The Bethlehem girls swim team had no trouble defending its Section II title.
The Lady Eagles had several top-five finishes to pull away to a 69-point victory over Shenendehowa and take the Division I (large school) title at last weekend’s Sectional meet at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Bethlehem finished with 411 points, while Shen took second with 342 points, two ahead of third-place Saratoga.
Our depth just did it, said Bethlehem coach Doug Gross. `Event after event, when you looked at the (starting) blocks for the finals, you’d see three or four Bethlehem swimmers.`
Mohonasen-Schalmont’s Amanda Vitullo was named the most outstanding swimmer of the Division I meet after posting a victory in the 50-yard freestyle and a second-place finish in the 100 backstroke. The senior edged Albany’s MaryAnn Gaffuri by .06 seconds to win the 50 freestyle in a time of 24.70 seconds and then battled Shen’s Kara Zebrowski and Bethlehem’s Katie O’Donnell in the 100 backstroke. Zebrowski won in a time of 59.10 seconds, while Vitullo took second in a time of 59.71 and O’Donnell placed third in a time of 59.76.
Zebrowski was a double champion for Shen. Besides her victory in the 100 backstroke, the junior won the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:09.21. Saratoga’s Maggie Callesano was second in a time of 2:10.82, and O’Donnell finished third in a time of 2:11.91.
Eighth grader Bethany Powhida led Bethlehem with a victory in the 500 freestyle and a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle. Powhida won the 500 freestyle in a time of 5:14.93, more than 10 seconds ahead of Saratoga junior Alyssa DiFabio, and she finished a close second to Saratoga’s Taylor Sloane in the 200 freestyle with a state meet qualifying time of 1:58.89. Sloane ` who also took first place in the 100 freestyle in a time of 54.26 seconds ` won the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:56.90.
`That was just outstanding,` Gross said of Powhida. `Bethany has been coming on strong for a while, and then last January on (Delmar) Dol-phins, she did some things that opened some eyes.`
Lily Powell also won an individual event for Bethlehem. The sophomore took first place in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:01.47, less than a tenth of a second ahead of Shaker’s Sara Mion.
`Lily had gone that fast in March (with the Dolfins), but she had struggled a bit during the (high school) season,` said Gross. `She was whining, ‘I’m not going as fast as last year,’ and I told her, ‘Don’t worry about it. You’ll be fine.’`
Shen’s Andrea Krok and Kelsey Barbour rounded out the list of individual champions at the Division I meet. Krok won the 1-meter diving competition with a score of 488.65 points, while Barbour took first place in the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:07.95.
Shen also won two of the three relay events. The 200 freestyle relay team of Barbour, Zebrowski, Deborah Korzun and Olivia Samson took first place in a time of 1:40.97, more than two seconds ahead of runner-up Shaker, and the 400 freestyle relay team of Samson, Barbour, Zebrowski and Caitlin Salerno finished first in a time of 3:40.43.
Saratoga’s 200 medley relay team of Callesano, Sloane, Allison Walker and Kathleen Rice won its event in a time of 1:55.50.
The race for the Division II (small school) team title was much closer, as Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake edged Queensbury by one point for first place. BH-BL finished with 388 points despite not having one individual champion, while Queensbury had 387 points.
Niskayuna’s Karoline Hart was the Division II most outstanding swimmer after winning two individual titles. The senior took first place in the 50 freestyle with a time of 25.09 seconds and won the 100 breaststroke in a time of 1:08.20.
Hart was also part of two winning Niskayuna relay teams. Hart joined Emily Whitaker, Kerry Archer and McKenna Murphy on the first-place 200 freestyle relay team (1:42.40) and then teamed up with Whitaker, Murphy and Rachele Marra to win the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:44.89.
Whitaker and Murphy each won individual events for the Silver Warriors. Whitaker took first place in the 200 freestyle in a time of 1:58.37, and Murphy finished first in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.33.“