Just as with other winter sports at its high school, the Liverpool boys swim team is a nomad this winter, competing everywhere but at home while its athletic complex, including the pool, undergoes rebuilding and renovations.
But the Warriors do so as the team everyone wants to catch, having again won the Section III Class A championship and George Falwell Cup a season ago, and poised to defend both crowns.
Liverpool’s opening meet happened to take place against rival Cicero-North Syracuse Thursday night at the Le Moyne College pool the Northstars still use as a home facility, and the Warriors got the best of it, prevailing by a score of 101-74.
Right from the start, it proved exciting, Liverpool having its 200-yard medley relay team of Jack Andrejko, Brandon Nguyen, Curtis Merrick and Julien Brownlow go one minute, 48.71 seconds to hold off a C-NS quartet of Dillon Johnson, Logan Petralia, John Harbaugh and Seaver Schultz that was second in 1:48.89.
Brownlow went from there to sweeping the sprints, going 22.90 seconds to beat Merrick (23.43) in the 50 freestyle and then winning the 100 freestyle in 51.45 seconds. Andrejko won the 200 individual medley as Merrick, in 56.86 seconds, dominated the 100 butterfly.
Nguyen posted the fastest time in the 100 breaststroke at 1:08.26 over Ryan Wilhelm (1:12.07) as Griffin Merkling tore to victory in the 200 freestyle in 1:49.83 and Uriy Grabovyy earned 209.40 points to easily take the diving competition and Will Allen won the 500 freestyle in 5:33.29.
A close 200 freestyle relay had Merkling, Nguyen, Wilhelm and Josh Foley go 1:37.30 to edge Brownlow, Merrick, Andrejko and Brayden Catalina, who finished in 1:37.40. Later, in the 400 freestyle relay, Merkling, Allen, Catalina and Simon VanHoute finished in 3:51.58.
On C-NS’s side, Johnson, in 1:05.21, beat out Sawyer Powell (1:05.29) to take the 100 backstroke. Schultz was second in the 100 freestyle in 52.90 seconds, while Harbaugh took second in the 100 butterfly in 1:02.51 and Connor Burke was second in the 200 IM. Schultz, Harbaugh, Petralia and Nathan Dallman swam the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.21.
As the Northstars take on Auburn and Fayetteville-Manlius next week at Le Moyne, Liverpool does not have another league meet until Dec. 17, when it travels to Baldwinsville.
