Norwich swimmers battle to keep perfect record
Frank Speziale Photo
NORWICH – With the whole team battling sickness and one of Norwich’s top scoring swimmers still sidelined with an injury, the Purple Tornado pulled off their third meet win of the season over non-conference opponent Holland Patent, 97-70.
Right out of the gate, Norwich’s head coach Saundra Gantt had to mix up the lineup as Melissa Stroh was unable to swim due to illness. Stroh is the first Tornado swimmer in the pool as the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay.
Gantt moved Kaitlyn Blaisure to the backstroke and place Ashton Wenzel in the freestyle portion of the race. Joined by Margie Winter and Maya Blaisure, the Norwich team finished the race in 2:00.31 for first.
In the 200 yard freestyle, the Purple Tornado captured 11 of the 15 points handed out with Maya Blaisure capturing first, Riley Revoir coming in third and Abigail Natoli following in right behind at fourth.
Holland Patent’s first win of the meet came in the 200 yard individual medley relay as Arianna Lange came in at a time of 2:38.14. Wenzel took second for the event, aiding in more points for the home team.
Winter sprinted the next race, the 50 yard freestyle, in 26.58 seconds. Her time was nearly two seconds faster than the second place swimmer from Holland Patent.
The Golden Knights had one diver compete, giving six points to the visiting team as Norwich has no divers on the roster. Erin Shivas of Holland Patent scored 164.80 on her dives from the 3-meter diving board.
Norwich captured the six points right back and then some as Winter and teammate Aurora Shtrauch finished 1-2 in the 100 yard butterfly race.
Shtrauch was neck-and-neck with Holland Patent’s Olivia Smith after the first spilt. The Norwich swimmer pulled away in the second length of the pool, finishing three seconds ahead of Smith.
In the 100 yard freestyle, Kaitlyn Blaisure led the event after the first leg by .4 of a second but the Golden Knights’ Maggie McGuire turned on the motor in the second split to edge out the Tornado swimmer by .05 seconds, capturing first place for the event.
Maya Blaisure took on the long-distance event of the 500 yard freestyle race. She finished the race in 5:53.84 for first and six points for Norwich. Emerson Burton placed third in the event as well.
The Purple Tornado team secured more points for their team total by winning the next three events of the meet – the 200 yard freestyle relay, 100 yard backstroke and the 100 yard breaststroke.
In the relay event, Norwich captured their second 1-2 finish of the evening with Winter, Shtrauch, Wenzel and Maya Blaisure taking first and teammates Maddie Loeffler, Tanner Olds, Natoli and Jasmine Potter coming in second place.
Kaitlyn Blaisure swam to a time of 1:08.48 in the 100 yard backstroke to win her first individual event of the meet, shaking off the loss from earlier in the night. She won the event by three seconds.
The third and final 1-2 finish for Norwich was won by Revoir in the 100 yard breaststroke and teammate Wenzel capturing second place.
Holland Patent won the last event of the evening, the 400 yard freestyle relay. The Norwich relay teams placed second and third in the event.
“We took last night off from strength training due to the illness going around and it paid off well for us,” said Gantt. “We swam great relay splits and 15-plus best times throughout the team while getting the win.”
The Purple Tornado will be in the pool again on Friday when they face Owego. Meet is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.
NORWICH – With the whole team battling sickness and one of Norwich’s top scoring swimmers still sidelined with an injury, the Purple Tornado pulled off their third meet win of the season over non-conference opponent Holland Patent, 97-70.
Right out of the gate, Norwich’s head coach Saundra Gantt had to mix up the lineup as Melissa Stroh was unable to swim due to illness. Stroh is the first Tornado swimmer in the pool as the backstroke leg of the 200 medley relay.
Gantt moved Kaitlyn Blaisure to the backstroke and place Ashton Wenzel in the freestyle portion of the race. Joined by Margie Winter and Maya Blaisure, the Norwich team finished the race in 2:00.31 for first.
In the 200 yard freestyle, the Purple Tornado captured 11 of the 15 points handed out with Maya Blaisure capturing first, Riley Revoir coming in third and Abigail Natoli following in right behind at fourth.
Holland Patent’s first win of the meet came in the 200 yard individual medley relay as Arianna Lange came in at a time of 2:38.14. Wenzel took second for the event, aiding in more points for the home team.
Winter sprinted the next race, the 50 yard freestyle, in 26.58 seconds. Her time was nearly two seconds faster than the second place swimmer from Holland Patent.
The Golden Knights had one diver compete, giving six points to the visiting team as Norwich has no divers on the roster. Erin Shivas of Holland Patent scored 164.80 on her dives from the 3-meter diving board.
Norwich captured the six points right back and then some as Winter and teammate Aurora Shtrauch finished 1-2 in the 100 yard butterfly race.
Shtrauch was neck-and-neck with Holland Patent’s Olivia Smith after the first spilt. The Norwich swimmer pulled away in the second length of the pool, finishing three seconds ahead of Smith.
In the 100 yard freestyle, Kaitlyn Blaisure led the event after the first leg by .4 of a second but the Golden Knights’ Maggie McGuire turned on the motor in the second split to edge out the Tornado swimmer by .05 seconds, capturing first place for the event.
Maya Blaisure took on the long-distance event of the 500 yard freestyle race. She finished the race in 5:53.84 for first and six points for Norwich. Emerson Burton placed third in the event as well.
The Purple Tornado team secured more points for their team total by winning the next three events of the meet – the 200 yard freestyle relay, 100 yard backstroke and the 100 yard breaststroke.
In the relay event, Norwich captured their second 1-2 finish of the evening with Winter, Shtrauch, Wenzel and Maya Blaisure taking first and teammates Maddie Loeffler, Tanner Olds, Natoli and Jasmine Potter coming in second place.
Kaitlyn Blaisure swam to a time of 1:08.48 in the 100 yard backstroke to win her first individual event of the meet, shaking off the loss from earlier in the night. She won the event by three seconds.
The third and final 1-2 finish for Norwich was won by Revoir in the 100 yard breaststroke and teammate Wenzel capturing second place.
Holland Patent won the last event of the evening, the 400 yard freestyle relay. The Norwich relay teams placed second and third in the event.
“We took last night off from strength training due to the illness going around and it paid off well for us,” said Gantt. “We swam great relay splits and 15-plus best times throughout the team while getting the win.”
The Purple Tornado will be in the pool again on Friday when they face Owego. Meet is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.
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