Though a couple of weeks remain in the regular season, it’s all settled for the Cicero-North Syracuse girls swim team, as least when it comes to owning the CNY Counties League regular-season championship.
The Northstars clinched that title in an exciting meet at West Genesee Thursday night, utilizing its depth, along with an uncanny ability to win close relay races, to push past the Wildcats by a score of 102-84.
Right away, C-NS got pushed by WG in the 200-yard medley relay. Brooke Fedi, Jamie Rolf, Sarah Walter and Kiersten Coates needed one minute, 58.50 seconds to fend off the Wildcats’ 1:58.91 and gain valuable early points.
Not long after, Fedi (2:19.35) and Rolf (2:23.01) went 1-2 in the 200 individual medley, Rolf holding off WG’s Maddie Zapisek (2:23.36) for that second spot, and Fedi went on to a clear victory in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.50 as Rolf later won the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.16, with Kelly Festa (1:15.46) in the runner-up spot.
Another point surge came from the diving competition. Miranda Frascatore earned 222.4 points to win that event as Coates finished second with 201.65 points after finishing third (27.04 seconds) behind Olivia Griffin (26.84 seconds) in the 50 freestyle.
C-NS clinched the meet, and the league title, in the 200 freestyle relay, seeing Lauren Thorne, fresh off a victory in the 500 freestyle in 5:31.32, join Griffin, Rolf and Coates to get a time of 1:46.50, again just in front of the Wildcats, who were second in 1:46.89.
WG lost despite double wins from Kaitlin Dunning in the 200 freestyle (2:02.39) and 100 freestyle (56.32 seconds), where Walter was second in 57.20 seconds, and Becca Kanoza in the 50 freestyle (26.52 seconds) and 100 backstroke, where her 1:04.43 beat out the C-NS duo of Carla Champagne (1:05.72) and Grace Devinney (1:05.72).
All of this followed C-NS’s 102-80 victory at Skaneateles last Tuesday night, where Thorne led the way, going 2:22.69 in the 200 individual medley before earning first place in the 100 butterfly in 1:04.81.
Rolf was first in the 500 freestyle in 5:50.76 after helping Fedi, Coates and Walter take the 200 medley relay in 1:59.95. Festa blazed to first place in the 50 freestyle in 27.97 seconds, while Griffin took the 100 freestyle (1:00.81) and Cassie Baldwin was first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:17.32.
Frascatore picked up 233.3 points to prevail in the diving competition, and C-NS also won the 200 freestyle relay, where Coates, Griffin, Baldwin and Laura Gerber finished in 1:50.59 and the Northstars, having clinched this meet, could look ahead to its decisive trip to Camillus.
