Having proved himself as one of the top divers in New York State throughout the winter, Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA senior Lucas Dekaney aimed to finish his high school career with one more honor.
Dekaney entered last weekend’s New York State Public High School Athletic Association championships at Long Island’s Nassau Aquatic Center ranked eighth among the 49 divers in the field.
But the state meet proved tough for Dekaney, who scored 189.40 points in the opening round when it took 191.10 points to stay in the top 25 and advance to the semifinals.
Joining Dekaney was Fayetteville-Manlius sophomore Connor Gleasman, who was ranked 29th in the field. But he scored 192.85 points and, in 24th place, did advance.
During those semifinals, Dekaney moved up a spot to 23rd, but at 278.35 points did not get to the final round.
Just one Section III diver, West Genesee’s Justin Byrne, reached those finals, eventually taking 19th place with 411.65 points. Bloomfield’s Alex Kenyon won the state and Federation titles with 515.45 points.
Elsewhere at the state meet, Quinn Smith, another sophomore on the F-M team who attends Cazenovia High School, competed in the pool in the 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard individual medley.
In the 500 freestyle, Smith had gone four minutes, 48.77 seconds to qualify 40th among 59 competitors. Here at the state meet, Smith swam to a time of 4:54.78 and got to 46th place.
Ultimately, the state championship went to Garden City’s Jake Newmark, who finished in 4:23.24, more than six seconds ahead of Pittsford’s Liam Murphy (4:29.27).
Moving to the 200 IM, Smith looked to improve upon the 1:58.92 that got him into the state meet as the 36th-best qualifier. But here, Smith swam to a time of 2:00.02 and finished 40th, unable to reach the finals.
Great Neck South’s Justin Whang would earn the state championship in a time of 1:51.12, beating out the 1:51.75 from Miller Place’s Henry Shemet.
Section III’s best finish came in the 100 breaststroke, where Baldwinsville’s Nick Schultz twice broke the sectional record in the state meet and finished Saturday in 56.14 seconds. Watertown’s Nate Carlos was third overall and second among NYSPHSAA swimmers in the 100 freestyle in 46.06 seconds.
