The Fulton YMCA Speed Demons won events in three age groups and several swimmers qualified for the New York YMCA State Championship meet to be held later in the season when they matched up against the Cortland YMCA team at Granby Elementary School pool Dec. 19.
Many swimmers took more than 5 seconds off their time and several took first place in their event.
Among the winning age groups were the E girls, which include Jenna Ruzekowicz, Hayden Williamson, Katie Distin and Airyona Croci.
Winning for the C girls were Katie Curtis, Paige Drake, Alisa Trudell, Kayleigh Hotaling, Rachel LeVea, Audrey Johnston, Miwa Burdic, Sabrina Verdoliva, Sarah Tallents, Josie Collins, Ashli Dodge, Alicia Carroll, Meghan Foster, Kali Spaulding, Zoe June, Emma Easter, Samantha Tanner.
Also winning were the B girls, these swimmers were Hannah Jones, Courtney Beckwith, Janelle Tallents, Lacey Reich, Grace Trepasso, Anna Guernsey and Courtney DeLong.
In other close races, Jenna Ruzekowicz won by .71 seconds in the E girls 25 butterfly. Katie Distin took 2nd over 3rd by .18 seconds in the E girls 25 breaststroke and Cameron Grower missed 2nd and took 3rd by .33 seconds in the E boys 100 freestyle. Mark Tallents missed 1st and took 2nd by .61 seconds in the E boys 25 free style and again, Mark Tallents missed 1st and took 2nd by .02 seconds in the E boys 50 freestyle.
Miwa Burdic missed 1st and took 2nd by .42 seconds in the D girls 100 IM. For the D girls 50 freestyle, the first 3 places were .81 seconds apart with Ashli Dodge and Audrey Johnston taking 1st and 2nd respectively. In the D girls 50 backstroke Sabrina Verdoliva took 1st by .60 seconds.
Kyle Buck took 2nd over 3rd by .38 seconds in the C boys 50 freestyle and missed 2nd and took 3rd by .88 seconds in the C boys 50 backstroke.
For the B girls Janelle Tallents missed 1st and took 2nd by .03 seconds in 100 freestyle and for the B boys Ross Gardner took 2nd over 3rd by .83 seconds in the 50 freestyle.
Ben Davis missed 1st and took 2nd by .26 seconds in the A boys 50 freestyle and Scott Bullard took 2nd over 3rd by .77 seconds in the A boys 100 freestyle.
Bringing in first place finishes for the team were: Jenna Ruzekowicz (3), Katie Distin(2) for the E girls. For the D girls were Ashli Dodge, Sabrina Verdoliva(2), and Miwa Burdic. For the B girls were Janelle Tallents, Lacey Reich(2), and Courtney Beckwith. For the A girls was Julia Endres and A boys were Ben Davis and Scott Bullard.
Two swimmers qualified during the meet to swim in the New York YMCA State Meet to be held in Buffalo during March. These swimmers are Miwa Burdic for the 50 breaststroke and Ben Davis for the 50 freestyle and the 500 freestyle.
Swimmers qualified for states by bringing in times under the qualifying standard in individual events.
With emphasis on individual improvement, several swimmers were noted for taking substantial time off of their individual events.These include Jake Strauss for the 500 freestyle, who took off 43.91 seconds. Scott Bullard took off 13.63 seconds, Jake Strauss took off 12.44 seconds for the boys 200 IM and Katie Curtis took off 7.85 seconds for the girls 100 IM. Thomas Distin took off 44.22 seconds, Josh Hotaling took off 24.83 seconds for the 200 freestyle. In the 100 freestyle Grant Marriner took off 24.91 seconds and Tim McAfee took off 7.03 seconds. In the 50 freestyle Audrey Johnston took off 8.00 seconds and Lane Rawls took off 9.98 seconds. In the 50 backstroke, Casey Jones took off 10.16 seconds, Grant Marriner took off 5.51 seconds and Kaitlyn Trudell took off 9.32 seconds.
In recognition of their efforts during practices and the meet against Cortland, Coach Cathy Peterson named the following swimmers as the team’s Swimmers of the Week: Hayden Williamson, Lane Rawls, Cameron Grower, Paige Drake, Miwa Burdic, Meghan Foster, Kali Spaulding, Emma Easter, Kenneth Verdoliva, Michael Mankiewicz, Casey Jones, Kaitlyn Trudell, Jake LeVea, Grant Marriner, Tim McAfee, Josh Hotaling, Kyle buck, Ian Devendorf, Grace Trepasso, Ross Gardner, Jake Strauss, Josh Strauss and Ben Davis.
missing or outdated ad config