By JIM MACLEAN
In a sport where races can be decided by a fraction of a second, competing at the New York state championships against the best swimmers in the state is a thrill that few swimmers get to experience.
You have to earn it to be there in the pool, and if you make it to the podium it is a memory that will last a lifetime.
Fox Lane had a team of seven swimmers earn a chance to compete in the New York state championships at the Webster Aquatic Center upstate near Rochester on November 22-23, and the Foxes made the most of the trip with several swimmers standing on the podium.
In the first race of the championship finals, Fox Lane finished third in the 200-yard medley relay as Natalie Lovig, Annabel Smith, Kelsey Grayson and Maddie Nurenberg teamed up for a time of 1:47.92. Lovig started it off in the backstroke, followed by Smith in the breaststroke, Grayson in the butterfly, and Nurenberg in the freestyle.
Smith was busy all night long as the senior star shined for the Foxes, competing in two individual events and two relays. She is familiar with the podium as a defending state champion, and she proved once again that she is one of the top swimmers in the state. In the 100-yard breaststroke she finished second with a time of 1:03.79, which met the All-American consideration time. She was also ninth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 53.14.
The senior saved her best for her final race as Smith turned in a thrilling anchor leg on the 400-yard freestyle relay team and helped the Foxes finish third with a time of 3:35.02. Nurenberg led it off, followed by Cattanach and Grayson. Smith entered the water trailing the frontrunners, but finished with a strong leg to lift the Foxes into third place.
With that relay finish, Smith capped off her amazing career with Fox Lane as a state champion and three-time Section 1 champion, and she will move on to compete at the collegiate level next fall at Georgia Tech.
Kelsey Grayson continues to shine as a freshman as she competed in the butterfly and three relay events for Fox Lane at the state finals. She finished sixth in the 100-yard butterfly finals with a time of 56.88, the top freshman in the state.
In addition to being part of the two relays that finished third for the Foxes, Grayson also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay for Fox Lane. The Foxes turned in their best time of the season to finish 13th at the state meet with a time of 1:40.5. The young team of Eva Orscher (eighth-grade), Cattanach (sophomore), Madeline Oh (sophomore), and Grayson (freshman) teamed up for the impressive swim at the state meet.
“Overall we finished fifth in the state, fourth in the federation of public schools, so I’m very pleased,” Fox Lane coach Laurie Kelleher said of her team’s performance at states. “Annabel finished on a high note with her anchor leg of the relay moving them up to third. Kelsey was awesome in the butterfly, and the 200-free relay moved up to 13th with a season best.”