Baldwinsville girls swimmers Ashley Konz and Kali Sacco both were intent to cap off tremendous seasons with victories in their strongest events at Friday’s Section III Class A championships at Nottingham High School.
And Konz would do so, capturing first place in the 100-yard backstroke as part of a solid all-around effort by the modest Bees squad, who finished seventh out of 10 teams with 132 points.
Konz, a sophomore, knew that, if she could improve on her 1:00.71 during the season that made her the top seed in the 100-yard backstroke, she had a good chance of advancing to the Nov.22-23 state championships at Ithaca College.
Though that didn’t quite happen, Konz overtook Rome Free Academy’s Veronika Nelson in the last 25 yards and, in one minute, 1.10 seconds, beat out Nelson (1:01.68) by less than a second for the sectional title.
Also, in the 200 freestyle, Konz, who swam 2:03.74 this season for the fourth seed, would end up seventh in 2:05.97 as Fayetteville-Manlius’ Hannah Kellogg won in 1:58.66. Clare Burke got 11th place in 2:09.60.
Sacco, a senior, was the top seed in the 200 individual medley, having gone 2:16.94 to gain that spot. Here, she swam in 2:17.49, just behind F-M’s Addie Antshel (2:16.47), though both trailed the Hornets’ Lindsay Mathews, who in 2:10.36 advanced to the state meet.
As the third seed in the 100 freestyle with a time of 56.90 seconds this fall, Sacco improved to 56.82 seconds, but only managed 10th place amid a fast field as Oswego’s Sydney DeLapp (54.22) prevailed.
Clare Burke, in the 100 butterfly, improved on her 1:06.93 by going 1:06.11 and grabbing 10th place. She also paired with Konz, Sacco and Madeline Sauro to get sixth place in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:02.67.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Konz, Sacco, Burke and Madeline Sauro finished seventh in a season-best 1:47.75.
Rowan Phelps, Makenna Williams, Brooklyn Roner and Katie Cornell were 10th in the 200 medley relay in 2:27.82 as Williams finished 19th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:35.90.
Sauro took 21st place in the 100 backstroke (1:12.42) and 24th place in the 50 freestyle in 29.36 seconds, with Olivia Rensear 22nd in the 500 freestyle in 6:39.52.
All of this led to Sunday’s overall sectional final, where Konz nearly did make it to the state meet in the 100 backstroke.
Needing 1:00.42 to advance, Konz improved half a second from the Class A meet, but finished in 1:00.60, just behind the winning 1:00.24 posted by Christian Brothers Academy’s Darien Tompkins.
Sacco improved to a season-best 2:17.33 in the 200 IM and landed in fifth place, also taking 12th in the 100 freestyle in 57.27 seconds. Konz went 2:05.16 in the 200 freestyle to finish 11th.
In the last race of the ball, Konz, Sacco Burke and Sauro, were 10th in the 400 freestyle relay and broke the four-minute mark, posting 3:59.36 as a strong conclusion to a productive season.
