John Jay girls swim team falls in back-to-back meets on the road

Clockwise from top left, Sofia Savchenko competes in butterfly race. Taylor Belloni leaps from the starting blocks. Isabelle Hehman swims butterfly for John Jay. Abbey Hehman smiles as she is congratulated after a race. Greg Kaplowitz photos

By JIM MACLEAN  

The John Jay/North Salem girls swim team knew it would be a tough test with back-to-back meets on the road Monday and Tuesday, and the result was two exciting meets down to the wire, but two losses for the combined team despite their efforts.

After suffering a tough 96-90 loss to Byram Hills/Pleasantville/Valhalla/Westlake on Sept. 15, the John Jay/North Salem squad was back in the water on Tuesday at Marymount in Tarrytown to take on Sleepy Hollow/Edgemont/Irvington and suffered a 90-78 setback.

“This week was pretty tough with two back-to-back league meets against BHPVW and SHEDI, both of whom we expected to be close meets as the teams are fairly well-matched,” said John Jay coach Suzanne Guziec. “Illness and race fatigue were factors, and even though we lost the girls remained motivated and are doing their best to recover and make progress toward their goals. We are hoping the break before our next meet will allow for everyone to recoup and get in some training.”

Against SHEDI at Marymount, Abbey Hehman had a big meet as she won two individual meets and was a member of a winning relay team. She was first in the 200-freestyle race and the 100-freestyle races, and she teamed up with Katie O’Donnell, Cassidy Horel, and Alli Garofalo to win the 400-yard freestyle relay event.

Second-place finishers included Horel in both the 200 Individual medley race and the 500-freestyle, O’Donnell in the butterfly, Garofalo in the backstroke, and Taylor Belloni in the breaststroke.

In the meet against BHPVW at Westchester Community College in Valhalla, John Jay/North Salem had three individual winners to lead the way for the Wolves. Samantha Mischler won the diving event, while Lily Wagner won the 200-freestyle and Belloni won the breaststroke race.

John Jay/North Salem also took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay as O’Donnell, Horel, Garofalo and Abbey Hehman teamed up for the victory.

Second-place finishers included Isabelle Hehman as she was second in two events, the butterfly and 500-freestyle. Abbey Hehman was second in the backstroke, O’Donnell was second in the 200-freestyle, Belloni was second in the Individual Medley, and Garofalo was second in the 100-freestyle.

John Jay/North Salem also suffered a tough loss to rival Horace Greeley, as the Wolves fell to 1-3 overall after opening the season with a 93-75 victory over Bronxville/Tuckahoe.

Leading the way in the victory over Bronxville/Tuckahoe was Abbey Hehman as she was first in the freestyle and first in the backstroke races, and teamed up with O’Donnell, Belloni and Wagner to win the medley relay.

Other first-place finishers were O’Donnell in the butterfly, Ella Finerty in the 500-freestyle, Belloni in the breaststroke, and Cassidy Horel in the 200-freestyle.

Second-place finishers included Isabelle Hehman as she was second in both the 200-freestyle and butterfly. O’Donnell was second in the individual medley. Garofalo was second in the 50-free. Wagner was second in the 500-free, and Finerty was second in the breaststroke.

“We are excited for the season with several strong swimmers returning, including Cassidy Horel, Abbey Hehman, Katie O’Donnell, Lily Wagner, Taylor Belloni and Ella Finerty,” added Guziec. “We are also looking forward to contributions from newcomers, like Alli Garofalo and Isabelle Hehman in swimming, and diver Samantha Mischler. We are in a new league with all merged teams and the talent pool in the league runs deep and that is pushing our athletes. It will be exciting, and I believe that energy will be a powerful driver as the season progresses.”