SYRACUSE - They might not have been able to repeat, but they still dominated the pool as much as they did last year. Maybe, even more so.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
Auburn's Pat O'Donovan celebrates his record-setting finish in the 100 backstroke at the Section III championships on Saturday afternoon. O'Donovan set a sectional record with a 50.97 finish in the event.
Auburn's Pat O'Donovan celebrates his record-setting finish in the 100 backstroke at the Section III championships on Saturday afternoon. O'Donovan set a sectional record with a 50.97 finish in the event.
The Auburn boys swim team finished third in the Section III finals at Nottingham High School on Saturday, but any disappointment was swayed when they left the pool with six first-place finishes - more than half of the swimming events.
“We won sectionals last year, so we got it out of our system,” Maroons assistant coach Luke Ferrin joked.
Jamesville-Dewitt/Christian Brothers Academy earned the Section III title this season with 310 points. West Genesee placed second, followed by the Maroons with 272 points. Mexico and Liverpool rounded out the top five. Class B runner-up Weedsport placed ninth with 84.5 points out of the 29 schools that competed. The Warriors' Kate Scarbrough, the Class B champion diver, finished sixth (381.90 points) out of 16 divers in the finals.
Out of 12 swimmers that Auburn competed with - not including their two independent swimmers (Brian Stokes, Reid Swartz) from Skaneateles - the Maroons will send four to the NYSPHSAA meet in Nassau County Aquatic Center from Feb. 29 to March 1 in Long Island.
To qualify for the state meet, swimmers had to finish first in their event, or come in under the allotted time. The Maroons' quartet solidified their spots by winning more events than any other team. Sean McNamara, Preston Chafee, Lucas Zelehowsky and Pat O'Donovan earned their state meet spot in the 200 medley relay in the preliminary round on Thursday, when they also earned automatic All-American selections. On Saturday, they secured a great ranking by shaving nearly a half second off from Thursday with a 1:36.67 for an easy first place.
“We were all really excited for that event,” McNamara said. “We have a good chance to take states in that one. Right now, were first in states by about three seconds, so we'll see how we do.”
“I think we'll do a lot better this year at states in that event,” Chaffee added. “The fact that we lost in Class A schools is canceled out by the fact that we made All-American cut times. I don't think there have been any All-Americans in this section in the past five or six years.”
After eighth-grader Adam Zelehowsky came in seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:52.60), his older brother Lucas took second by a hair in the 200 individual medley (1:55.74), behind his rival, Westhill's Dan O'Connor (1:55.42). Lucas Zelehowsky won the event last year.
“They swim together for Lansing,” Ferrin said. “Lucas definitely wanted to win that one.”
The sophomore finally got his win, in the 100 butterfly three events later. He earned his team 20 points with a 52.44 time. His teammate Justin Sawran came in 14th (1:00.58), behind Weedsport's Matt Crowley in 11th (58.64).
“I'm really happy, because right now I'm seeded pretty well for states,” Zelehowsky said of his win.
Chaffee came in eighth in the 200 IM (2:06.93) and will join Zelehowsky in competing in it at states.
Despite being sick, McNamara dominated the 50 freestyle to take first (21.53) over Liverpool's Chad Miller. The Maroons senior co-captain swallowed some water in the 50 freestyle and choked on Thursday and was still feeling under the weather in the finals.
“My throat's pretty sore,” McNamara said. “But I came off the wall, and the other day, I came off the wall and saw I had the lead. Today, I came off the wall and saw a body right next to me and I was pretty excited to win.”
McNamara had a chance at doubling his personal wins in the 100 freestyle, but in the lane next to him, O'Donovan came away with his first individual win of the meet (47.68). McNamara came in a close third, behind West Genesee's Kyle Crompton.
In the most memorable race of the day, O'Donovan flew to a win in the 100 backstroke (50.97), setting a new Section III record and earning Swimmer of the Year honors. Ironically though, it was his first win of the day that decided the award.
