Five members of the Jamesville-DeWitt girls swim team will be headed to Ithaca College to compete at the New York State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships on November 22-23. The Red Rams will have athletes participating in four events: the 100 freestyle, the 200 freestyle, the 200 freestyle relay, and the 200 medley relay.
Amelia Hesler will participate in all four events for J-D. She won both the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle at the sectional meet earlier this year, with times of 52.59 and 1:53.45 respectively. With this being Hesler’s fifth trip to the state meet, she said that she feels less nervous this year, and is ready to focus on improving her times. “I’m not really worried about my ranking, I’m more worried about trying to do the best that I can. Hesler will look to break the school record in the 100 freestyle, which currently sits at 52.47, set by Alden Coyne in 2015.
The relay teams for the Red Rams will feature swimmers from each grade. The 200 freestyle relay team, which came in first place at sectionals, is headlined by Hesler, a senior. Senior Julia Antoine, junior Emily Ninestein, and freshman Gwen Lister will compete with her in that event. The 200 medley relay team is made up of Hesler, Ninestein, Lister, and sophomore Sofia Bebla.
Ninestein says that the team aims to reach the finals in the 200 freestyle relay, which would require breaking into the top 30 in the preliminary rounds. The Rams are ranked as the 30th best team in this event heading into states.
Jamesville-DeWitt went 9-2 in the regular season, losing close meets to CNY rivals Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy. However, their 9-2 record was still good enough to earn the best record in the SCAC Empire league.
At the sectional meet, J-D came in second place, being edged out again by CBA. However, a record high 30 swimmers qualified to compete at sectionals. Also, six athletes or relay teams were able to place in the top three of their event. This included each member of the team that will compete at states, as well as sophomore Abby McGuire. McGuire came in second place in the diving event, with a score of 362 points.For more details on the state meet, go to Girls Swimming and Diving Championships.
