It took four tries this season for the Baldwinsville boys swim team to enter the win column, but it did so on Dec. 12, defeating the combined Syracuse city squad by a 95-80 margin at the Henninger High School pool.
Back home on Tuesday night, the Bees got a tougher challenge, from Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA, and despite some bits of individual success, it took a 53-39 defeat to the Red Rams.
John Sidorakis would emerge victorious in a close 200-yard individual medley, posting a time of two minutes, 18.24 seconds to hold off J-D/CBA’s Matt Schultz (2:19.82) at the wall.
But the Bees won just one other individual race – the 100 breaststroke, where Steve Kulak, finishing in 1:15.71, was part of a 1-2 effort as Zach Timmins (1:21.92) took the runner-up spot. Kulak also was second (5:43.25) to the Rams’ Jack Toole (5:37.42) in the 500 freestyle.
B’ville did win two of three relays. Clayton Dombrowsky, Ryan App, Michael Boyce and Ryan Hiltbrand took the top spot in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:42.71, while Boyce, joined by Jonathan Oad, Kevin Atkinson and Dan Watkins, prevailed in the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 4:01.68.
J-D/CBA had several standouts, but only Dan McGann won twice, taking the 100 freestyle in 55.08 seconds and adding a 100 backstroke title in 1:02.37.
Still at home two nights later, B’ville faced Cicero-North Syracuse, and the outcome was in doubt right until the final race, which the Bees claimed in order to beat the Northstars 50-44.
Needing to win the 400 freestyle relay, B’ville turned to the quartet of App, Boyce, Sidorakis and Watkins, who posted a time of 3:49.23 and prevented C-NS from sweeping all of the relay races.
Before that, App won twice, taking the 50 freestyle in 24.90 seconds to beat the Northstars’ Steve Cooley (25.28 seconds), and he beat Watkins, 1:05.72 to 1:08.55, as part of a 1-2 effort in the 100 backstroke.
Boyce held off the Northstars’ Zach Hill, 2:03.63 to 2:04.96, in the 200 freestyle, while Sidorakis rolled to first place in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.04 after getting into a dead heat with C-NS’s Zach Dengos in the 200 IM, each of them finishing in exactly 2:21.30.
Dombrowsky, in 57.08 seconds, was runner-up to Cooley (56.73 seconds) in the 100 freestyle, but Steve Kulak would prevail in the 500 freestyle in 5:53.23, with Hiltbrand (6:03.72) in second place.
Now the Bees would hit the holiday break, off until Jan. 8, when its season resumes with a tough test against CNY Counties League front-runner Liverpool.
