Valley Sports ReportELMIRA — Senior Mira Kittle was a quad-winner, swimming state cut times in all four events, and Waverly won all three relays on its way to a team title here Saturday at the annual Elmira Swimming & Diving Invitational.
Waverly amassed 234 points to claim team gold, while runner-up Horseheads tallied 197.5 points, third-place Maine-Endwell had 189, and fourth-place Corning had 157.
The Wolverines won six events, including a 1-2-3 finish in two freestyle sprints.
One of the relay winners for Waverly — the 200-yard freestyle — was comprised of sophomore Lauryn Welles, and freshmen Megan Atanasoff, Audrey Kellogg and Brynna Twedt, who hit the state cut with a time of 1:41.08.
Kittle and senior Olivia Cheresnowsky swam on the other two winning relays.
They teamed with Atanasoff and freshman Natalie Steck to win the 200-yard medley relay, hitting the state cut time and setting a new pool record with a time of 1:49.23. The previous mark of 1:49.87 was set in 2021 by Horseheads.
The duo teamed with Welles and Kellogg to win the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 3:50.58.
Kittle led a 1-2-3 finish in the 50-yard freestyle, clocking in with a state cut time of 24.03, while Atansoff was second with a state cut time of 24.57, and Welles was third with a personal-best of 25.12 seconds.
Kittle also won the 100-yard backstroke in a state cut time of 57.44 seconds, while Cheresnowsky was third in 1:01.83, and Twedt was 11th in 1:10.28. Freshman Ayla Wheeler was 17th in a season-best 1:15.19.
Atanasoff led a 1-2-3 finish in the 100-yard freestyle, clocking in at 54.48 seconds, while Welles was second with a time of 54.94 seconds, and Kellogg was third at 56.43 seconds. Wheeler was 11th in a season-best time of 1:02.23.
Steck finished third in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:13.09
Senior Lizzy Robinson placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:14.31.
Robinson also placed eighth in the 100-yard butterfly in a personal-best time of 1:09.61.
Twedt was 11th in the 200-yard IM in a personal-best time of 2:34.67.
The Wolverines also had a number of personal-best times on the day:
• 7th-grader Harper Varano in the 200 free (2:39.89) and in the 100 free (1:16.43);
• 7th-grader Emma Paul in the 50 free (36.04 seconds) and in the 100 free (1:24.36);
• 7th-grader Madalyn Draper in the 50 free (38.46 seconds) and in the 100 free (1:25.32); and
• Sophomore Olive Sharpsteen in the 50 free (42.3 seconds) and in the 100 free (1:34.42);
Waverly returns to action Tuesday when it hosts Owego Free Academy.
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IN PHOTO 1: Waverly's Mira Kittle (left) and Olivia Cheresnowsky. IN TOP PHOTO: From left, Megan Atanasoff, Lauryn Welles, and Mira Kittle. ... PHOTOS BY BRIAN FEES.
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