What the Liverpool girls swim team wanted was a fast finish to its regular season, and the schedule offered that opportunity with three meets in an eight-day stretch.
After its appearance in the Oct. 14 Salt City Athletic Conference Invitational, the Warriors returned to action last Thursday against Mexico, where it built a big early lead and then held on to beat the Tigers 93-87.
Ali Testone led the way, first by helping Maddie Rose, Jaida Fox and Marissa Pisegna post a top time of two minutes, 1.03 seconds to win the 200-yard freestyle relay.
Then Testone would go 27.30 seconds to edge Fox (27.38) in a 1-2 Liverpool effort in the 50 freestyle before claiming the 100 backstroke in 1:03.02, one of her best times of the season.
Rose was victorious in the 100 freestyle in 59.16 seconds, while the Warriors swept the diving competition, Sarah LaValley earning 252.00 points ahead of Sophia Recuparo (190.45 points) and Ilyssa Hollenbeck (164.20 points).
Rose, Testone, Delaney Gellert and Natalie Petit swam the 200 freestyle relay in a top time of 1:51.05 after Gellert finished second in the 200 freestyle in 2:11.16. Fox was second in the 100 butterfly as Pisegna posted 1:15.97 in the 100 breaststroke. Gellert, Fox, Ali Testone and Jessica Testone swam the 400 freestyle relay in 4:03.06.
LaValley’s week wasn’t done. On Saturday at Nottingham, LaValley would take the Syracuse Diving Invitational and, while doing so, qualify for the Nov. 17-18 state championship meet at Ithaca College.
A minimum of 440 points was required to reach the state meet, and LaValley won with 463.45 points, easily clearing that hurdle as CBA’s Sam Lanzafame (456.80 points) and Fayetteville-Manlius’ Riley Miller (448.65 points) did the same.
In all, five Warriors took part in the invitational, with Recuparo earning seventh place thanks to 373.35 points. Macy Moore was 14th, with Ilyssa Hollenbeck 16th and Alyssa Dimillo in 17th place.
Cicero-North Syracuse also had a busy week following the SCAC Invitational, starting with last Tuesday’s meet against New Hartford at Le Moyne College, where the Northstars fell to the Spartans 100-85.
It took New Hartford’s superior depth to overcome the fact that C-NS won most of the events, starting with Grace Devinney, Brooke Fedi, Olivia Griffin and Sarah Walter going 2:02.49 to hold off the Spartans (2:03.77) and win the 200 medley relay.
Fedi, Griffin and Walter would all win individual races, too, as Fedi swam the 200 individual medley in 2:19.38, Griffin went 59.83 seconds to prevail in the 100 freestyle and Walter claimed the 100 backstroke in 1:06.68.
Madeline Thorne was victorious on the diving board, earning 191.45 points. Devinney returned to help Fedi, Griffin and Alyssa LaFace win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:47.42 to New Hartford’s 1:48.96.
Despite this, the Spartans won, led by Alexis Falvo, who was first in the 50 freestyle (25.62 seconds) and 100 butterfly (1:03.97), while Kim McDonald took the 200 freestyle in 2:03.97 and swam the 500 freestyle in 5:24.83.
Then the Northstars lost Thursday to West Genesee 100-84, gradually falling behind because the Wildcats amassed second and third-place finishes in every race, even those where C-NS prevailed.
Devinney, Fedi, Walter and Griffin went 2:03.90 to win the 200 medley relay, Fedi going on to win the 200 IM in 2:21.23 and take the 100 breasttroke in 1:11.98 as Griffin won the 50 freestyle in 27.02 seconds.
Walter took her turn in the 100 backstroke, winning in 1:07.47 after a second in the 100 butterfly. Madleline Thorne gained 187.00 points to prevail in diving.
Thorne went from there to an eighth-place finish at the Syracuse Diving Invitational, where she picked up 364.20 points. Her teammate, Carly Tolhurst, was 15th with 281.15 points.
