On consecutive nights, the Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius girls swim teams earned crucial victories that should give each of them confidence for the rest of the season.
It started last Tuesday night, at J-D, where the Red Rams turned back New Hartford 102-84, and continued on Wednesday when F-M went to Liverpool and, hanging close throughout the meet, rallied late to beat the Warriors 95-91.
Over the years, J-D had found that New Hartford is its biggest obstacle when it comes to trying to secure both Onondaga High School League and Section III Class B honors.
Thus, any head-to-head meet between these sides is a big event, as it was again on this occasion. The Red Rams won a majority of the races and, with depth that included many second and third-place efforts, pulled away from the Spartans. 190
It was New Hartford getting the first win as Alexis Falvo, Merima Kulosman, E Muder and S D’Amore claimed the 200-yard individual medley in 2:00.97, but that was the only relay the Spartans would win.
Much later, in the 200 freestyle relay, J-D answered, having Emma Galletta, Alexis Phillipls, Amelia Hesler and Mackenzie Moore post a time of 1:47.15. Then, to close out the meet, Philips and Hesler joined Marissa Potamianos and Sawyer Parker to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:55.75.
Of the nine individual events, the Rams won five of them, two each by Phillips and Hesler. It started with Phillips by claiming the 200 freestyle in 2:05.51, and continued in the 100 freestyle as Phillips finished in 57.75 seconds.
Hesler took her turn with a strong time of 2:20.32 to finish first in the 200 individual medley, preceding a strong performance in the 500 freestyle where she won in 5:25.82. J-D also took the diving event when Megan Alkins earned 182.75 points, ahead of teammates Katie White and Ailin Lieber-Bendix.
Now it was F-M’s turn to go to Liverpool, where the path to victory would involve ceding the top spots while filling up the other spots behind the Warriors’ top swimmers.
After finishing second in the 200 medley relay, the Hornets saw Hannah Kellog go to the 200 freestyle and, in 2:08.28, edge Liverpool’s Maddie Rose (2:08.27) as Caroline Muller got third place in 2:14.29. Kellog would also take the 500 freestyle in 5:46.98, with Rose second in 5:51.28.
Other than that, Liverpool won each of the individual titles, with Sydnie Sovinsky (50 and 100 freestyle), Jaida Fox (200 IM, 100 butterfly) and Allison Testone (100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke) claiming two races apiece. The Warriors also took the 200 freestyle relay in 1:46.83.
However, the Hornets grabbed plenty of good finishes that led to points. Addie Antshel was second in the 200 IM in 2;32.17 and runner-up in the 100 butterfly (1:09.60 ahead of Emma Trisciani (1:12.20), while Cara Campell got second (26.22 seconds) and Abbey Harris was third (27.06 seconds) behind Sovinsky in the 100 freestyle.
Erin Wind was third in the diving competition, earning 217.2 points, just behind Alyssa Vadala (241.6 points) and Kelley Townley (232.75 points), with Christina Burnam second (1:08.24) and Mairead Egan third (1:11.55) in the 100 backstroke and Grace Bang getting second place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:16.44.
All of those points meant that F-M could still claim the meet it it prevailed in the closing 400 freestyle relay – which it did. Kellog and Harris, paired with Campell and Hannah McMichel, needed 3:54.40 to nail first place and overtake the Warriors for the meet win.
Another big meet would take place this Tuesday when J-D met up with Christian Brothers Academy, who would tune up by going to Auburn last Wednesday and earning a 90-78 victory over the Maroons.
Julia Torell and Tessa Queri each won two races for the Brothers, with Torell going 1:02.53 in the 100 butterfly and tearing to a time of 5:45.87 in the 500 freestyle. Queri swept the sprints, claiming the 50 freestyle in 25.91 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 58.28 seconds.
Elsewhere, Lauren Kelly won a close 200 freestyle, finishing in 2:09.09 to the 2:09.90 posted by Auburn’s Hannah Foster. Darien Tompkins, second in the 200 IM, was victorious in the 100 backstroke in 1:09.30 and helped Torell, Queri and Katelyn Wendt win the opening 200 medley relay in 2:01.11. Molly Oyer was second to Queri in the 100 freestyle and third in the 50 freestyle.
