A strong 2017-18 season that culminated in a third-place finish at the Section III Class A championships meant that the Baldwinsville boys swim team had plenty to build on for the following season.
Now that season has arrived, and the Bees had to face defending sectional champion Liverpool last Thursday night at the tail end of a challenging opening-week slate.
B’ville did take a 103-77 defeat to the Warriors, unable to match Liverpool’s depth, but still won six of the races thanks to some impressive individual efforts.
Alex Hiltbrand and John Licciardello each prevailed twice, with Hiltbrand going 22.31 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle to beat Liverpool’s Curtis Merrick (22.52) before roaring to a victory in the 100 butterfly in 55.95 seconds, well clear of the Warriors’ Kyle Richardson (58.47) for the top spot.
As for Licciardello, he was the only competitor to go under two minutes in the 200 freestyle, winning in 1:55.23 before a 500 freestyle where, in 5:18.75, Licciardello again pulled away, nearly 12 seconds ahead of Liverpool’s Will Allen (5:30.71).
Nick Schultz handled his specialty, the 100 breaststroke, winning in 1:02.14 as the Warriors’ best time was 1:06.73 from Brandon Nguyen. That came after Hiltbrand, Licciardello, Bailey Ludden and Evan Bohman went 1:34.67 in the 200 freestyle relay to top the 1:36.65 from the Warriors.
In the 200 individual medley, Schultz was second in 2:10.60 as Ludden was second in the 100 freestyle in 51.99 seconds. Hiltbrand, Schultz, Bohman and John Burns went 1:43.88 in the 200 medley relay, just behind Liverpool’s 1:42.50.
Two nights earlier, B’ville opened at home against Fayetteville-Manlius, and with Alex Hiltbrand and Nick Schultz each winning a pair of events, the Bees pulled away to top the Hornets 58-36.
Hiltbrand would roll to first place in the 200 freestyle in 1:55.52. Then, in the 100 butterfly, Hiltbrand tore to victory in 56.26 seconds before joining Licciardello, Ludden and Burns to win the 200 freestyle relay in 1:36.72.
Schultz got started by helping Ludden, Burns and Harrison German win the 200 medley relay in 1:48.67 before going 23.69 seconds in the 50 freestyle to beat out Ludden’s 24.22 clocking. And in the 100 breaststroke, Schultz earned first place in 1:02.88 as Ludden was second (52.28 seconds) to F-M’s Tanner Eisenhut (52.12) in the 100 freestyle.
Licciardello, second in the 200 IM, prevailed in the 500 freestyle in 5:27.33. And right after Bohman won the 100 backstroke in 1:01.07, he joined Licciardello, Hiltbrand and Burns to swim the 400 freestyle relay in 3:41.90.
B’ville would take a 1-1 record into Monday’s meet against another top contender, Jamesville-DeWitt, before going to Auburn on Friday night.
