As it does each March, members of the Liverpool boys swim team would find themselves going up against the best competition of the winter during the annual New York State Public High School Athletic Association championship meet.
This year, the venue was Long Island’s Nassau County Aquatic Center, and the Warriors had participants in two different relays.
Tom Griffin, Matt Geary, J.J. Ross and James Hunter were all part of Liverpool’s 200 freestyle relay team. Their time of one minute, 29.88 seconds put them 27th among 34 qualifiers and had already set a state record.
Here, in Friday’s opening round, Liverpool broke that school mark by improving to 1:29.32, something it couldn’t quite top in Saturday’s finals, though at 1:30.06 it still meant a 19th-place finish. Half Hollow Hills won the state championship in 1;25.27.
Meanwhile, in the 400 freestyle relay, Griffin, Geary, Ross and Curtis Merrick had gone 3:18.09 during the season. Looking to improve on that, the Warriors could not do so in the opening round, finishing in 3:20.54, but with Griffin O’Neill replacing Geary, Liverpool improved to 3:18.63 in the finals and took 28th place. Fordham Prep won in 3:06.14.
Individually, Griffin had his best effort in the 50 freestyle, finishing 17th in 21.76 seconds after going 21.60 seconds in the qualifying round. Griffin also took 30th place in the 100 freestyle, going 48.20 seconds in the qualifying round and then 48.75 seconds in the finals. Ross swam in the 100 butterfly and finished 45th in 53.92 seconds.
The main highlight for sectional swim fans was seeing record-holding Watertown senior Maclean Crossley go after sprint titles. The top seed in the 50 freestyle with his sectional-record of 20.37 seconds, Crossley broke that mark in Friday’s opening round with 20.30 seconds and then won Saturday’s final in 20.38 seconds, also finishing fifth in the 100 freestyle and, with his Watertow teammates, fifth in the 200 freestyle relay.
