ONONDAGA COUNTY – Anything the Fayetteville-Manlius girls swim team did would fall in the shadow of seeing its 64-meet win streak ended by Liverpool on Sept. 23.
That 96-90 defeat changed the course of the Hornets’ season as, after seven years on top, it now would find itself chasing someone else as it battled for both league and Section III supremacy.
And another big meet loomed on Friday when Cicero-North Syracuse visited Cazenovia College, the two sides battling for league position – and the Hornets getting the best of it, defeating the Northstars 92-89.
F-M had enough points with several races to spare, beginning to assert itself when Georgia Langan, Cecilia Cao, Elise Wratney and Gabby Dardis went one minute, 58.19 seconds in the 200-yard medley relay to beat C-NS’s 2:01.40.
Langan then swept the sprints, going 25.92 seconds in the 50 freestyle and 57 seconds flat in the 100 freestyle. Wratney took the 200 freestyle in 2:03.12, with Kate Millson winning the 200 individual medley in 2:28.80 to edge Cao’s 2:30.71 and Dardis’ 2:30.77 in a 1-2-3 Hornets effort.
Grace Reyna, in 6:00.55, edged teammate Samantha Roddy (6:00.91) in the 500 freestyle. Langan, Reyna, Cao and Roddy went 1:47.88 to win the 200 freestyle relay as Millson, Roddy, Wratney and Kelly Liu swam the 400 freestyle relay in 4:05.20.
As it turned out, Jamesville-DeWitt was Liverpool’s next opponent, the Red Rams going on the road last Tuesday and taking a 102-82 defeat to the Warriors.
J-D did take the first two events on the card, Gwen Lister winning the 200 freestyle in 2:03.79 after she helped Josie Coyne, Thearyn Wales and Olivia Ogata go 2:08.91 in the 200 freestyle relay to beat Liverpool’s 2:12.66.
Lister returned to win the 100 freestyle in 56.60 seconds to Arianna Kuznia’s 58.69 as Kayla McQuaid dazzled on the diving board, earning 246.05 points to beat the 190.45 from the Warriors’ June Piorkowski.
Margaret Lister was first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:15.83. Ogata took second in the 50 freestyle (28.16 seconds) and 100 butterfly (1:12.66) as Wales was second in the 200 individual medley in 2:34.60.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Coyne, Ogata and the Lister sisters went 1:51.60, but Liverpool beat it with 1:47.06.
J-D swam again on Thursday and only clinched its 96-88 win over West Genesee when Coyne, McQuaid, and Margaret Lister joined Saluti to take the closing 400 freestyle relay in 4:22.24.
Prior to that, Wales won the 50 freestyle in 27.63 seconds as Lister went 1:11.60 in the 100 backstroke, Ogata took the 100 freestyle in 1:02.14 and Samantha Wheeler swam the 100 butterfly in 1:20.88 to win there.
The Rams swept the relays, having seen Wales, McQuaid, Ogata and Coyne go 2:09.67 in the 200 medley before a 200 freestyle relay where Wales, Ogata, Sophie Commandeur and Ava Mone posted 1:58.92.
Meanwhile, Christian Brothers Academy also split two meets last week, prevailing against Baldwinsville as it toppled the Bees 93-72.
Sofia Ciereck won twice for the Brothers, going 2:15.75 to edge teammate Zoe Thayer (2:17.31) in the 200 freestyle before winning the 500 freestyle in 6:02.53 to Henna Luke’s 6:06.65.
Ella Zaryski was victorious in the 50 freestyle in 26.59 seconds, and took second in the 100 freestyle (1:02.01) just behind Thayer’s 1:01.41. Jenna Filhanwas victorious in the 100 butterfly in 1:07.46 as Josie Lachut (1:11.96) was second.
Strong in relays, CBA saw Zaryski, Filhan, Claire Krueger and Anna Fuller swim the 200 medley in 2:04.49. In the 200 freestyle relay, Krueger, Ciereck, Lachut and Madison Cecilia won in 1:56.28.
From there, CBA faced New Hartford on Thursday and lost, 95-86, to the Spartans, with only Filhan, in the 200 IM (2:26.94), and Krueger, in the 100 breaststroke (1:16.52), earning individual titles.
Filhan got second in the 100 butterfly, with Ciereck second in the 500 freestyle and Fuller second in the 100 backstroke as Sofia Kassab earned 193.55 points in diving for another runner-up finish.
