ONONDAGA COUNTY – With a new season underway, the Liverpool girls swim team wanted to establish itself as one of the main challengers to Fayetteville-Manlius atop the league and Section III Class A ranks.
In its opening meet Sept. 9, the Warriors faced Syracuse City and quickly got into the win column, prevailing by a score of 87-76.
Kaitlyn Thompson led Liverpool, going 26.20 seconds to take the 50-yard freestyle and then swimming the fastest time of 1:06.31 in the 100 backstroke ahead of Emerson Gellert’s 1:12.42.
Isabelle Ackley also got two wins, beating the field in the 200 individual medley in 2:37.53 and putting up 1:02.04 in the 100 freestyle ahead of Abigail Lane’s 1:04.79.
Sarah Colwell won the 200 freestyle in 2:10.04, with Gellert second. Arianna Kuzmia topped the field in the 100 butterfly in 1:13.67 as Sofia Valente earned 147.55 points in diving, Chloe Brown took the 500 frestyle in 6:10.94 and Katelyn Alperuto swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:18.23.
Sweeping the relays, Liverpool included a 200 freestyle relay where Thompson, Gellert, Brown and Julia King put up a time of 1:52.59. Lane, Brown, Manley and Mary Hayden went 2:12.73 in the 200 medley relay, with Colwell, King, Kuznia and Kerry Hunter taking the 400 freestyle relay in 4:12.22.
Then Liverpool took on West Genesee last Tuesday and steadily worked toward a second consecutive victory, claiming a 98-83 decision over the Wildcats.
Gellert claimed a pair of races, going 1:08.51 in the 100 butterfly and 1:12.79 in the 100 backstroke, while Thompson swept the sprints, taking the 50 freestyle in 26.56 seconds and 100 freestyle in 57.78.
Colwell, second in the 200 freestyle (2:09.91), did win the 500 freestyle in 5:49.69 as Kuznia went 2:31.67 in the 200 individual medley after a second in the 200 freestyle.
Gellert, Hunter, Lane and Elizabeth Manley opened by winning the 200 medley relay in 2:09.14. Then it was Thompson, Colwell, Gellert and Brown going 1:50.54 in the 200 freestyle.
Liverpool wasn’t alone in winning meets. Cicero-North Syracuse did the same against Christian Brothers Academy last Wednesday night, prevailing by a score of 93-83 at Nottingham High School.
The Northstars clinched the meet with two races to go, starting strong when Kate Gucciardi, Cassidy Svoboda, Leah Benedict and Kaitlyn Carroll went 2:01.90 in the 200 medley relay.
From there, Gucciardi went on to take the 200 IM in 2:29.63 and the 100 butterfly in 1:08.82, while Svoboda won the 50 freestyle in 27.45 seconds ahead of Rose Coleman’s 28.58.
Carroll, amassing 273.30 points, beat Sophia Sugrue (207.85) in diving as, in the 200 freestyle relay, Carroll, Gucciardi, Coleman and Svoboda prevailed in 1:50.36.
