CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even though it couldn’t celebrate in the typical way that winning teams have done in the past, the Fayetteville-Manlius girls swim team still could proudly call itself Section III Class A champions.
Continuing to heed to COVID-19 protocols, the sectional conducted a “virtual” championship meet where teams would swim at their home venues and then turn in times.
By doing so, the Hornets accumulated 505 points, while Christian Brothers Academy, despite many first-place finishes, settled for second place with 336 points, beating out Liverpool (308 points) for the runner-up spot.
F-M swept the top four in the 200-yard individual medley, led by Morgan Kingsley, who prevailed in two minutes, 18 seconds over Addie Antshel’s 2:20.88 as Katie Ottaviano (2:23.22) and Jessey Eisenhut (2:25.05) followed.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Emma Luttrell won for the Hornets in 58.55 seconds to edge out CBA’s Darien Tompkins (58.57), while the Hornets had Hali Seidberg finish third (1:02.06) and Addie Antshel (1:03.80) get fourth place.
A close battle in the 200 freestyle relay went ot the Hornets as Luttrell, Kingsley, Georgia Langan and Hannah Kellogg went 1:40.77, seventh in the state overall, while CBA was second in 1:41.09. That same F-M quartet roared to first in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:45.98
Luttrell was second in the 200 freestyle in 1:56.42 and Kellogg got third in 2:00.92. Langan was third (55.25 seconds) and Kellogg fourth (55.30) in the 100 freestyle.
Seventh-grader Elise Wratney earned third place in the 500 freestyle in 5:34.85, with Eisenhut (1:04.21) edging Seidberg (1:04.22) for third place in the 100 backstroke.
On CBA’s side, Kayla Newman won twice in her specialties, going 1:54.11 in the 200 freestyle, the seventh-fastest time in the state this season, along with her 500 freestyle victory in 5:05.47, which was 10th in the state.
Lauren Kelly sneaked into the state top 10 with her 100 breaststroke victory in 1:06.45, beating out Kingsley (1:09.61) and Ottaviano (1:12.89) for the top spot as Annah Nizar was fifth in 1:14.91 and Wratney sixth in 1:15.02.
Kelly finished second in the 50 freestyle (24.54 seconds) to Liverpool’s Delaney Gellert (24.47) as Darien Tompkins was third in 24.67 and Langan (25.17) got fourth place. Ella Zaryski was fifth in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.45 and Jenna Filahn was seventh in the 200 IM.
CBA was also victorious in the 200 medley relay in 1:53.97, with F-M third in 1:56.79 thanks to Eisenhut, Ottaviano, Grace Reyna and Hali Seidberg. Sophia Menar took second place in diving with 229.10 points as the Hornets’ Grace VanBramer (201.95) finished sixth.
In the virtual Class B sectional meet, Jamesville-DeWitt finished third with 361 points, trailing Mexico (416.5 points) and New Hartford (381 points) in the team race.
Winning for the Red Rams, Claire Huyck got a time of 1:03.10 in the 100 backstroke that beat, among others, teammate Emily Ninestein, who was fourth in 1:06.73 as Sofia Bebla finished seventh.
Gwen Lister then won the 100 breaststroke in 1:10.43, nearly four seconds ahead of the field, with Bebla eighth. Lister, Huyck, Ninestein and Audrey Norden were second (1:57.37) to Mexico (1:55.09) in the 200 medley relay.
Lister got third in the 200 IM in 2:19.47, with Huyck fourth in 2:22.89 as Norden took third in the 50 freestyle in 26.81 seconds. Abby McGuire finished third in diving with 231.53 points.
Ninestein earned fourth place in the 100 butterfly in 1:06.20, with Josie Coyne sixth in 1:08.74 as Lucy Heflin was seventh and Kathryn Donaghue eighth in the 500 freestyle. J-D took fifth in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:49.22.
