Preiss qualifies for states in two events

Nov 17, 09 11:13 AM   1 member recommended this article

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Eighth-grader Shaina Preiss, center, head coach John McGeehan, right, and former coach Tom Cohill, left, shortly after she qualified for states in her second event on Saturday.

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Eighth-grader Marina Preiss became the first East Hampton swimmer to qualify for the state championships on Saturday and she will represent the Lady Bonackers in two individual events in Rochester this weekend.

All eight members of the team also came home with personal records in one or more events.

Preiss finished second in her heat and fourth overall in the 50-yard freestyle and qualified for states in the event in 24.91 seconds. Her previous record was 25.44 seconds, barely short of the qualifying time of 25.42 seconds.

A short time later, Preiss qualified in the 100-yard freestyle in 55.24 seconds and placed eighth overall. Her previous record in that event was 55.62, which was also just short of the 55.51 seconds needed to qualify.

“She killed it,” Tom Cohill, Preiss’s former coach on the East Hampton Hurricanes said after Preiss swam the 50 free. Cohill handed the varsity team over to current head coach John McGeehan this season, but he joined the girls and their coach to lend a hand on Saturday. He still coaches them on a club team at the East Hampton YMCA. “I’ve coached them for a long, long time,” he said.

“That’s our first state qualifier,” McGeehan said of Preiss, adding, “We’re doing great.”

Preiss was confident that she’d qualify in the 50-yard freestyle, but she wasn’t as sure about the 100-yard race. “I got nervous for that one,” she admitted.

The eighth-grader only began swimming competitively when she joined the Hurricanes last year, but Preiss noted that her mother was a swimmer and her sister swims. With four more seasons to grow before graduation, Preiss said she will definitely improve, but she will inevitably level off at a certain point.

“It gets harder when you get older,” the young swimmer said.

Prior to Preiss’s qualifying finish in the third heat of the 50-yard freestyle, junior Kacey Mallinson clocked 27.27 seconds in the first heat.

East Hampton’s 400-yard freestyle relay team placed second in the county and beat its best time, 3:53, by close to six seconds in the final race of the day. Preiss and sophomores Skye Marigold, Mikayla Mott and Maddie Minetree finished in 3:47.88. McGeehan said the team had an extraordinary time, but the girls needed 3:45.48 to qualify for the state meet.

The same team also placed fifth in the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:58.7 and beat its previous record of 2:00.96. “That was a nice improvement,” Cohill said. The coach said East Hampton didn’t expect to win the meet, but beating past personal records is an accomplishment.

“The whole team should make a statement here by swimming well and look to be in the top 10, top five,” he said, noting that the team can work for the county title in the future.

“Everyone has a personal time they want to beat,” Katelyn Anderson said. A member of the Lady Bonackers, Anderson did not qualify for Saturday’s meet, but she joined her team to take pictures and lend moral support. “We’re satisfied we were third in the division,” she said.

East Hampton finished 3-2 and 5-4 overall in third place behind West Islip and Harborfields in League III and maintained that position in the division meet in Hauppauge on Friday, November 6. The girls exceeded their previous performances on Saturday and finished close behind West Islip and well ahead of Harborfields.

“They just really stepped it up,” McGeehan said, pointing out that East Hampton finished sixth overall among 16 schools and second among League III teams with 188.5 points. The Lady Bonackers were 45.5 points ahead of Harborfields (143 points) and 9.5 points behind West Islip (198 points). “They did a really great job,” McGeehan said.

“Certainly in this meet they swam their best of the year,” he said. “It was nice to see them progress all year.”

Though she was eighth overall, Minetree had a big second-place finish in her heat of the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:05.88. Her previous record was 2:08.11 and she needed 1:59 to qualify for the state meet.

“That’s huge right there,” Cohill said.

Mott was competing for the lead with one other swimmer in the first lap of the 200-yard individual medley, but she fell behind as the race progressed. She finished 10th overall in 2:23.78, beating her best time of 2:24.87.

Mallinson, eighth-grader Morgan German, freshman Laura Gunderson and Pierson sophomore Lydia Florio swam the 200-yard freestyle in 1:49.52 and placed sixth.

Marigold placed seventh overall in the same event with a time of 2:22.04, tying her personal record exactly.

She also finished 11th in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:06.46. Minetree placed ninth in the 500-yard freestyle with 5:38.36, Mott clocked 1:12.2 for fifth place in the 100-yard breaststroke and Florio finished 14th in 1:19.96 before the day was done.