CAZENOVIA — All five Cazenovia swimmers on the combined Fayetteville-Manlius High School (F-M)/Cazenovia High School Girls’ Varsity Swimming & Diving Team are heading to sectionals after qualifying in various events this season.
The team members from Cazenovia Central School District (CCSD) are captains Eliza Smith and Maeve Kelly, both seniors; first-year swimmer Alison Morse, a junior; Callahan Frazee, a freshman; and Avery Howe, a seventh grader.
The team is led by head coach Tim Gallivan from F-M, assistant head coach Josh Smith from CCSD, and assistant dive coach Jennifer Kaleta from CCSD.
Class A Sectionals will be held at Nottingham High School on Nov. 6 at 9:30 a.m., and the state qualifier will be at Nottingham on Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m.
“These five girls have continued the tradition of strong swimming coming out of Cazenovia while being well-rounded and competitive in various events,” said Smith. “They will be integral to the team’s success moving into the championship season as the F-M/Caz team looks to win their ninth Class A Sectionals in a row. The veteran leadership of Maeve and Eliza has made it so the girls are 5-1 heading into the sectional season. Up-and-comers Callahan and Avery look to score at sectionals, which is tremendous due to their youth. Alison is a first-year swimmer who has also qualified, and if she scores, it will be exactly what the F-M/Caz team needs to do to win the meet. It is our depth that’ll take us there. Sure, we have a number of girls who can medal, but it’ll be those extra places that add up to the final winning score.”
The F-M and CCSD girls’ swimming teams have been combined for seven years.
The swimmers practiced in the Cazenovia College pool until the historic institution shut down in 2023.
“This has been a huge blow to the consistency of our program,” said Smith. “We had stable practice times and a nice place to call home; now we are scheduled at Henninger High School in Syracuse. There have been some issues with scheduling, and we’ve had to do dry land practice [and] squeeze into other Syracuse facilities when needed. There is a lot of travel time, but the silver lining is that the girls get to have time together [during] that travel. It can be tough for some families to get their girls to the F-M bus for Saturday practices, but we are a family within a family and get everything taken care of.”
Smith added that the team’s home pool is currently at Henninger High School, but because the pool is not set up for meets, the team has been hosting competitions at Nottingham.
“I am beyond proud of all of my Caz teammates,” said Kelly. “Being part of this team for the last four years allowed me to get closer with my Caz classmates and develop new relationships with students from F-M. It’s been such a great experience and one I will take with me as I leave high school.”
To learn more about CCSD athletics, visit cazenoviacsd.com/athletics.
