BALDWINSVILLE – In years past, the Baldwinsville girls swim team’s season would conclude with an appearance in the Section III Class A championship.
But just like so many other things had to change due to COVID-19, so did the girls swimming sectional meet. This time around, it was a “virtual” contest where teams recorded times at their own home pools and then submitted them to be compared with those of other teams.
Once they were added up, the Bees found itself in seventh place among 10 Class A sides, its total of 146 points well off the winning pace of 505 points set by Fayetteville-Manlius as Christian Brothers Academy (336 points) held off Liverpool (308 points) for second place.
But the real story was the 1-2 finish posted by B’ville freshman Eva Smith and junior Ashley Konz in the 100-yard backstroke.
Improving on her own school record, Smith broke the one-minute mark and posted 59.66 seconds, and Konz was close behind, earning second place in 1:01.01. No one else was within three seconds of the Bees’ duo.
Also, Smith beat most of the field in the 500 freestyle, her time of 5:23.91 only topped by the 5:05.47 from CBA’s Kayla Newman. Konz went 2:05.86 to grab sixth place in the 200 freestyle.
Smith, Konz, Madeline Sauro and Erin Gruppe earned sixth place in the 200 medley relay in 2:06.33 and seventh in the 400 freestyle relay in 4:09.02, with Gruppe, Mercedez Walker, Henna Luke and Campbell Boslet eighth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:59.52.
Elsewhere, Gruppe was 15th in the 100 freestyle in 1:06.40 and Makenna Williams was 18th in the 100 breaststroke. Rowan Phelps was 20th in the 200 individual medley, Sauro 21st in the 50 freestyle and Walker 22nd in the 100 butterfly.
