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Seven Hope To Be At Their Best In Ithaca

Local swimmers, from left: Madison Kramer, Natalie Fosberg, Grace Wood, Allie Stockwell, Karianne Yuchnitz and Abi Lisciandro, gathered at Southwestern’s pool Wednesday night. P-J photo by Jay Young

Six area swimmers and one diver will make the trip to Ithaca College this weekend for the 2018 New York State Public High School Athletic Association Swimming & Diving Championships.

The group representing the Southern Tier includes a veteran presence that will be looking to capitalize on their experience, as well as a pair of fresh faces who will make their first trips to the championships.

Karianne Yuchnitz of Panama needs no introduction to swimming at the highest level, and will now look to finish off her season with a pair of strong performances in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyles.

Yuchnitz holds the No. 9 spot in the 50 with a time of 24.06 while Catherine Stanford of Section VIII Oceanside leads the pack with a 23.31.

“I want to do the best that I can but at the same time it’s like, this is all that I have left, so I’m just going to go for it,” Yuchnitz said.

Now in her final year of competition before graduation, the Panama standout recalled her first visit to the pool in Ithaca.

“I’m not going to lie,” she said, “when I was a sophomore I walked in there and was like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is crazy.’ It’s a good atmosphere though, everyone is kind.”

Allie Stockwell of Jamestown will carry the No. 19 seed into the 50 freestyle with a time of 24.30 while Southwestern’s Natalie Fosberg is at No. 36 with a 24.61.

“I’m hoping to break 24,” Stockwell said. “That has been a real goal of mine for the last couple of years and last year I went 24.26, so I’m right at the line of breaking it.”

Fosberg has represented the Trojans at the state meet for the previous three years, and will now have a chance to continue to her strong postseason performances as a sophomore.

She will also be swimming the 100-yard backstroke in Ithaca, entering at No. 51 with a 59.91, after watching steady progression of her time in that event over the course of the last few months.

“At the beginning of the season in the backstroke I started out with 1:05s which is better than last season,” Fosberg said. “In the 50, I was still going mid-25s. Then when I hit Class (C Championships) it started going down so I ended up going 24s, and my backstroke I ended up going under a minute which is really satisfying for me because I worked so hard and it’s finally paying off.”

In addition to the 50 free, this weekend’s 100-yard freestyle heats will also be littered with local swimmers.

Stockwell holds the highest seed in that race at No. 15 with a 52.61 while Olean’s Alexis Trietley is at No. 16 with a 52.69. Chloe Stepanek of Section XI Northport is the leader with a 50.62. Southwestern’s Grace Wood is at No. 42 with a 53.79 while Yuchnitz is in the No. 48 spot with a 53.88.

Wood also carries the No. 27 spot in the 200-yard freestyle with a 1:54.87 behind Stepanek’s 1:47.63.

“I want to a get a 1:52 in the 200 freestyle and hopefully a 52 in the 100 free as well,” Wood said. “It’s exciting. There are so many fast girls there and the fact that you are on the same level as they are and we all worked so hard to get to this point and this is the last of it.”

While Wood, Fosberg, Stockwell and Yuchnitz know the feeling of anticipation that Friday’s preliminary races will bring, this weekend will be a new experience for both Abi Lisciandro of Panama and Madison Kramer of Falconer.

In her first championships, Kramer holds the No. 46 spot in the 100-yard backstroke with a 59.79. Lauren Aylmer of Section I North Rockland leads with a 55.63.

Kramer swam a faster time at the Section VI Championships, but suffered a disqualification in that race.

“It’s just exciting overall,” Kramer said. “All that hard work paid off.”

Lisciandro will take to the diving board this weekend, holding the No. 29 spot with 461.35 points while Hannah Butler of Section V Brighton is the leader with 569.75.

Getting a chance to take a trip to Ithaca in her final year in the pool has been a welcome bookend for Lisciandro.

“It’s good knowing that I’m going there with someone, and since it is (Karianne) it’s much better,” she said. “I think I got a lot better than I thought I would (throughout the season). It’s been a pretty good year.”

Because of the close-knit nature of the swimming and diving community, having a chance to travel to Ithaca together is a positive experience for this group of athletes that hail from different schools and teams.

“All of the girls from the area really are good friends so that helps,” Southwestern coach Lauren Caldwell said. “For them to get along, they kind of all push each other and that is what makes it fun.”

Friday’s preliminary action will begin at 10:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day, with diving taking place at 2 p.m. Saturday’s finals are scheduled to begin at 10:30.

“It’s nice to ride up with someone that you know and that you are friends with,” Stockwell said. “We all swim on club teams together, we swim against each other so we know each other.”

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