1 Photo
The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls swim team.
The League III Championships in girls swimming is where teams that may not have won regular-season league titles can try to turn the tide, and one extra meet where individual swimmers can qualify for the Suffolk County Swimming Championships.
The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls swim team’s only loss during the regular season was to Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point, so it had a goal in mind of taking full advantage of its second opportunity to take down the reigning league champion. While the Bonackers finished with personal bests in multiple events, it wasn’t enough to topple Sayville, which won the League III Championship with 390 points, ahead of East Hampton’s 308, which placed it second.
“Our girls were awesome competitors, as they never gave up and gave 100 percent in all of their races, pushing themselves and their competitors to their limits,” Bonac head coach Craig Brierley said. “That is a skill they have been embracing all season and they have been reaping the rewards of knowing that when they give their best they can be satisfied with the outcome.
“This meet was a complete team effort,” he added. “For those competing, every race mattered, and for the remainder of the team that was not competing, they were cheering for their teammates, showing good character, selflessness and support. All true signs of success!”
The meet started, as most do, with the 200-yard medley relay, which Vanessa Ricco, Lily Griffin, Ava Castillo and Lizzy Daniels placed second in a season’s best 2:00.65 to get the meet started right for the Bonackers. In the very next event, the 200-yard freestyle, Sayville took the top three placements, but Bonac took the next three to keep themselves right in the hunt. Ginger Griffin placed fourth in 2:18.10, Cybelle Curry finished fifth in 2:18.63 and Lucy Knight placed sixth in 2:20.28. Those three placements earned a solid 30 points for East Hampton.
Some of the biggest improvements came from Bonac freshmen, including Lily Early, who dropped seven seconds in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing fourth in 5:54.96. Ginger Griffin, another freshman, chopped 5.9 seconds in the 200 free.
All three of Bonac’s relay teams finished second to score 78 points toward the overall team score. The highest individual point scorer for East Hampton was junior Lily Griffin, who finished second in both of her events, the 50-yard freestyle (26.42 seconds) and the 100-yard breaststroke (1:12.72), earning 26 points for the team.
As they do after every meet, the Bonac captains chose a Swimmer of the Meet, which was East Hampton junior Ashley Leon. Last season, Leon was close to earning qualifying time for the county championship meet, but she suffered an injury that prevented her from completing the season. Leon came back this season determined to earn that time, and with a lot of hard work and consistency, Leon earned a county qualifying time at the league championship meet. Brierley said that captains pointed out that Leon is a great role model for her younger teammates, “pointing out her perseverance in obtaining a goal she set for herself and also because of her leadership abilities and the way she supports her teammates.”
The Section XI Championships are this Saturday, November 4, at Stony Brook University at 9:30 a.m. The following individuals and teams will be representing Bonac this weekend and doing their best to try to qualify for the state meet. All three of Bonac’s relay teams — 200 medley, 200 free, 400 free — have qualified. Lizzy Daniels has qualified in four different events that includes the 200 IM, 50 free, 500 free and 100 breast. Lily Griffin qualified in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 breast. Ava Castillo and Ginger Griffin each qualified in the 100 fly, Leon qualified in the 100 free, and Izzy Caplin and Mia Luna qualified in the 100 breast.
