The State Qualifying Meet on Saturday November 10^th may have been the closest in the history of Class A Swimming, and Fairport may have beaten Pittsford by a half point, 271.5 to 272, but the Lady Panther Swimmers did not come out losers. A team of 19 talented and well-trained swimmers entered the sectional preliminaries on Thursday, November 8^th , 44 points behind Fairport . The Pittsford swimmers entered sectional finals on Saturday November 10^th 18 points behind, and closed the meet a half point behind Fairport. The Lady Panther swimmers proved themselves in the pool, and are all winners.

The 200 medley relay team of Susan Allen (back), Katie Harris (breast), Courtney Brayman (fly), and Kate Wilson (free )swam to first place with the winning time of 151.78 seconds, claiming the Section V Championship Title, and earning All-American Consideration. The team will advance to the New York State Championship meet this weekend. All four relay team members earned personal best times for their leg of the relay.

In the 200 freestyle, Hailey Weniger placed 5^th, (200.58 seconds) with Katie Harris earning 7^th place points, (204.40 seconds) Jen Hazen placing 11^th, (207.84) and Emily Freitag placing 15^th (209.46 seconds) The 200 IM was a strong event for Pittsford, with Katie House placing 5^th in the time of 2:14.94, just missing the magic qualifying time for the state meet. Susan Allen placed 7^th, (217.78 seconds)Courtney Brayman placed 9^th(222.55) Libby Brush earned 12^th ( 224.38 seconds) place points. At the conclusion of the IM swims, Pittsford lead Fairport 73-70. The Lady Panthers continued their charge in the 50 freestyle, as Kate Wilson placed 2^nd, (24.85 seconds) earning the magic time and qualifying for the state meet, and Stephanie House placed 6^th (25.71 seconds ) with Monica Jaferian earning 9^thplace (26.17 seconds). Pittsford continued their lead 99 to 91.

Pittsford’s lead continued strong in the 100 flystroke, as Courtney Brayman placed 4^th, (102.98 seconds)Stephie House placed 5^th, (103.11 seconds) and Libby Brush placed 8th. (104.78 seconds.)All three earned best times. Teammate Lisa Prezzano placed 15^th with a personal best time of 107.64.

The 100 freestyle event found the Lady Panthers losing their lead, despite the strong swimming by Kate Wilson to second place, (54.47 seconds) earning the magic time and qualifying for the State Meet, Emily Wells 15^th, (59.47 seconds) and Lindsay Richardson placing 17^{th (100.31 seconds.)}. In preliminaries Jen Skerker earned a personal best time of 100.88 seconds. Fairport lead 162 to 150.5.

The 500 freestyle was a strong event for Fairport, as they placed swimmers in 2^nd, 4^th, and 5^th places. Pittsford’s Hailey Weniger earned 3^rd place points for the Lady Panthers, earning the third fastest time in the Section V meet, (522.00 seconds) and qualifying her for the State Meet. Pittsford’s Jen Hazen placed 9^th, (536.23)Kelly Vaughan placed 10^{th (536.81)}, and Emily Freitag placed 11^{th (537.41)}. Personal best times were earned by each of the swimmers.

Fairport won the 200 free relay, with the team of Kate Wilson, Susan Allen, Hailey Weniger, and Steph House placing 3^rd. (1:42.54)

Entering the 100-backstroke event, Pittsford was down by 32.5 points. Charging to a 1^st place win, Susan Allen touched in at 59.62 seconds, earning the Class A Sectional Championship Title, and earning All American Consideration. Teammate Monica Jaferian placed 4^th with a season best time, (102.66) and Liz Forbes placed 7^th with a personal best time of 104.65 seconds. Amanda Lang placed 15^th with a personal best time of 107.44. Pittsford led 229.5 to Fairport’s 228. Pittsford held this lead with Katie House placing 4^th in the 100 breaststroke, (1:1185) and Katie Harris placing 7^{th (1:12.12)}. Kim Curry placed 11^th, and earned a personal best time in her preliminary swim of 1:13.88 seconds. Rebecca Hazen earned a personal best time of 118.78 seconds during preliminaries.

The final event of the meet had the crowd on its feet, as Irondequoit touched the team of Stephie House, Courtney Brayman, Hailey Weniger, and Monica Jaferian out by .56 seconds. (3:46.36) The fourth place finish was not enough to beat Fairport, but the team showed true grit and determination. Diver Meredith Bircher placed 9^th in the swimming event of the meet, adding points to the Pittsford Score. The Lady Panther Swimmers under the coaching direction of Marty Keating and Beth Dobberstein on this day were beaten, but not one of the swimmers lost. Congratulations Fairport, and see you next year! The Lady Panthers will conclude the season with a banquet at Locust Hill on December 7^th. Good luck to all coaches and swimmers participating as Section V winners at the State Meet this Weekend.