Though it had climbed to the top before, it was particularly sweet for the Skaneateles girls swim team to lay claim to this Section III Class C championship.
After all, Friday night’s sectional meet took place at the Lakers’ home pool inside the Community Center YMCA, where with 435.5 points it pulled away from runner-up Holland Patent (334 points) as Lowville (257.5) edged Cooperstown (252) for third place.
No one caught Skaneateles in the meet-opening 200-yard medley relay. Lily Buchholz, Grace King, Elizabeth Springer and Rory Comer went one minute, 56.33 seconds, more than six seconds ahead of Cooperstown’s second-place 2:02.51.
Another Lakers win came in the 200 freestyle relay, this one with Buchholz, Comer, Alice Spaulding and Lexis Cottrill as Skaneateles posted 1:46.30, with Cooperstown (1:49.07) more than two seconds behind.
To complete the relay sweep, the Lakers, in the 400 freestyle relay, brought back King, Spaulding and Springer, pairing them with Caitlin Comer to go 3:55.93, the only time under four minutes as Holland Patent (4:01.87) was in the runner-up spot.
On her own, King was triumphant in the 100 butterfly, her time of 1:02.70 well clear of South Lewis’ Kayley Walsh (1:07.01) and the field.
Two races later, in the 500 freestyle, King pulled away to win in 5:42.58, nearly 12 seconds ahead of the field, Lili Winkelman getting to fourth place in 6:07.08.
In the 100 backstroke, Buchholz prevailed in 1:02.62 over Cooperstown’s Delilah Griger (1:03.84). Also, in the 100 freestyle, Buchholz got second place in 54.63 seconds behind Sauquoit’s Caitlyn Longway (53.61), while Springer took fourth place in 57.51 seconds.
Skaneateles went 1-2 in the 100 breaststroke, Spaulding getting the victory as, in 1:12.93, she edged Rory Comer (1:13.03) by one-tenth of a second. Comer also was third in the 200 freestyle in 2:12.71.
Springer nearly claimed the 50 freestyle, finishing in 26.19 seconds to get second place as Holland Patent’s Maggie McGuire won in 26.13 seconds, while Lexis Cottrill was fifth in 27.75 seconds.
Spaulding had a second-place time of 2:24.83 in the 200 individual medley, just behind Griger, who prevailed in 2:21.44. Winkelman took fourth place in 2:33.68, with Ivy Carter 11th. Carlee Pitman earned 315.80 points for third place in diving as Lowville’s Tess Smith won with 357.55 points.
