BALDWINSVILLE – While beating other opponents provides some satisfaction, the Baldwinsville boys swim team really enjoys getting the best of a familiar rival like Liverpool who dominated this series in the past.
And when these two sides met again Tuesday night at Baker High School the Bees did enough to produce a 50-44 victory, the issue in doubt until the final race of the evening.
Ahead 43-41, B’ville had to get first place in the closing 400-yard freestyle relay, which it did by going three minute 35.67 seconds to Liverpool’s second-place 3:43.14 as the Bees also got a third-place point with 3:50.89.
This made up a bit for B’ville getting second in both the 200 medley (1:57.78) and 200 freestyle relay where its 1:39.67 trailed Liverpool’s 1:37.65.
Alex Nicita had a standout effort for the Bees, especially in the 100 freestyle where his 49.81 seconds set a new season mark and easily topped the 52.22 of Liverpool’s Sean O’Neil, who had won the 50 freestyle in 23.69.
This followed a 200 individual medley where Nicita set another season mark with 2:04.78 over James Hayden’s 2:07.48 for Liverpool.
Marco VanCour’s time of 1:59.21 in the 200 freestyle was second to Jack Cavallerano’s 1:54.14 as Alex Atherton went 1:59.99 for fourth place, but in the 500 freestyle VanCour, victorious in 5:29.95, beat out Atherton’s second-place 5:30.94 by less than a second.
Adrian Clay would win, too, easily pulling away in the 100 breaststroke going 1:05.57 to the 1:11.32 of Liverpool’s Bryce Shutts as Ethan Gramiak (1:12.38) grabbed third place.
Owen Nizar, in 25.21 seconds, was second and Brayden Anders third (25.48) in the 50 freestyle behind O’Neil, with Clay second in the 100 butterfly in 59.94. Nizar went 1:02.12 for second in the 100 backstroke to James Hayden’s 59.01 as Kevin Milo (1:09.13) got third place.
As if beating Liverpool wasn’t enough, in Saturday’s Burgos Diving Invitational Nick Pompo was victorious again, earning 533.2 points to beat out the 489.55 from Cicero-North Syracuse’s Nate Ornoski, with Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA’s Cameron Corona (480.8) in third place.
Meanwhile, B’ville’s swimmers were at the Watertown Invitational where Atherton was victorious in the 100 butterfly, his 56.20 seconds just ahead of the 56.98 from Watertown’s Drew Wekar. Also, Atherton took third in the 100 backstroke in 1:04.14.
Nicita swam the 50 freestyle in 23.40 seconds to finish third before going to the 100 freestyle and, in 50.10, take second to the 49.32 of Lowville’s Banyan Barker. Clay added a second in the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.16.
Kevin Milo took sixth in the 200 IM in 2:26.41, with Anders seventh in the 500 freestyle in 5:53.15. The Bees were also second in the 200 medley relay in 1:50.83 and went 3:33.69 in the 400 freestyle relay trailing only Lowville’s 3:26 flat.