SKANEATELES – Start to finish, it has proven an exciting and historic season for the Skaneateles girls swim team, and that’s proven true even when the Lakers do not win a meet.
When Skaneateles hosted Mexico Tuesday night, both sides were spectacular, with four different pool records established and the Lakers nearly pulling it out against the undefeated Tigers.
Ultimately, Mexico won 93-92, but the last race symbolized the quality of the meet.
Trailing 89-82 going into the 400-yard freestyle relay, Skaneateles needed to win, and not only did so, but had Hana Spaulding, Ashley Drotar, Elizabeth Springer and Grace King set a pool mark with a time of three minutes, 44.15 seconds.
That was needed, too, because Mexico not only clinched the team event by finishing second in 3:44.19, its top swimmer, Alexa von Holtz, went 52.37 seconds in her 100-yard leg, setting another pool record.
Both stars had already established new standards during the meet. Spaulding tore to a pool-record time of 1:55.46 in the 200 freestyle and adding a 100 freestyle victory in 52.69 seconds, while von Holtz countered with a 50 freestyle win in 24.75 seconds and a 100 butterfly victory in a quick 57.08.
Lili Winkelman earned the Lakers’ other individual win, going 1:15.21 in the 100 breaststroketo beat Caitlin Comer (1:17.48) as Skaneateles went 1-2 in that event.
Drotar took second in the 50 freestyle in 25.47 seconds, with King second in the 100 backstroke in 1:06.48, just behind Reatha von Holtz’s 1:05.76. Alexis Cottrill had a second-place diving score of 191.65 points as Arianna Matthews got second in the 500 freestyle in 5:34.68.
Skaneateles split the other relays, seeing Spaulding, Comer, Matthews and Drotar go 1:43.82 in the 200 freestyle to edge Mexico’s 1:44.49 as, in the 200 medley relay, Winkelman, Comer, King and Springer went 2:03.12, just behind the Tigers’ first-place 2:02.92.
On Thursday, the Lakers prevailed again, putting an end to Cicero-North Syracuse’s six-meet win streak in a 93-88 decision that featured some terrific relay battles.
In the 200 medley relay, Spaulding, Drotar, King and Winkelman went 1:56.44 to fend off the Northstars’ 1:56.76, while in the 200 freestyle relay Comer and Springer joined Spaulding and Drotar to tear to 1:42.75, holding off a 1:44.24 posted by C-NS.
Spaudling also swam the 100 butterlfy in 59.11 seconds and, in 24.21 seconds, went 1-2 with Drotar (25.46) in the 50 freestyle as Springer was first in the 200 freestyle in 2:10.65 and 100 freestyle in 57.02 seconds. Matthews added a first-place finish in the 200 IM in 2:22.05.
