John Jay swimmers ready for a big finish

Bitsy Gaza of John Jay swims in the butterfly race against Scarsdale. Greg Kaplowitz Photos

John Jay senior co-captain Kayla Clott leaps from the blocks against Scarsdale.

By Jim MacLean

The Fox Lane and John Jay/North Salem girls varsity swim teams were heading across the river to compete in the Section 1 championships. The meet was scheduled to start Nov. 12, with preliminary races, and the top 16 finishers in each preliminary race earned the chance to return Nov. 13 for the Section 1 championship races and a chance to earn a trip to the New York state championships. Fox Lane has been on a roll all season long as the Foxes finished the regular season with an 8-1 dual-meet record and are among the favorites to compete for the team title at the Section 1 finals.

John Jay/North Salem as a combined team is not eligible for team points at conferences and sectionals, but girls can earn individual points and a chance to compete at the state meet.

The Wolves moved up to Conference 2 this season, which John Jay coach Suzanne Guziec feels has helped her team improve throughout the season.

“It has been a solid season overall,” said Guziec. “The shift to Conference 2 was good for us this season and led to some exciting meets. The girls felt positive about the wins and took the losses with grace. The Conference 2 meet saw many PRs (personal records) and season best swims for our girls.”

Leading the way for John Jay/North Salem has been senior captains Bitsy Gaza and Kayla Clott. Guziec praised them for their leadership for a young team with several underclassmen among the top swimmers.

“Our senior captains are longtime members of the team and they brought good energy and made a tremendous effort to organize team bonding activities to build camaraderie,” Guziec said of Clott and Gaza.

Taylor Belloni, Katie O’Donnell and Lily Wagner all earned All-League honors based on their performances at the Conference meet. Other swimmers making big contributions to the results include Abbey Hehman, Cassidy Horel, Delilah Mackof, Doris Schuhow, and Ella Finerty.

John Jay went 5-4 during the regular season in dual meets and competed in the League 2 championship meet for girls to earn a chance to advance to sectionals and then states.

The Section 1 championships are held in the Felix Festa Middle School pool in West Nyack.