When finally confronting each other, it was the Fayetteville-Manlius boys swim team that would get the best of its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt/Christian Brothers Academy.
On the way to prevailing 98-86 in last Saturday’s showdown, the Hornets steadily accumulated its advantage throughout the meet, starting with the 200-yard medley relay, where Carter Page, Ben Rabin, Jason Porter and Eric Bang finished in one minute, 48.55 seconds to beat the Red Rams’ 1:53.23.
Two races later, Porter claimed the 200 individual medley in 2:12.44 with Erich Omans (2:17.41) second, while Bang won the 100 freestyle in 52.76 seconds and Page went 1:02.93 to finish first in the 100 backstroke.
Lucas Weires won a tense 200 freestyle, edging J-D/CBA”s Nathaniel Wales, 1:51.66 to 1:51.80, before going to the 100 butterfly and posting 54.92 seconds ahead of Porter’s 58.01.
Connor Gleasman picked up 267.15 points in diving, just ahead of the Rams’ Jack Cahill, who had 242.15 points. Omans won another close in the 100 breaststroke, his 1:07.99 just ahead of J-D/CBA’s Nathan Chen, who had 1:08.12.
However, Chen did win the 50 freestyle in 23.85 seconds to Rabin’s 23.97, with Wales dominating the 500 freestyle, his 5:07.67 half a minute clear of F-M’s Eli Kligerman (5:37.23) in second place.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Chen, Wales, Mike Brastlavsky and Mark Bratslavsky went 1:34.77, beating out the 1:35.22 from Weires, Omans, Eddie Elliott and Noah Sweet. But Weires, Elliott Porter and Bang tore through the 400 freestyle relay in 3:33.32 to the Rams’ 3:43.95.
A day earlier, F-M had beat Auburn 67-65, with Porter prevailing twice as he went 1:56.93 in the 200 freestyle to edge Omans (1:58.58) and then took the 100 freestyle in 53.53 seconds.
Bang won the 200 IM in 2:22.25 and 100 breaststroke in 1:09.98. Rabin went 23.98 seconds in the 50 freestyle. Omans, in 1:01.34, held off Weires (1:01.49) in the 100 backstroke.
J-D/CBA’s 101-84 victory over Fulton last Tuesday was not a smooth one, since the Red Raiders were able to capture each of the first three races on the card.
Not until Chen swam the 50 freestyle in 23.96 seconds did J-D/CBA get in the win column. From there, the Rams steadily took over, Chen later adding a 100 breaststroke victory in 1:09.17 as Emmanuel Ignacio was second in 1:16.43.
Wales, who lost a close 200 freestyle in 1:53.71 to the 1:53.22 from Fulton’s Bryce Rogers, got even in the 500 freestyle, prevailing in 5:09.63 to Rogers’ 5:11.65.
Mark Bratslavsky was victorious in the 100 freestyle in 54.75 seconds to Luke Marino’s 55.31 and Gehrig Snyder’s 56.26 in a 1-2-3 Rams sweep. Jamey Turo took first in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.16 as Cahill was first in the diving competition, earning 227.55 points.
Fulton not only swept the relay races, but got impressive individual wins from T.J. Clayton in the 100 butterfly, where he posted a season-best 54.21 seconds, and the 200 individual medley, where he posted 2:08.42.
Back on Feb. 3, F-M visited Baldwinsville, accumulating enough points early in the meet to coast to a 48-44 victory over the Bees.
Weires was swift in the sprints, going 50.06 seconds in the 100 freestyle, his best time of the winter, after a victory in the 50 freestyle in 22.79 seconds ahead of Bang’s 23.76.
A close 200 individual medley saw Porter, in 2:12.39, edge the 2:12.97 from Omans, while Rabin finished first in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.33. Carter Page had the quickest 100 backstroke time of 1:01.17.
Kligerman was second in both the 200 freesetyle (2:02.39) ahead of Cooper Hughes (2:03.72) and also the 500 freestyle, where Kligerman posted 5:36.05 and Nathan Walz was third in 5:51.90.
Weires, Rabin, Omans and Hughes paired up for a season-best 1:34.95 in the 200 freestyle relay after Page, Porter, Bang and Quinn Smith went 1:48.98 in the 200 medley relay as Kligerman, Hughes, Rabin and Michael Magee went 3:54.04 in the 400 freestyle relay, just ahead of B’ville’s 3:54.77.
