March 5, 2010
by Katri Backman-Koster
The weather outside was frightful when the New York State Boys Swimming and Diving Championships were held in Buffalo, New York, at the end of last week on February 26 and 27.
Boys from hundreds of teams, their coaches and supporters had braved the treacherous weather and hazardous road conditions to travel from all over the state to the Erie Community College Athletic Center pool on the banks of the Niagara River. While Chappaqua was being buried under two feet of snow, a snowstorm delivering several inches of snow hardly fazed the Buffalo community. After a ten-hour bus ride, 59 boys from Section 1, led by the Greeley coach and Section 1 coordinator, Meg Kaplan, were ready to compete with the best high school swimmers in the state.
While the snow was falling outside, the excitement and the temperature at the pool were rising. The preliminary competitions were held on Friday, February 26. Greeley sent a total of eight swimmers to this year’s competition: seniors Matt Hadley, Mike Nicholson and Will Robins; junior Taegan Clarke; sophomores Henry Simon and Josh Tesser; and freshmen Risten Clarke and Christopher Koster. The boys participated in a total of six different individual events in addition to the 200-yard medley relay and the 400-yard freestyle relay. All of the boys performed well, many advanced to the finals and just having made the states cut was quite an accomplishment.
The finals were on Saturday, February 27. In the 200-yard freestyle Matt Hadley finished second with an All-American time of 1:40.67; Taegan Clarke was 18th (1:45.68); and Risten Clarke was 23rd (1:48.98). In the 200-yard individual medley Mike Nicholson finished second with an All-American time of 1:53.39.
In the 100-yard freestyle Matt Hadley finished third (46.76) and Risten Clarke was 20th (50.51). In the 100-yard backstroke Taegan Clarke finished seventh (53.64); and in the 100-yard breaststroke Mike Nicholson was seventh (59.25) and Will Robins 19th (1:01.97). The Greeley 200-yard Medley Relay team of Hadley, Nicholson, T. Clarke and Tesser came in eighth with a time of 1:39:23.
Greeley team achieves record-breaking time in 400-yard freestyle relay
The final event of the competition was the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Greeley team of R. Clarke, Nicholson, T. Clarke and Hadley was seeded first with a time of 3:12.21. In the lane next to them was the team from Shenendehowa with a seeded time of 3:12.26. As each of the four swimmers took their turn in the pool, the teams were neck-and-neck and the finish was, if possible, closer than a photo finish. In the end, the Shenendehowa team came in first at 3:10.82 and the Greeley team was a close second with an All-American and Section 1 record-breaking time of 3:10.98, only 16/100 of a second behind.
Of the eleven Sections in the state, Section 1 (with 11 teams represented) came in first place with a total of 401.50 points. The Greeley swimmers placed fourth in New York State, with 126 points, out of a total of 73 teams that scored points at the state championships. The fourth place finish is Greeley’s best finish ever!
Congratulations to the entire Greeley boys’ swimming and diving team and their coaches for another great season.
Back row (L to R): Christopher Koster, Taegan Clarke, Matt Hadley, Risten Clarke and Josh Tesser
Front row (L to R): Will Robins, Mike Nicholson, Henry Simon and Coach Meg Kaplan
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