Both in the regular season, and then in the post-season, the Christian Brothers Academy girls swim team got the best of its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt.
Building upon the 98-87 victory it earned when they went head-to-head on Sept. 24, the Brothers were victorious Friday night in the Section III Class B championship meet at Nottingham High School, earning 402 points to the Red Rams’ total of 381 points. Mexico was third with 310 points.
The battle was immediately joined in the first race, the 200-yard medley relay. CBA’s quartet of Darien Tompkins, Lauren Kelly, Ally Howard and Sophia Silver won in one minute, 50.39 seconds, with J-D’s team of Amelia Hesler, Gwen Lister, Emily Ninestein and Sofia Bebla second in a state meet-qualifying 1:52.15.
Hesler took her turn at the front in the 200 freestyle, going 1:53.45 to beat out the Brothers’ Kayla Newman (1:54.57), though again both swimmers easily surpassed the state meet qualifying standard. Silver was seventh in 2:05.03.
J-D powered in front through a solid performance in the 200 individual medley, Lister taking third place in 2:19.60 as Bebla was fourth in 2:23.24 and Claire Huyck was sixth in 2:25.14. The Brothers had Ella Zaryski in ninth place in 2:27.55.
Kelly claimed a close 50 freestyle in 24.39 seconds to the 24.42 from Watertown’s Sarah Kilburn, with CBA’s Kaitlyn Bushnell claiming third place in 24.98 seconds. Tompkins improved to 57.29 seconds in the 100 butterfly, second to Mexico’s Alexa von Holtz (56.59) as Ninestein got fourth place in 1:02.63, Howard (1:07.77) beating out Josie Coyne (1:09.34) for eighth place.
Returning for the 100 freestyle, Hesler completed her sprint sweep by going 52.59 seconds to the 53.60 from Kilburn, with Bushnell getting fourth place in 55.73 seconds and Silver (57.49) in eighth place.
Newman went to the front in the 500 freestyle. Having already qualified for the state meet with a 5:10.85 earlier this fall, she breezed to a win here in 5:14.21, exactly 10 seconds ahead of Mexico’s Carolyn Zedack (5:24.21).
Back and forth it went, J-D winning the 200 freestyle relay when Hesler, Ninestein, Lister and Julia Antoine went 1:40.38 to earn a state meet berth and hold off Watertown (1:41.10), with Newman, Bushnell, Silver and Kathryn Nardella putting CBA (1:44.36) in fourth place.
No one caught Tompkins in the 100 backstroke, which she won in 1:00.85 as Ninestein was second in 1:04.04, just ahead of a crowded pack with Huyck fourth in 1:04.23 and Howard fifth in 1:04.35 as Zaryski got sixth place in 1:05.74.
When Kelly, in 1:06.41, beat out Lister (1:09.31) and Bebla (1:10.87) in the 100 breaststroke, CBA got more crucial points from Annah Nizar in sixth place (1:12.67) and Josie Lachut in ninth place (1:15.79), setting up the closing 400 freestyle relay.
Here, the Brothers clinched the sectional title as Kelly, Tompkins, Newman and Bushnell tore to victory in a season-best 3:36.76. J-D, with Antoine, Huyck, Audrey Norden and Morgan Binsack, took fourth place in 3:58.70.
In the Class B diving competition on Thursday, J-D’s Abby McGuire finished second with 362 points, trailing only New Hartford’s Isabella Kolb (385.90) as CBA’s Sophie Menar was third with 340.95 points. Grace Evans was seventh and Catherine Halstead finished ninth.
