Fulton Swimmer Sets Team Record As Speed Demons Beat Oneonta

by Contributor | November 5, 2008 2:33 pm

Submitted by the Fulton YMCA Speed Demons

FULTON, NY – A veteran member of the Fulton YMCA Speed Demons put her name in the record book Saturday as she and her team scored a resounding victory against the Oneonta YMCA Orcas.

Senior swimmer Devon Niccoli set a team record in the 100-yard breaststroke for the A girls division. (Teams are divided according to age and sex into 10 groups: swimmers ages 5-8 make up the E boys and girls; ages 9-10, D; ages 11-12, C; 13-14, B; and 15-18, A.)

“Devon held the previous record time in the event, which she set during the New York YMCA State Meet that was held in March,” head coach Cathy Peterson said. In her new record, Niccoli completed the event in just more than 1 minute and 14 seconds (1:14:16).

The Speed Demons won eight of 10 age groups during the meet against the much smaller Oneonta team. The winning groups included:

• E girls: Katie Distin, Jenna Ruzekowicz, Alisa Trudell, Emily Dana, Caitlyn McAfee, Paige Drake, Cassie Hartranft, Katie Curtis, Makaylee Schmell, Kayleigh Hotaling and Christina Thompson
• D boys: David Tallents, Sage Hourihan, Grant Marriner, Keegan Condon, Tim McAfee, Brandon Webb, Phillip Cobb, Tabor Freeman, Marshall Carvey, Michael Mankiewicz, Andrew Distin, Justin Grower, Nicholas Kinney, Mitchell Nelson and Josh Hotaling
• C girls: Aliyah Conner, Adrianna Dodge, Bailey Reading, Anna Guernsey, Hannah Jones, Grace Trepasso, Lacey Reich, Courtney DeLong and Ashley McCann
• C boys: Jacob Strauss, Donny O’Bryan, Jeremy Laws, Kyle Buck, Cameron Filippi, Ross Gardner, Austin Curtis, Tobey Mills, Thomas Distin and Ian Devendorf
• B girls: Courtney Beckwith, Janelle Tallents, Miranda Perry, Dannielle Cobb and Rachel Guernsey
• B boys: Steven Gilliland
• A girls: Julia Endres, Elizabeth Guernsey, Daisy Ruiz, Cassandra Gardner and Devon Niccoli
• A boys: Josh Strauss, Scott Bullard, Benjamin Davis and Sean Caltabiano

Bringing in first-place finishes for the team were:

• E girls: Caitlyn McAfee, Paige Drake
• D girls: Brooke Morrisseau, Sabrina Verdoliva
• D boys: Andrew Distin (2), Keegan Condon, Tim McAfee
• C girls: Aliyah Conner, Hannah Jones (2), Lacey Reich,
• C boys: Ross Gardner (2), Kyle Buck (2), Austin Curtis (2)
• B girls: Courtney Beckwith, Miranda Perry (2), Janelle Tallents (2)
• B boys: Ian Devendorf, Steven Gilliland
• A girls: Devon Niccoli (3), Julia Endres (2), Cassandra Gardner (2), Daisy Ruiz
• A boys: Scott Bullard (2), Ben Davis (2), Sean Caltabiano (2), Josh Strauss (2)

Several swimmers were credited for taking time off of their previous personal best times during the meet. The team stresses the value of individual improvement as part of its overall efforts.

Cassandra Gardner took the most substantial amount of time off, cutting 33.69 seconds from her previous time in the 500-yard freestyle race. The race is the longest event in YMCA swimming meets.

Also showing sizeable decreases, Audrey Johnston took 22.80 seconds off of her best time in the 100-yard freestyle and Aliyah Conner took 20.19 seconds off of her best time in the 200-yard freestyle race.

Swimmers credited for taking at least five seconds off of their times included:

• Courtney Beckwith took 12.91 seconds off in the 200-yard freestyle
• Koji Burdic took 5.82 seconds off in the 25-yard freestyle
• Marshall Carvey took 9.08 seconds off in the 50-yard freestyle  and 5.27 seconds off in the 100-yard freestyle
• Dannielle Cobb took 14.39 seconds off in the 500-yard freestyle
• Ashli Dodge took 7.67 seconds off in the 50-yard backstroke
• Ross Gardner took 9.44 seconds off in the 200-yard freestyle
• Josh Hotaling took 8.59 seconds off in the 100-yard freestyle
• Kayleigh Hotaling took 7.44 seconds off in the 50-yard freestyle
• Lexi MacDonald took 5.59 seconds off in the 50-yard freestyle
• Grant Marriner took 10.28 seconds off in the 100-yard freestyle
• Griffin Marriner took 7.09 seconds off in the 50-yard freestyle
• Miranda Perry took 5.66 seconds off in the 200-yard individual medley (which includes butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle)
• Bailey Reading took 6.22 seconds off in the 50-yard backstroke
• Jacob Strauss took 15.04 seconds off in the 50-yard backstroke
• Mark Tallents took 5.80 seconds off in the 25-yard backstroke
• Grace Trepasso took 6.57 seconds off in the 200-yard freestyle
• Brandon Webb took 10.04 seconds off in the 50-yard backstroke

Four swimmers qualified during the meet to swim in the New York YMCA State Meet that will be held in Buffalo in March. Swimmers qualify for states by bringing in times under the qualifying standard in individual events. They included:

• Miranda Perry – 100-yard freestyle
• Janelle Tallents – 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard backstroke
• Courtney Beckwith – 100-yard breaststroke
• Benjamin Davis – 50-yard freestyle

Swimmers of the Week include: Kayleigh Hotaling, Griffin Marriner, Koji Burdic, Audrey Johnston, Sabrina Verdoliva, Ashli Dodge, Grant Marriner, Brandon Webb, Tim McAfee, Michael Mankiewicz, Marshall Carvey, Josh Hotaling, Tabor Freeman, Bailey Reading, Cameron Filippi, Jacob Strauss, Courtney Beckwith, Janelle Tallents, Miranda Perry, Dannielle Cobb, Rachel Guernsey, Steven Gilliland, Elizabeth Guernsey, Devon Niccoli and Cassandra Gardner.

“We welcomed Kyle Buck back to the team after a short time away because of a broken arm,” Peterson noted.

The team is now 2-0 after besting both the Watertown and Oneonta Y teams. Its next meet is at Oswego Nov. 15.

The Fulton YMCA Speed Demons are a community-based swim team that competes in the Central New York region of the New York State Y Swimming League. Team members come from Fulton, Hannibal, Phoenix and other communities in the area.

For more information, visit the team’s Web site at www.fultonspeeddemons.org[1].

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/sports/fulton-swimmer-sets-team-record-as-speed-demons-beat-oneonta/

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