A pair of undefeated boys swim teams were ready to battle for first place in the Salt City Athletic Conference as Liverpool made the short trip to Baldwinsville on Wednesday night.
They did so after an astonishing eight-day stretch where the Warriors competed in an elite tournament and then beat five opponents head-to-head, capped by last Saturday’s sweep of host Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA and Watertown.
During that meet, Liverpool handled the Red Rams 101-77 and the Cyclones 102.5-60.5, and the starting point was having Brandon Nguyen, Curtis Merrick, Griffin Merkling and Julien Brownlow win the 200-yard medley relay in a state meet-qualifying time of 1:40.67.
Merkling, Nguyen, Brownlow and Merrick teamed up again in the 200 freestyle relay and finished in 1:29.06 to edge Watertown’s 1:29.30, both of them state qualifying times.
Individually, Merkling swam the 200 individual medley in 2:01.49 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.66, with Merrick going 54.78 seconds in the 100 butterfly and 22.96 seconds in the 50 freestyle.
But it was Brownlow winning the 50 freestyle in 22.36 seconds and the 100 freestyle in 49.94 seconds as Jack Andrejko went 1:00.43 in the 100 backstroke and Will Allen swam the 500 freestyle in 5:22.30.
Liverpool and B’ville saw each other compete on Jan. 4 in the Yeti Invitational at Webster Schroeder, near Rochester. Here, the Warriors finished third in the 13-team field as the Bees settled for sixth place.
The big highlight for the Warriors was seeing its 400 freestyle relay team of Merkling, Merrick, Brownlow and Nguyen win in 3:17.70 and, by doing so, qualify for March’s state championship meet.
Earlier in the meet, Merkling had improved his 200 individual medley time to 1:57.58, just behind the 1:57.16 from McQuaid’s Max Murray.
Brownlow went 22.66 seconds to finish third in the 50 freestyle, with Nguyen third in the 100 freestyle in 50.08 seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Merkling got fifth place in 4:56.86. Andrejko was eighth in the 100 backstroke in 59.23 seconds.
As a follow-up, Liverpool ventured to West Genesee last Tuesday night and improved to 4-0, handling the Wildcats 101-82.
Merkling would swim the 500 freestyle in 4:59.64 and Merrick won the 100 butterfly in 56.46 seconds, while Brownlow took the 50 freestyle in exactly 23 seconds. Merrick, in 2:17.47, edged Andrejko (2:17.54) in the 200 IM.
Elsewhere, Will Allen was victorious in the 200 freestyle in 1:59.01, with Jack Hyde going 1:02.90 to beat the field in the 100 backstroke. Nguyen helped Merkling, Merrick and Brownlow go 1:42.35 in the 200 medley relay as Ryan Wilhelm joined Nguyen, Merrick and Brownlow to wint he 200 freestyle relay in 1:33.52.
The day before it beat J-D/CBA and Watertown, Liverpool swept another three-team meet at Oswego, handling the host Buccaneers 101-63 and also topping Mexico 94-83.
Merkling was first in the 200 freetstyle in 1:48.44 and took the 100 butterfly in 54.63 seconds as Merrick was first in the 100 backstroke in 55.28 seconds.
Nguyen beat the field in the 50 freestyle in 22.91 seconds as Andrejko, in 51.79 seconds, claimed the 100 freestyle and Jack Hyde took the 200 IM in 2:19.30. Uriy Grabovyy earned 227.65 points in diving, just behind Mexico’s Kian Long, who had 231.45 points.
While all this was going on, Cicero-North Syracuse found its own success last Tuesday night when it earned a 98-72 victory over Syracuse City.
Logan Petralia, John Harbaugh, Dom Bagozzi and Seaver Schultz would tear to a time of 1:36.23 in the 200 freestyle relay, with that same quartet winning the 400 freestyle relay in 3:43.36.
Petralia was first in the 200 IM in 2:20.77 as Harbaugh won the 100 butterfly in 1:02.24. Bagozzi got to first in the 50 freestyle in 24.69 seconds as Sawyer Powell added a 100 backstroke title in 1:05.31.
Schultz would finish second twice to Syracuase’s Lelal Hamad, his 1:57.05 in the 200 freestyle behind Amad’s 1:51.54 and his 51.03 seconds in the 100 freestyle trailing Amad’s 48.999.
Against Pulaski/Sandy Creek on Friday, C-NS won 51-28, with Harbaugh (500 freestyle), Bagozzi (100 backstroke), Josh Kubala (200 freestyle), Anthony Bouziden (50 freestyle), Joe Gucciardi (100 butterfly) and Crispin Coombs (100 freestyle) each winning individual races.
