Webster Stops Fairport Swimmers

October 12, 2000 - Opening the meet in the 200 medley relay the team of Erin Legg, Nicole DiBello, Krista Larson, and Becky Potvin grabbed second place in 1:59.95 with Susan Baylor, Courtney Ames, Katie Barbato, and Katelyn Byrnes touching in fifth and Maureen McCullough, Jill Diesel, Brianne Duffy, and Carla Reidy taking sixth. In the 200 Freestyle Christy Breen nabbed second with a season best time of 2:03.66 followed by Kristin Schirmuhly who took fourth in a close fight with a Webster swimmer. Rachel Gelman touched sixth.

The 200 individual medley provided another exciting match-up. Aubrey Kirchoff of Webster won the event in 2:14.81 but DiBello swam a strong second with Legg battling lap for lap and finally pulling out on the final freestyle lap to take third. Megan McGraw touched sixth.

Wrapping up the first section of the meet the sprinters lined up for the 50 free. Krista Larson tied for first with a Webster swimmer; Potvin took fourth place for points, and Katelyn Byrnes took sixth. The score at the end of the 50 free was Webster 38, Fairport 24.

Moving to the diving competition Laurissa Prystaj (currently at the top of the Monroe County leaderboard), Carrie Bryant, and Jen Cole took to the board. The spectators in the packed house witnessed some excellent dives and the divers did their part to boost the Fairport score. Prystaj took first place with 247.49 points, Bryant took second and Cole placed sixth advancing the score to 44-34.

Continuing with the swimming the She-Sharks squared off against tough competition. Webster's Aubrey Kirchoff took first in 1:00.47 followed by Larson in second place in 1:03.24 and Breen in third with a 1:03.56 and Barbato in sixth with 1:08.14. The score was 53-41.

In the 100 free the Warriors extended their lead to 63-47 as Kara Lynn Joyce touched first in 53.75 seconds. For Fairport, Jessica Blaha took second in 57.19 followed by Potvin in fourth, and Kellie Kong in sixth. Jamie Adams took first in the 500 free with a 5:34.64 and DiBello took third with a season best time and McGraw touched fifth for the point bringing the score to 69-57.

The 200 free relay brought the crowd to its feet. The Warriors with 1:42.80 edged the She-Sharks team of Larson, Adams, DiBello, and Blaha who took second in 1:44.09. Breen, Potvin, Byrnes, and Kristin Schirmuhly took third place points in 1:48.62 and the team of Gillian Micoli, Lauren Petersen, McCullough, and Kong touched sixth.

Fairport closed the gap in the 100 back event as Legg nailed first place in 1:05.02 followed by Schirmuhly with a season best time in second and Blaha a close fourth. The score stood at 81-75. Next, Adams pulled out a second victory finishing first in the 100 breast with 1:10.75. Ames touched fifth for the point and Diesel, swimming with an injured shoulder, took sixth.

With the score at 90-82 the She-Sharks needed to take first and second to grab the win. Coach Mike Kennedy split the She-Shark strength to try to get the first and second place needed, but the Warriors took first with 3:54.63 followed by Breen, Baylor, Legg, and Schirmuhly with 3:57.45. Byrnes McGraw, Blaha, and Adams touched third in 3:59.27 and Reidy, Petersen, Micoli, and Gelman touched sixth bringing the final score to Webster 98, Fairport 88.

Originally published in the Perinton-Fairport Post

2000