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Area Swimmers Compete At Ithaca Beginning Today

Above are the area swimmers who will be competing at the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships at Ithaca College, beginning today. In the first row, from the left, are Allie Stockwell of Jamestown, Megan Seeley and Rosie Hagel of Southwestern, and Karianne Yuchnitz of Panama. In the back row are Maddie Nelson, Natalie Fosberg and Grace Wood, all of Southwestern. Missing is Riley Drummond of Fredonia/Dunkirk/Silver Creek/Forestville/Brocton. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

The New York State Public High School Athletic Association Swimming and Diving Championships kick off at Ithaca College today, and the western Southern Tier is well-represented.

Three girls will be particularly visible in the 50-yard freestyle, thanks to qualifying times from Karianne Yuchnitz of Panama, Allie Stockwell of Jamestown and Natalie Fosberg of Southwestern.

After earning Panama its first-ever individual Section VI title with a time of 23.97 at the Burt Flickinger Center two weeks ago, Yuchnitz will look to continue her stellar season with an individual state championship as she enters today’s preliminary heats with a No. 4 overall seed.

This will be the second year in a row that the junior has qualified for the state meet in the 50-yard freestyle as well as the 100-yard freestyle.

“She’s been swimming so well. She’s broken her school record numerous times,” said Panama coach Todd Conklin. “The ultimate goal is obviously to come home with a state title, but a top-three finish is really what we’re focusing on.”

Yuchnitz will also be looking to move towards the All-American time of 23.63 in the 50-yard freestyle.

“If we can get in that 23.63 range then she has as good a shot as anybody at that state title,” Conklin added. “We’ve worked a lot on the little things these last few days. I think she is ready and nervous in the same breath. She is a gamer, she loves the big meets and she loves to compete. I would bet on her all day long.”

Yuchnitz was followed closely at the Section VI meet in the 50- and 100-yard freestyles by Stockwell, who also picked up qualifying times in both events in addition to the 100-yard backstroke.

Also a junior, Stockwell has spent much of her season in the pool chasing and breaking her own records and has chosen to focus on both freestyle events in Ithaca despite her qualifying time in the backstroke.

“She got to the very end of the year and ended up breaking two school records in the 50 and 100 back, which were her records from last year,” said Jamestown coach Mitchell Simons. “She obviously would like to have her times lowered. She’s worked hard and I feel that she’s set her goals.”

Joining Yuchnitz and Stockwell in the 50-yard freestyle is Fosberg, who punched her individual ticket to the state meet after finishing one-hundredth of a second ahead of the qualifying time.

This will also be the second year in a row that Fosberg heads to Ithaca, as she and the Southwestern Lady Trojans look to improve on last year’s showing in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Joining Fosberg in the pool for that event will be Grace Wood, Maddie Nelson and Megan Seeley. Rosie Hagel is the alternate.

“The dynamic works really well,” Southwestern coach Lauren Caldwell said of her freestyle team. “I know that a couple of my girls can go a little bit faster, so we are hoping that we can drop maybe a second or two.”

Southwestern will have the benefit of a few swimmers with state meet experience, as Wood returns to Ithaca for the second time with an individual qualifying time in the 200-yard individual freestyle in addition to her spot on the relay team.

The sophomore clocked a time of 1:57.22 at the Section VI championships, tying Alexis Trietley of Olean for third and achieving a goal that was flying under the radar for her teammates and coaches.

“Grace had (that time) taped on her mirror, so she could see it and not herself. That’s been her personal goal to get to the New York State cut,” said Caldwell. “She didn’t let any of us know that, but we kept pushing her like she wanted to go. Right at sectionals she dropped that time.”

While heading all the way to the state championships can be a different challenge for individual swimmers, Caldwell is happy that her group will have the benefit of experience from years past.

“It’s really great, because if they have already been there they understand how the meet works, the level of competition and what they are up against.”

While individual times and championships tend to be the focus during this point in the swimming season, CCAA coaches and athletes are just as happy to see so much success across the board in Section VI.

“That’s just our little CCAA conference and you know we’ve got some good swimming down in this area,” said Conklin. “We really have (not only) a good group of kids, but a (good) group of coaches.”

Adding to the local talent is Riley Drummond of Fredonia/Dunkirk/Silver Creek/Forestville/Brocton, who will be making the trip to Ithaca in the 200-yard individual medley with a state-qualifying cut of 2:09.63 at the Section VI meet, as well as the 100-yard backstroke with another qualifying cut of 56.64 seconds.

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