Agon is the proud sponsor of all high school coverage (recruiting, results, state championships, etc.) on SwimmingWorld.com. For more information about Agon, visit their website Agonswim.com.
By Erin Quinn
ITHACA – While the 2015 New York State High School Swim and Dive Championships (NYSPHSAA) are off to fast start at Ithaca College, the preliminary times are nowhere near the barn-burning, record-setting preliminaries of 2014. Last year, all but one record (the 200 free) were broken, most of them at prelims, and all but one at finals. That said, there are some standout swims and swimmers lighting up the waters in sub-zero temps in Ithaca, NY.
Nick Olson, a senior from Brockport, is the top seed in the 50 free with a 20.66, the only swimmer in the meet to go under 21. Olson, who is undecided as to where he’ll swim in college, said that he is leaning towards Old Dominion. The freestyler said that his goal is to go half a second faster in finals tomorrow, which would put him in contention for one of three NYSPHSAA records set last year by Justin Plaschka of Hauppauge, now a freshman at Notre Dame, who went a 20.08 to open up the 200 freestyle relay.
Olson could be a serious contender in the 50 free, as he led his team to a second place seed in the 200 free relay, anchoring with a 19.88. He was the only swimmer in any individual or relay split to crack the 20 second barrier.
Seeded first in tomorrow’s 200 medley relay is St. Anthony’s with a 1:35.58, followed by Pittsford, who clocked at 1:36.22. The public high school record was set in 2014 by this year’s hometown team, Ithaca, with a scorching 1:33.83.
The 200 freestyle had the most state qualifiers with eight heats. Garden City’s Connor Brown, a senior, led the pack with a top seed time of 1:40.64, an All-American Consideration time. He was followed closely by Ithaca’s Kevin Miller, who clocked in at 1:40.97. No one approached Jack Boyd’s NYS Federation record of 1:36.19 in prelims. The public high school record was set by Jeff Williamson in 2013 in 1:36.82. Of note, this was the only event not to have a meet record set in 2014.
Once again, Justin Plaschka set the bar so high last year with a 1:47.83 in the 200 individual medley that even the fastest swimmers this year were not within four seconds of his time. Sophomore Alex Park of Half Hollow Hills punched in a personal best with a 1:52.70 to secure the second seed. The top seed went to St. Anthony’s senior Zachary Towers with a 1:52.02, and third seed to New Paltz’ Emile Kuyl in 1:53.93. Kuyl has committed to John Hopkins University next fall where he plans to swim and study pre-med.
The only two swimmers in prelims to crack the 50 second barrier in the 100 fly were David Stewart of New Rochelle in 49.71 and Noah Stevens of Brighton in 49.79—both AAC times. Ithaca’s Ryan Nicholson, now at Duke University, set the record last year with a 47.76.
The 500 freestyle is poised to be a battle between Connor Brown of Garden City and Kevin Miller of Ithaca, who posted the top two times with a 4:28.88 (Brown) and 4:29.80 (Miller). Pittsford’s Patrick Ransford, now with University of Michigan, holds the meet record with a 4:21.06.
The freestyle young-guns were blazing for the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle relay. Fordham Prep secured the top seed with a 1:25.86, but Brockport was right behind them with a 1:25.91, setting up a duel in the Ithaca College pool tomorrow.
Pine Bush’s Jake Borkowski earned the top seed in the 100 back with a 51.37. Max Willard of Long Beach touched second with a 51.74, while Alex Taber of Bethlehem Central came in third with a 51.88.
Senior Gunther Cassell of Hunnington posted a potentially record-breaking prelim swim in the 100 breast with a blistering 55.59, almost two seconds faster than his closest competitor. The NYS record was set by Ben Cano of Smithtown in 2014 at 54.72.
In the final prelim swim of the New York State Championships, pre-race favorite Fordham Prep clocked a 3:07.64 in the 4×100 free relay.
Submit Your All-America Application