A spot in the state meet.

In the 10th event of the night, it looked doubtful any of the area swimmers would qualify with an automatic bid. Well, that was until Frewsburg/Southwestern’s Gannon Moore hopped into the pool for the 100-yard backstroke.

The time to reach for states was set at 54.82 seconds and Moore entered the race in the fifth heat with the second-best seed time of 54.95. If Moore wanted a spot at states, he would need to take first out of 35 swimmers or beat the standard set by the state.

Needing one, Moore went out and got both, hitting a personal-best time of 54.32 that put him just ahead of second-place finisher Andrew Quealy of Clarence, who swam 54.79 — just quick enough to qualify with Moore.

Panama/Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake’s RJ Helt stands on the podium after placing second in the 500 freestyle. P-J photo by Christian Storms

“I’m very proud of him,” said Frewsburg/Southwestern head coach Bruce Johnson. “He’s a very, very hard worker. He’s come close, he’s been coming closer and closer to the state cut. He finally made it tonight on the last swim before the state meet. No one deserves it more than he does, and the nice thing is I think he can still go faster.”

While Moore was the only member of the Frewsburg/Southwestern squad to qualify on Tuesday night, he was not the only swimmer to have a career-best night.

Bears senior Zach Gifford hit two personal-best marks in his individual events, both of which landed him on the podium within the top eight. Gifford posted a 1:50.72 for fifth place in the 200 freestyle and took sixth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:07.14, which was almost 8 seconds better than his seed time.

Gifford was not the top Bears’ swimmer in the 500 freestyle, rather it was Logan Hren who took fourth place with a time of 5:02.41. Hren also took 13th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 59.10.

Grady Moore also had two ninth-place finishes, a personal best 2:11.78 in the 200 individual medley and a 56.59 in the 100 butterfly.

Jamestown/Falconer’s Conner Dean takes third in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:05.54. P-J photo by Christian Storms

The last personal best from Frewsburg/Southwestern was by Ethan Luce in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.43.

“We’ve been kind of holding on the last couple of days,” Johnson said. “Our kids had a solid night. I think a few of our kids got intimidated by the really fast kids, but it was a good learning experience. Most of them will be back next year.”

Also reaching the podium was Jamestown/Falconer’s Conner Dean in two events. Dean earned seventh place in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:07.95 and a third-place medal in the 200 IM after posting a time of 2:05.54. Dean was just out touched in the medley, as Orchard Park’s Austin Carducci swam a personal-best time of 2:05.53 to just narrowly beat Dean.

While Dean missed out on a second-place medal by 0.01 seconds, Panama/Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake’s RJ Helt swam almost 20 seconds faster than his seed time to steal the second-place spot in the 500 freestyle. Helt — already qualified for states in the 100 and 200 — had his eyes set on school records on Tuesday night. With his time of 4:56.95, Helt snagged both the Panama/Maple Grove/Chautauqua Lake school record and a second-place medal.

Jamestown/Falconer’s Aidan McCleery also hit a personal best in two podium finishes for the Red Raiders. McCleery took sixth in the 100 freestyle with a time of 50.02 and swam a personal best for seventh in the 200 freestyle at 1:51.79.

From the North County, Dunkirk/Fredonia/Forestville’s Adam Fred was part of two school record-breaking swims. Fred broke the 42-year-old 100 butterfly record, setting a new mark of 56.51 with an eighth-place finish. Fred also joined Trenton Krenzer, Matthew Dunn and Steven Zentz, who combined to break the 400 freestyle relay record from 2000 with a time of 3:35.37.