March 7, 2008
by Karen Clarke
The Horace Greeley Varsity Swimming and Diving team recently ended their 2007 - 2008 season with strong performances at the section and state championships.
Following an exciting come-from-behind win at the division championship meet, the Greeley boys moved on to the sectional meet where they faced-off with other powerhouse high school swim teams from Westchester and Rockland counties including Tappan Zee and White Plains.
Diving team earned key points for the team at sectionals
The diving events were held at Pace University on Friday, Feb. 8. Greeley had four divers qualify this year: seniors Connor Styles, Ian Drillinger, Gordon Styles and freshman Chris Pest, who was unable to compete due to an injury. Divers qualify for sectionals by meeting the minimum section point total for their dives in a dual meet. The dives are scored by the meet officials based on a number of factors, including the approach, the flight and the entry to the water. The Greeley divers continued their strong performances from the regular season, which were such an asset to the team all season. The seniors finished in sixth, eighth and tenth place, respectively, amassing an impressive 639.5 points for the team. The divers’ gutsy performances gave Greeley a slim lead over rival Suffern as the swimmers took to the water the following Monday.
In order to represent their school in the sectional championships, swimmers must qualify in the dual season meets by swimming their event at least as fast as the sectional “cut times.” For example, the 200 freestyle had a cut time of 1:59:19. Swimmers at sectionals are hoping to swim even faster to qualify for the New York State Championship meet cut time, which was 1:49:45 for the 200 freestyle. Teams with the most swimmers at sectionals have a strong chance to win the meet and the title because with more swimmers, the team has a greater opportunity to score points. Greeley had an impressive 12 swimmers with qualifying times for the sectional championship meet:
Freshman:
Taegan Clarke 200 Freestyle and 500 Freestyle
Sophomores:
Fumi Asaga 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle
Matt Hadley 200 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke
Henry Koster 100 Freestyle
Michael Nicholson 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breaststroke
Will Robins 100 Breaststroke
Juniors:
Jesse Adler 50 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke
Braden Clarke 100 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke
Josh Saccurato 200 Individual Medley, 100 Butterfly
David Sorensen 500 Freestyle
Seniors:
Jared Blacker 100 Butterfly, 100 Breaststroke,
Casey Powers 200 Freestyle, 500 Freestyle
Sectionals follow a similar format to the dual meets where a swimmer may swim a maximum of four events: two individual events and two relays. The individual events are the 200 freestyle, 200 individual medley (50 yards of each stroke), 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle (20 laps), and 100 backstroke. There are three relays: 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay.
Greeley started out strong at sectionals, but lost momentum
The swimming portion of the sectional championships took place at Felix Festa Middle School in Clarkstown, New York. The first two days are the preliminaries, where all qualifying relay team and individual swimmers in the section compete for the top 16 spots in the finals on day three.
Unfortunately, snow wreaked havoc with the swimming portion of the meet. School closings forced the cancellation of the relay preliminaries on the second day. As a result, the relays were run as finals, along with the finals of the individual events.
The last day of the championships began in exciting fashion with a Quaker win in the 200 medley relay. Greeley’s team consisted of Matt Hadley swimming backstroke, Mike Nicholson swimming breaststroke, Jared Blacker swimming butterfly, and Braden Clarke as the anchor in freestyle. They excited the fans and the team with a great win and a state qualifying time of 1:39.71. Unfortunately, Greeley could not maintain the momentum. Suffern, who had more swimmers qualify in the top heat of the finals, won the championship while Greeley took second place.
Greeley sends six swimmers to state championships
All the swimmers in Section I with qualifying state cut times form a Section I team that competed in the state championships at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York on Feb. 29 – March 2. Section I finished in fifth place at the state meet and Jared Blacker won the Sportsmanship Award. Greeley sent six swimmers to the state meet:
Jared Blacker 100 Butterfly, 100 Breastroke and 200 Medley Relay
Casey Powers 500 Freestyle
Braden Clarke 100 Freestyle, 100 Backstroke and 200 Medley Relay
Josh Saccurato 200 Individual Medley, 200 Medley Relay
Matt Hadley 200 Freestyle, 200 Medley Relay
Mike Nicholson 200 Individual Medley, 100 Breastroke and 200 Medley Relay
The 2007 - 2008 Greeley Varsity Swimming and Diving season was distinguished by teamwork, strong athletic performances and, most importantly, good sportsmanship. The seniors will be missed, but the team will return next year with many strong swimmers and even greater determination and desire. The Greeley team, along with their coaches and parents, will celebrate the success of their season with a team dinner at the Crabtree Kittle House.
Karen Clarke is the NewCastleNOW.org beat reporter for swimming.
Copyright 2008 NewCastleNOW.org