Fox Lane quartet shines at Section 1 swim championships

Samantha Mishler of John Jay was second in diving. Katie O’Donnell of John Jay leaps from the starting blocks. The Fox Lane relay team of (l to r) Clara Cattanach, Maddie Nurenberg, Kelsey Grayson and Natalie Lovig receive their second-place medals. Greg Kaplowitz photos

By JIM MACLEAN 

Fox Lane keeps inching closer and closer, one place at a time.

Maybe next year will be the charm for the Foxes?

The Fox Lane girls varsity swim team entered the Section 1 swim championship finals at Felix Festa pool in West Nyack on Nov. 10, with high hopes, and the Foxes delivered a strong performance to finish second overall with a total of 284 points, trailing only Ursuline in first at 308, with Scarsdale in third at 256 and Horace Greeley in fourth at 201.

“Two years ago we were fourth, last year we were third, this year second, so we’re moving up,” said Fox Lane coach Laurie Kelleher. “I was happy with the meet, all the girls swam seasonal or personal bests.”

Fox Lane was led by the quartet of Kelsey Grayson, Natalie Lovig, Clara Cattanach and Maddie Nurenberg as those four combined to place second in two relay events while also compiling points in individual events. Grayson, Lovig and Cattanach each earned All-Section honors, and those three will be joined by teammates Nurenberg and Madeline Oh to compete at the New York State championship meet Nov. 21-22 at the Webster Aquatic Center near Rochester.

And all five of them will be back again next year as the Foxes are a young team with just three seniors on the roster.

“The medley and 400 free relays both got second and qualified for states,” explained Kelleher. “Natalie (Lovig) had a fantastic showing, adding two more individual state events to compete in with personal best times in both the Individual Medley and the breaststroke.”

The combined team of John Jay/North Salem also competed in the Section 1 swimming and diving championships, and although the Wolves cannot compete for the team scoring as a combined program, it was a good meet with several strong performances. Both swimmer Abbey Hehman and diver Samantha Mishler earned the chance to compete at the state meet.

“Finals night was a great night for us,” said John Jay coach Suzanne Guziec. “All of our relays dropped time, as did our finalists in individual events. When you end the season with your team swimming at their peak, you know the timing is exactly right.”

Mishler got championship week off to a good start for the Wolves competing in the diving championships Nov. 6, at SUNY Purchase. She finished second overall with a final score of 450.85, trailing only by nine points to eventual champ Ava Turner of Scarsdale, as Mishler qualified for the state meet. Sofia Roberts of Fox Lane finished eighth overall in diving.

All the best swimmers that qualified at the four league meets from Section 1 then gathered for the swimming championships with the trials Nov. 7, at Felix Festa. The top 16 finishers in each event at the trials then advanced to the finals on Monday night.

Grayson came close to winning a title for Fox Lane as she finished second in the butterfly with a time of 56.07. She also finished fifth in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Both events proved to be big point scorers for the Foxes. Especially the butterfly as the Foxes had four swimmers finish in the top 10 with all four meeting the qualifying time for the state meet. In addition to Grayson in second, Cattanach was fourth, Nurenberg was fifth, and Madeline Oh was 10th.

“Yes, butterfly is our strong suit, too bad they don’t have a 400-fly relay,” Kelleher said about the Foxes performance.

In the Individual Medley, Grayson was fifth, Lovig was ninth, and Isabel Valenzuela was 14th for the Foxes.

The 100-yard backstroke was a big event for both teams as Abbey Hehman of John Jay finished fourth with a time of 59.15, and Cattanach of Fox Lane was right behind in fifth at 59.7 as they both qualified for the state meet. Katie O’Donnell of John Jay was close behind in seventh place as she just missed the state time.

Abbey Hehman was seventh in the 200-yard freestyle with teammate Cassidy Horel in 14th place and Nurenberg of Fox Lane in 16th place.

Lovig swam to a fifth-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke for Fox Lane with a personal best time, and Madeline Oh was 15th for the Foxes.

Other top 16 individual finishes at the championship finals included Mia Levey of Fox Lane in ninth-place in the 500-yard freestyle, and teammate Nina Caputo was in 14th. Horel was 12th in the 100-yard freestyle for the Wolves.

The highlight of the evening for Fox Lane came in the relays in the first and last events of the meet. The Fox Lane quartet of Lovig, Cattanach, Grayson and Nurenberg started the night with a second-place finish in the medley relay with a time of 1:49.6 to qualify for the state meet. For John Jay, O’Donnell, Taylor Belloni, Isabelle Hehman and Abbey Hehman teamed up to finish 10th.

That same quartet of Nurenberg, Cattanach, Lovig and Grayson finished off the night with a second-place finish for the Foxes in the 400-yard freestyle with a time of 3:38.55 to qualify for the state meet. John Jay was 10th with Alli Garofalo, O’Donnell, Horel and Abbey Hehman teaming up for the Wolves.

In the 200-yard freestyle relay, Fox Lane was 10th with Valenzuela, Sophia Oh, Leah McNamara and Madeline Oh teaming up for the Foxes, and John Jay was right behind in 11th with Garofalo, Lily Wagner, Isabelle Hehman and Horel teaming up for the Wolves.

Like Fox Lane, John Jay/North Salem will return most of its lineup and Guziec says her team is already excited about next season.

“We leaned heavily into all the girls this season and it was a combined effort from everyone,” Guziec said of her team. “As a whole, our seniors have been incredible and they’ve shown great leadership. O’Donnell has been a powerhouse. She ended her career with her best backstroke time of the season, but fell just short of the state cut. Horel, Belloni, Garofalo, along with the Hehman sisters, have shown tremendous growth and left the pool with some serious goals for next season. Coach Lynn (Garofalo) and I are very proud of what they accomplished and we’re encouraged to hear them say that we will be back “on the hunt” next season, faster, stronger and even more competitive.”