NYSPHSAA GIRLS' SWIMMING: A HISTORIC DAY FOR WAVERLY AS IT BRINGS HOME PAIR OF RELAY STATE MEDALS (24 PHOTOS) (2024-11-23)

By BRIAN FEES
Valley Sports Report
WEBSTER — It was a history making moment for the Waverly girls’ swimming & diving team as the 200 free relay brought home a fifth-place finish at the NYSPHSAA Swimming & Diving Championships.

The finish is the best finish for Waverly girls at the state championships. Only two relays, both Ithaca relays from the past, have been faster in Section 4 history than what the Wolverines swam this year.

“I don’t think we were really thinking about places, we just wanted to drop time, so it’s a really great surprise,” Mira Kittle said.

Kittle, Olivia Cheresnowsky, Lauryn Welles and Megan Atanasoff finished fifth with a school-record time of 1:37.93, a nearly second top from the prelim time of 1:38.61.

“It’s very exciting, and I still think we have room to grow,” Welles said.

Kittle and Cheresnowsky are juniors, Welles is a freshman and Atanasoff an eighth-grader.

As fast as the four swimmers were this year, there is still more time to get faster net year.

“I feel like to get a better time (is the goal for next year),” Kittle said. “Places don’t really matter for us, we just want to drop time.”

“Just drop time (is the goal),” Welles said. “It’s not so much about the places, but how we grow.”

“Keep training and try and drop some more time,” Cheresnowsky said.

Friday wasn’t the perfect day for Kitty. She got disqualified for a false start in the 50 free, where she was the second seed.

Without a 50 free to swim, Kittle was able to focus all her energy on the relay.

“I think it definitely helped,” Kittle said. “That was definitely a component in us dropping time, because I PR’d in it too,” Kittle said. Watching those girls swim (in the 50 final), they were extremely good. I was extremely happy for all of them. I think it’s great they got to go out and swim, but there was definitely a little bit of jealousy in my heart, I didn’t get to go out and swim with them.”

Kittle led off the relay with a time of 23.48, which would have placed her second in the open 50 free. Her time was all-American consideration and is a PR and school record.

While it was tough missing out on the 50 final, the all-American consideration time in the relay made up for a lot of that.

“I feel like it takes almost all of it (the sting of the open 50 free) away,” Kittle said. “The only thing I wish is I Ould have been able to swim my open 50, but I’ll say this to anyone. I don’t care what place I get in any of my events. I just care about my time.”

That all-American consideration time felt really special to Kittle.

“It’s super nice,” she said. “It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was thinking about it all last night and today. I was like I really need to go out there and put down a good time and I’m really happy I did.”

While Kittle had the school-record time, Atanasoff, as an eighth-grader, put up one of the fastest times in program history as the anchor in 24.29. The time by Atanasoff would have been 13th best in the state in the open 50.

“I am really happy with our time,” Atanasoff said of the relay. “I am really happy we moved up.”

The Wolverines eighth-grader was able to swim so well after waiting through the whole meet for the fourth to last event to swim the relay.

“It was pretty tough just waiting,” Atanasoff said. “But, I definitely cheered my teammates when they were swimming and I was happy to do that.”

The Wolverines were seventh in the prelims, before taking fifth on Saturday.

“It’s super exciting we dropped a lot of time and moved up,” Cheresnowsky said.

The relay state medal was the second of the day for the Wolverines who took eighth in the 200 medley relay in a school-record time of 1:51.07 with a team of Kittle, Welles, Cheresnowsky and Natalie Steck.

“It feels great, we are all super excited,” Kittle said of the medley relay medal. “I think we are all in a good mood right now.”

For Wavelry’s swimmers it was their first time making states in the medley relay as a group and they were able to bring home a medal.

“It’s exciting, it’s definitely a good thing for our section and our school to be here and medal,” Welles said.

“It feels good, all our hard work has paid off,” Cheresnowsky said.

Getting a medal to start the day just motivated the Wolverines even more for the rest of the meet.

“We all feel pumped up and in a good mindset for the 200 free relay,” Cheresnowsky said.

Steck is an eighth-grader and was able to medal in her first trip to states.

“It feels really good,” Steck said.

Medaling in the 200 medley relay in their first time swimming the event at states, and jumping 10 spots from their seed to the prelims made things even more special.

“I think it’s really awesome to come in here and just medal,” Kittle said. “Last year we came in the 200 free relay, we didn’t make the podium, this year we came in the medley and got right up there.”

What’s special for the Wolverines is that none of the swimmers at states are seniors.

“We definitely have a lot of room to grow and it brought us together being here and we know we can come back and do even better,” Kittle said.

“I think it’s great knowing we can come back next year and do even better,” Welles said.

“We have a lot of potential, we also have all of next season and over the winter offseason to practice too,” Cheresnowsky said.

With just a five-minute break after the 200 medley relay Kittle came back and took 11th in the 100 backstroke in 58.43, just one spot off a medal.

“It is definitely hard,” Kittle said of back-to-back events, but I feel like I’m used to it. I do it a lot.”

For Kittle being able to swim a good race in the backstroke on Saturday was big.

“I am extremely happy,” she said. “I feel like yesterday I wasn’t in the right mindset. I was tired by the time I got to it and I was upset. Today I cam in and said I still have another individual event to swim, I need to focus on that.”

For Waverly the place doesn’t matter that much, but they are making history with the relay medals, and they have at least thought about competing for state titles next year.

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