her best showing in the 100-yard freestyle. During Friday’s qualifying round, Castro turned in a time of 53.16 seconds, putting her in eighth place, just ahead of Jamesville-DeWitt’s Alden Coyne (53.22 seconds) and advancing to the finals, with Pittsford’s Katie Smith (51.11 seconds) the top qualifier.
Then Castro turned it up in the championship round Saturday, where she posted 52.50 seconds and earned a spot on the awards podium by claiming fifth place, just behind Coyne, who was fourth in 52.42 seconds. Smith (51.08 seconds) finished runner-up to Orchard Park’s Andrea Ernst, who won the state title in 50.88 seconds.
That would beat Castro’s effort in the 200 freestyle, where, with a time of 1:55.72, she ended up in 17th place, making it to the consolation race a day later, where she improved to 1:55.56 and would claim 15th place in the final standings. Pittsford’s Lindsay Stone prevailed in 1:48.89.
The Wildcats’ 400 freestyle relay quartet, composed of Castro, Shannon Cahalan, Kaitlin Dunning and Rebecca Kanoza, posted 3:42.34, putting them in 23rd place among qualifiers. Then the Wildcats finished 21st in the finals a day later, improving by nearly three seconds, to 3:39.60, as once again Pittsford (3:28.36) went to the front/
Earlier in the qualifying portion, Cahalan went 1:00.67 in the 100 butterfly, taking 45th place, slightly ahead of her 49th-place effort in the 100 backstroke in 1:01.41.
