The Southwestern duo of Natalie Fosberg and Grace Wood will be joined by Frewsburg/Falconer’s Madison Kramer, Panama/Clymer/Maple Grove’s Hope Marshall, Fredonia/Silver Creek/Forestville’s Victoria Spacciapolli and Fredonia/Silver Creek/Forestville’s Elizabeth Pucci-Schaefer.

Fosberg will compete in both the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke. The junior is coming off a first-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle at the recent Section VI State Qualifier. Fosberg is currently seeded 36th for the state meet in the 50 freestyle with a qualifying time of 24.66 and 60th in the 100 backstroke with a clocking of 1:00.42.

“Natalie came into the season with the goal of making the state qualifying times in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke,” Southwestern coach Dan Thomas said. “She continued to work hard in practice with that goal in mind.

Thomas added: “She had early success and, as with anything, some minor setbacks. She trained hard and trusted the process to get her where she needed to be. She persevered through some tough meets which really impressed me. … This is not her first trip to Ithaca, so she knows what to expect. I think that there will be two things that will be key to her success. First, is her mindset. She needs to go in with the belief that she can compete with the elite swimmers in the state. She has that. Secondly, her turns. We have worked on those all year, getting into and off the wall as fast as possible, especially in the 50 free.”

Frewsburg/Falconer’s Madison Kramer will swim in both the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. P-J file photo

Wood will take part in both the 200-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. The senior enters the state competition seeded 39th in the 200 freestyle (1:56.49) and 59th in the 100 freestyle (54.30).

“Grace is not only a good swimmer, but she is also a good person,” Thomas said. “She has been wonderful to coach and be around this season. She does what is needed to help the team. She is a leader and a role model to all the girls on the team. Watching her work hard, ask questions, and do what she needs to do to get better has been fun to be around. …The key for Grace this weekend is to relax and enjoy the experience. She will be swimming her final high school meet on the biggest stage in the state. If she can get past that emotional aspect and focus on her races, she will do well.”

Frewsburg/Falconer’s Kramer finds herself qualified in two events: the 100-yard butterfly and the 100-yard backstroke. Kramer, a junior, is seeded 61st in the 100 butterfly with a qualifying time of 59.61 and 23rd in the 100 backstroke with a clocking of 58.89.

“(Madison) is a very hard worker (and) a leader by her actions and attitude,” Frewsburg/Falconer coach Bruce Johnson stressed. “She always comes to practice ready to work and improve. We are looking for her to place in the top 20 and get the opportunity to swim in the finals on Saturday. Last year, she had her best time in the preliminaries, but just missed returning. So, this year, with the experience of swimming at this level last year, placing is our goal for this season.”

Marshall, a senior diver for the Panama/Clymer/Maple Grove team, comes into the diving competition seeded 36th with a score of 447.30, a standard she set earlier in the fall.

Southwestern teammate Grace Wood will swim in the 200- and 100-yard freestyles. P-J file photo

“Hope has worked extremely hard this year, putting in a lot of extra time on the board outside of required practices,” Panama/Clymer/Maple Grove diving coach Debbra Bailey explained. “A back injury just prior to the class meet affected her diving during championships, but she pushed through. I am impressed with her tenacity and drive to meet her goals this year. She broke our school six-dive record and made the state cut. … We have worked on consistency and letting go of a bad dive and moving forward. Not letting one dive determine her performance for the rest of a meet. That is probably the biggest goal going into the weekend, taking it dive by dive.”

Spacciapolli, a sophomore for Fredonia/Silver Creek/Forestville, will compete in the 100-yard breaststroke, which she won at the Section VI State Qualifier. She is seeded 22nd for the state meet with her clocking of 1:07.28.

Pucci-Schaefer, who is only a seventh-grader for Fredonia/Silver Creek/Forestville, qualified for the one-meter diving competition with a score of 458.32, which is seeded 27th.

Swimming preliminaries are expected to kickoff at 10:30 a.m. Friday. Finals and consolation finals will take place on Saturday, beginning at 10:30 a.m.

Diving preliminaries, semifinals and finals will all take place Friday, beginning at 2 p.m.

Southwestern’s Natalie Fosberg, above, will compete in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard backstroke at the state meet. P-J file photo