“Last year, I won the freestyle on the first day, but came in second on the second day, so I was a little worried that I'd do that again,” O'Donovan said. “I knew it would come down to if I won the 100 or not. It was going to be me or Sean that won it and who ever did that was getting Swimmer of the Year. It's kind of cool.”
After colliding with a lane line on Thursday in the 100 backstroke, but still finishing with a state qualifying time of 51.29, it wasn't what O'Donovan did differently that earned him a better time, but what he didn't do.
“I was really surprised that I swam that fast, but I went out there and didn't think about it,” O'Donovan said. “I did it yesterday, so I knew I could come out and do it today.
“Coming off my first turn on Thursday, I hit a lane line and I was four-tenths of a second off the record and I knew that if I didn't hit it, I would have made it. But I didn't even worry about it today. I didn't think at all, I just went out and swam.”
In the two events before O'Donovan set the bar a little higher for every swimmer in the section, Chaffee placed ninth in the 500 freestyle (5:06.15), followed by his teammate John Tehan in 10th (5:06.83).
“Last year, I won Class A with a 5:04 and this year, I swam a 5:03 (in the preliminary round) and didn't even make top eight, so the whole thing was a lot faster this year,” Chaffee said.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Luke Baker, Justin Spencer, Sean Wignall and Nathan Earl placed seventh (1:36.20) for the Warriors. In the 200 medley relay, Baker, Wignall, Earl and Crowley came in fifth overall (1:45.49). Earl placed 14th in the 200 IM (2:14.74), while Crowley also scored for his team in 16th place (2:16.92). Wignall earned 11th place in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.53) and Earl finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (59.45). Auburn's Adam Zelehowsky also competed in the same heat as O'Donovan and Earl - he came in eighth (1:08.60).
For their final win of the meet, Auburn edged J-D/CBA in the 400 freestyle relay (3:15.42).
“We were disappointed that we didn't win (sectionals), but overall the best times we got were incredible, so we're satisfied,” Lucas Zelehowsky said.
Weedsport's Spencer, Reese, Crowley and Quenton Grutzik earned 11th in the final event (3:33.21).
Though they didn't repeat as improbable Section III champions, Auburn will be competing in more events in states than any other squad. This year, that's good enough for them.
“(J-D/CBA) had more depth than us,” Auburn coach Rich Hamberger said. “We brought just 12 kids over, so we're no disappointed. There were a lot of fast kids this year, but I think we kept up pretty well.”
“We won sectionals last year, so we got it out of our system,” Maroons assistant coach Luke Ferrin joked.
Jamesville-Dewitt/Christian Brothers Academy earned the Section III title this season with 310 points. West Genesee placed second, followed by the Maroons with 272 points. Mexico and Liverpool rounded out the top five. Class B runner-up Weedsport placed ninth with 84.5 points out of the 29 schools that competed. The Warriors' Kate Scarbrough, the Class B champion diver, finished sixth (381.90 points) out of 16 divers in the finals.
Out of 12 swimmers that Auburn competed with - not including their two independent swimmers (Brian Stokes, Reid Swartz) from Skaneateles - the Maroons will send four to the NYSPHSAA meet in Nassau County Aquatic Center from Feb. 29 to March 1 in Long Island.
To qualify for the state meet, swimmers had to finish first in their event, or come in under the allotted time. The Maroons' quartet solidified their spots by winning more events than any other team. Sean McNamara, Preston Chafee, Lucas Zelehowsky and Pat O'Donovan earned their state meet spot in the 200 medley relay in the preliminary round on Thursday, when they also earned automatic All-American selections. On Saturday, they secured a great ranking by shaving nearly a half second off from Thursday with a 1:36.67 for an easy first place.
“We were all really excited for that event,” McNamara said. “We have a good chance to take states in that one. Right now, were first in states by about three seconds, so we'll see how we do.”
“I think we'll do a lot better this year at states in that event,” Chaffee added. “The fact that we lost in Class A schools is canceled out by the fact that we made All-American cut times. I don't think there have been any All-Americans in this section in the past five or six years.”
