Tom Cohill, head coach of the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter’s youth swim team, the Hurricanes, said on returning from a large regional Winterfest meet at the University of Maryland last weekend that he was “incredibly proud of our team. It was an extraordinarily competitive meet, and our athletes performed at a very high level. We’re looking strong as we head for the states and nationals.”
The state Y meet is to be held in Buffalo over the March 17-19 weekend. East Hampton is the defending champion. The nationals are to be contested in Greensboro, N.C., from April 3 through 7.
“We started off great on Friday evening,” Angelika Cruz, one of Cohill’s assistants, said in an emailed report. “Summer Jones, in finishing fifth in the 15-to-19-year-old 500 freestyle race, dropped almost two seconds from her previous-best time. The 13-and-overs also swam in prelims on Friday evening and Saturday morning with several best times. Congratulations to our six finalists: Daisy Pitches in the 13-14 girls 50 free, 200 free, 100 backstroke, and 200 individual medley; Miles Menu in the 13-14 boys 50 free and 200 free; Liam Knight in the 13-14 boys 100 back; Cami Hatch in the 15-19 girls 100 back, and Jane Brierley and Summer Jones in the girls 15-19 100 fly.”
Those swimming personal best times in Friday’s preliminary heats were Nicky Chavez, Lizzie Daniels, Jasiu Gredysa, Ginger Griffin, Knight, Ben Kriegsman, Menu, Brierley, Lily Griffin, and Jones.
In Saturday’s prelim session for 12-and-under boys and girls, Luna qualified for the 50 breastroke final, and the following swam personal-best times: Avienne O’Shea, Raegin Poitras, and Heidi Rizzo in the 10-and-under group and Vanessa Rizzo and Ariel Ruggiero in the 11-12 division.
Luna tied for second in the 11-12 girls’ 50 breaststroke in Saturday’s finals; Pitches finished fifth in the 13-14 girls’ 50 freestyle, sixth in the 200 individual medley, seventh in the 200 freestyle, and 16th in the 100 backstroke; Knight finished 13th in the 13-14 boys’ 100 free and 100 back; Menu, in that same age group, placed 15th in the 200 free and 16th in the 50 free; Brierley finished eighth in the 15-19 girls’ 100 butterfly; Hatch, in that age group’s 100 backstroke, placed seventh, and Jones was fourth in the 100 butterfly.
East Hampton’s 10-and-unders and 11-to-12-year-olds “had another great session on Sunday with lots of best times,” Cruz said. “Mia Luna once again swam a best time in qualifying for the 100 breaststroke finals, and swam a best time in the 50 fly.” In addition, Cruz said, O’Shea, Poitras, Evelyn Rizzo, and Heidi Rizzo swam personal bests in the 10-and-under division, and, in the 11-12 group, Molly Grande and Lucy Knight, as well as Luna, recorded personal records.
In Sunday’s finals, in the 15-18 girls’ category, Jones placed second in the 200 butterfly, Brierley, a state champion in the 100 breaststroke, finished fourth in that event, and the 200 medley relay team of Jones, Hatch, Brierley, and Pitches, who finished seventh, qualified for the Y nationals.
Also in Sunday’s finals, Luna placed third in the 11-12 girls’ 100 breaststroke; Pitches was ninth in the 13-14 girls’ 200 backstroke and 10th in the 100 free; Lizzie Daniels placed 15th in the 13-14’s 100 breaststroke, and Liam Knight, in the boys 13-14 age group, finished 15th in the 200 back and 16th in the 100 free.
In other swimming news this week, East Hampton High’s boys swimming team, which is coached by Craig Brierley, lost 55-44 at West Islip, the defending league champion, whose score was augmented by 7 diving points. East Hampton does not compete in diving.
“Having to compete in a four-lane pool, as theirs is, took away from some of our depth,” Brierley said in an emailed report, adding that “the boys continue to race well and are consistently putting up best times. We went one-two, with Tenzin Tamang and Liam Knight, in the 200 individual medley, and one-three in the 200 free relay, but West Islip had just enough firepower to win.”
Jack O’Sullivan, an East Hampton junior, was named as swimmer of the meet by the captains. At West Islip he swam a best time in the 50 free, was a member of the winning 200 free relay team, and swam the first leg for the 400 free relay team, which finished second.
The loss dropped East Hampton to 2-3 in league competition. Today is the team’s last home meet, at 5:30, before which the seniors — Nicky Badilla, Ottavio Petrosino, Daniel Rossano, Tamang, and Luke Tarbet — are to be honored.