Articles are written by Dr. Ed Lewis for the Pittsford S'Women Web page and for the Brighton-Pittsford Post.
Photos are contributed by Ed and Howard Brayman.
The day preceding the Section V Class A Swimming Championships, the Pittsford S’Women sported shirts stating “We measure up.” And that is exactly what they did on November 9th and 11th at the Webster Aquatic Center, where they won their fifth straight title, outscoring runner up Fairport, 533.5 – 441.5.
The top two teams in Section V have faced each other on three occasions this season. After narrowly losing to Fairport in their first encounter, the depth of the S’Women propelled them to victory in the final two meets and left no doubt as to who rules the pool in Section V. All 19 swimmers who qualified for the championship meet returned for finals on Saturday, a testament to hard work and dedication of all the Pittsford swimmers.
Records fell as the swimmers put in career best performances. Junior Jenny Lewis successfully defended her individual titles in the 100 yard freestyle and 100 yard backstroke. In doing so, she set 8 records -- the Webster pool and Pittsford school records in the freestyle with a time of 52.51 sec and the Webster pool, Pittsford School, meet, county and Section V record in the backstroke with a time of 56.06 earning automatic All-American honors. She was also a member of the 400 yard freestyle relay team with Lindsay Wahl, Sarah Dempsey and Kelley Groves that broke the school record in that event in 3:33.89. That relay earned automatic All-American honors as did the 200 yard medley relay team of Lewis, Jessie Ward, Wahl and Groves. Emma Miller also won the 500 yard freestyle in 5:07.29. The 200 yard freestyle relay team of Dempsey, Katie Dobler, Jennifer Conklin and Alex Trobe earned All-American consideration with a time of 1:39.89.
Prior to the swimming championships, the Pittsford divers secured a good lead for the S’Women with their performances in the diving championships. Morgan Neal finished 3rd, Katelyn Barclay was 5th, Rachel Delahunta 6th and Alana Biltucci 21st.
The S’Women opened the meet with the All-American 200 yard medley relay team defending their title in 1:49.53. In the 200 yard freestyle, all 4 Pittsford swimmers qualified for the championship heat with Wahl finishing 2nd, Miller 4th, Conklin 5th and Trobe 6th. Dempsey was the top Pittsford swimmer in the 200 yard individual medley, touching in 5th place. Meghan Green finished 7th and Aly Criscuolo 11th. Groves sprinted to 4th place in the 50 yard freestyle with Dobler in 7th and Kelly Geary in 15th.
In the 100 yard butterfly, the S’Women again had 4 competitors in the championship heat with Dempsey touching in 4th, Criscuolo 6th, Conklin 7th and Geary 8th. Lewis touched 1st ahead of a strong field in the 100 yard freestyle. Groves finished 4th, Rachel House 8th and Lindsay Matthews in 12th. In the 500 yard freestyle, the S’Women again had 4 swimmers in the championship heat. Miller finished 1st with Green in 4th, Trobe in 5th and Dobler in 7th. The 200 yard freestyle relay team of Dempsey, Dobler, Conklin and Trobe finished 3rd.
The S’Women dominated the 100 yard backstroke with Lewis, Wahl and Olivia Tylutki finishing 1st, 2nd and 4th. Maddy Ashworth finished 12th. In the 100 yard breaststroke, Ward , finishing 2nd, was narrowly touched out in a very close race from start to finish. Stephanie Ross was 4th, Mandy Ellis 10th and Claire Geiser 11th.
Going into the final event, the 400 yard freestyle relay, the S’Women had clinched the title. Facing the defending champion team from Fairport of Erin McGraw, Lauren Dufault, Jenna Wood and Devina Tyagi that held the Section V record, the team of Wahl, Dempsey, Groves and Lewis had their work cut out for them. The first three S’Women kept their opponents within range, but going into the final 100 yards, Lewis hit the water a little less than 3 seconds behind Tyagi. With every spectator on their feet, Lewis touched just 0.76 seconds behind Fairport.
Seniors Wahl and Ward, juniors Criscuolo, Groves, Lewis and Tylutki, sophomores Dobler, Green, Miller and Trobe and freshmen Conklin and Dempsey qualified for the NY State Swimming and Diving Championships to be held at the Flickinger Pool in Buffalo on November 17th and 18th. Divers Neal, Barclay and Delahunta will dive in a qualifier meet this week to determine who represents Section V at the championships.