After eighth-grader Adam Zelehowsky came in seventh in the 200 freestyle (1:52.60), his older brother Lucas took second by a hair in the 200 individual medley (1:55.74), behind his rival, Westhill's Dan O'Connor (1:55.42). Lucas Zelehowsky won the event last year.
“They swim together for Lansing,” Ferrin said. “Lucas definitely wanted to win that one.”
The sophomore finally got his win, in the 100 butterfly three events later. He earned his team 20 points with a 52.44 time. His teammate Justin Sawran came in 14th (1:00.58), behind Weedsport's Matt Crowley in 11th (58.64).
“I'm really happy, because right now I'm seeded pretty well for states,” Zelehowsky said of his win.
Chaffee came in eighth in the 200 IM (2:06.93) and will join Zelehowsky in competing in it at states.
Despite being sick, McNamara dominated the 50 freestyle to take first (21.53) over Liverpool's Chad Miller. The Maroons senior co-captain swallowed some water in the 50 freestyle and choked on Thursday and was still feeling under the weather in the finals.
“My throat's pretty sore,” McNamara said. “But I came off the wall, and the other day, I came off the wall and saw I had the lead. Today, I came off the wall and saw a body right next to me and I was pretty excited to win.”
McNamara had a chance at doubling his personal wins in the 100 freestyle, but in the lane next to him, O'Donovan came away with his first individual win of the meet (47.68). McNamara came in a close third, behind West Genesee's Kyle Crompton.
In the most memorable race of the day, O'Donovan flew to a win in the 100 backstroke (50.97), setting a new Section III record and earning Swimmer of the Year honors. Ironically though, it was his first win of the day that decided the award.
“Last year, I won the freestyle on the first day, but came in second on the second day, so I was a little worried that I'd do that again,” O'Donovan said. “I knew it would come down to if I won the 100 or not. It was going to be me or Sean that won it and who ever did that was getting Swimmer of the Year. It's kind of cool.”
After colliding with a lane line on Thursday in the 100 backstroke, but still finishing with a state qualifying time of 51.29, it wasn't what O'Donovan did differently that earned him a better time, but what he didn't do.
“I was really surprised that I swam that fast, but I went out there and didn't think about it,” O'Donovan said. “I did it yesterday, so I knew I could come out and do it today.
“Coming off my first turn on Thursday, I hit a lane line and I was four-tenths of a second off the record and I knew that if I didn't hit it, I would have made it. But I didn't even worry about it today. I didn't think at all, I just went out and swam.”
In the two events before O'Donovan set the bar a little higher for every swimmer in the section, Chaffee placed ninth in the 500 freestyle (5:06.15), followed by his teammate John Tehan in 10th (5:06.83).
“Last year, I won Class A with a 5:04 and this year, I swam a 5:03 (in the preliminary round) and didn't even make top eight, so the whole thing was a lot faster this year,” Chaffee said.
In the 200 freestyle relay, Luke Baker, Justin Spencer, Sean Wignall and Nathan Earl placed seventh (1:36.20) for the Warriors. In the 200 medley relay, Baker, Wignall, Earl and Crowley came in fifth overall (1:45.49). Earl placed 14th in the 200 IM (2:14.74), while Crowley also scored for his team in 16th place (2:16.92). Wignall earned 11th place in the 100 breaststroke (1:06.53) and Earl finished fourth in the 100 backstroke (59.45). Auburn's Adam Zelehowsky also competed in the same heat as O'Donovan and Earl - he came in eighth (1:08.60).
For their final win of the meet, Auburn edged J-D/CBA in the 400 freestyle relay (3:15.42).
“We were disappointed that we didn't win (sectionals), but overall the best times we got were incredible, so we're satisfied,” Lucas Zelehowsky said.
Weedsport's Spencer, Reese, Crowley and Quenton Grutzik earned 11th in the final event (3:33.21).
Though they didn't repeat as improbable Section III champions, Auburn will be competing in more events in states than any other squad. This year, that's good enough for them.
“(J-D/CBA) had more depth than us,” Auburn coach Rich Hamberger said. “We brought just 12 kids over, so we're no disappointed. There were a lot of fast kids this year, but I think we kept up pretty well.”
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