CENTRAL NEW YORK – When two undefeated area girls swim teams closed a unique 2021 season against one another, it met all the expectations thrown upon it.
But when it came down to the team scores, Fayetteville-Manlius emerged triumphant, the Hornets topping Christian Brothers Academy 116-70 last Saturday night at Cazenovia College.
Going into the meet, F-M was 7-0 and CBA 8-0, but it didn’t take that long for the Hornets’ depth to make a difference in the point totals.
Specifically, the 200-yard individual medley was where it turned. F-M went 1-2-3 in that event as Morgan Kingsley prevailed in exactly two minutes, 18 seconds, with Addie Antshel second (2:20.88) and Katie Ottaviano third in 2:23.22.
Another turning point came in the 100 butterfly, which went down to the last touch as the Hornets’ Emma Luttrell, in 58.55 seconds, edged the 58.57 put up by CBA’s Darien Tompkins.
Then Georgia Langan and Hannah Kellogg followed by going 1-2 in the 100 freestyle, Langan winning in 55.25 seconds to hold off Kellogg’s 55.30.
And even with a comfortable margin, the Hornets kept adding to its total helped by victories in the last two relays to go with Jessey Eisenhut taking the 100 backstroke in 1:04.21 to edge CBA’s Ella Zaryski’s 1:04.25.
Luttrell, Langan, Kingsley and Kellogg swam the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.77 to beat the 1:42.86 from the Brothers, and to close the meet that same F-M quartet tore through the 400 freestyle relay in 3:45.98.
Amid all this, CBA’s top swimmers had plenty of standout efforts, too, with Kayla Newman and Lauren Kelly each winning twice.
Newman was first in the 200 freestyle in 1:54.11 to beat out Luttrell’s 1:56.42, following with a 500 freestyle where Newman won in 5:07.16, well clear of the 5:34.85 from the Hornets’ Elise Wratney.
As for Kelly, she beat Langan, 24.72 seconds to 25.17, in the 50 freestyle before taking first place in the 100 breaststroke in 1:06.45, holding off Kingsley’s 1:09.61 and Ottaviano’s 1:12.89.
Sophia Menar, with 229.10 points, beat F-M’s Grace VanBarner (201.95) in diving as, in the 200 medley relay, Kelly, Tompkins, Zaryski and Kathryn Nardella prevailed in 1:53.97 to the 1:57.01 from Ottaviano, Eisenhut, Grace Reyna and Meghan Seidberg.
Earlier in the week, CBA had gone through another duel of undefeated teams but had knocked off Mexico 100-86 as nine Mexico pool records were set by meet’s end.
Newman set two of those marks as she swam the 200 freestyle in 1:55.68 and the 500 freestyle in 5:05.47 that put her inside the fastest top 10 times in the state in both events.
Kelly’s role was just as crucial. In the 100 freestyle, she swam to a time of 55.05 seconds to edge Mexico’s Carolyn Zedack (55.70) for top honors.
With the meet still close in the 100 breaststroke, Kelly not only won in a pool-record 1:07 flat (sixth in the state), but had help from Hannah Nizar (1:16.06) and Rosie Lachut (1:21.85) in a 1-2-3 sweep that clinched the meet for CBA.
Elsewhere, Zaryski held off Reatha von Holtz, 1:06.04 to 1:06.99, in the 100 backstroke, and in a tight 200 freestyle relay Newman, Kelly, Tompkins and Claire Krueger had to go 1:41.09 to break another pool mark top the Tigers’ 1:41.91. Kelly, Tompkins, Zaryski and Nardella swam the 200 medley relay in 1:55.34.
Menar was second in diving with 206.70 points, with Tompkins second in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly as Alexa von Holtz won that event for Mexico in 56.46 seconds, second-best in the state this season, after she took the 50 freestyle in a pool-record 24.37 seconds.
F-M, meanwhile, had beaten Baldwinsville 81-78, which included Kellogg edging Langan, 56.41 seconds to 57.09, in the 100 freestyle and Luttrell tearing through the 100 butterfly in 59.89 seconds.
Wratney won the 200 IM in 2:26.44 and had the quickest 500 freestyle time of 5:43.04 as Hali Seidberg took the 50 freestyle in 27.07 seconds.
Langan, Seidberg, Luttrell and Morgan Kingsley went 1:56.79 in the 200 medley relay as Kellogg, Luttrell, Kingsley and Langan took the 200 freestyle relay in 1:45.50. Lutrell, Langan, Kellogg and Kingsley swam the 400 freestyle relay in 3:51.74.
Jamesville-DeWitt had Abby McGuire finish second (399.35 points) and Grace Evans fourth (336.45) in the Salt City Athletic Conference diving championships, with F-M’s Grace Van Bramer and Natalie Roswick seventh and eighth, respectively.
Then, back together as a team, J-D knocked off West Genesee 98-88 last Tuesday as McGuire picked up 222.23 points in diving before she finished first in the 100 freestyle in 1:06.08.
Lucy Heflin took first in the 200 IM in 2:35.65 before Alice Yi won the 100 breaststroke in 1:25.88. Heflin, Gwen Lister, Emily Ninestein and Sofia Bebla won the 200 medley relay in 2:08.47 as Claire Huyck took second in both the 200 and 500 freestyle.
To finish its season, J-D took on Liverpool Friday and gained plenty of individual victories even as it fell 100-86 to the Warriors on the team side.
Lister again led the way, going 2:19.47 to win the 200 IM and then taking the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.43 after helping Ninestein, Norden and Huyck win the 200 medley relay in a quick 1:57.37.
McGuire, with 222.75 points, edged Liverpool’s Sophia Recuparo (219.38) for diving honors. Ninestein grabbed first in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.56 and was second in the 100 backstroke to Huyck, who finished in 1:03.10.
