Swimmers sweep final regular season meets
Hawkeyes beat RFA on senior night and top S-E on the road
(The 2023-24 boys swimming team has completed its regular-season and will begin the post-season Friday in Rome. Contributed photo.)
Coach John Hodgson returns with a recap of this week’s meets:
BOYS SWIMMING
Cooperstown 58, Sherburne Earlville 32.
Our 2023-24 regular season record concluded Friday, Jan. 19, in Sherburne. We finished 9-2, with the second best record in the league behind Class A New Hartford, who went undefeated this year.
We had five PRs last night, which is amazing after a very intense meet on Thursday.
Henry Ayers had a 2:17.98 in the 200 freestyle, a sectionals time.
Noah Harding swam 31.84 in the 50 free, beating his previous time of 31.87.
Hayden Spencer went 1:12.15 in the 100 freestyle, taking off more than a second from his previous 1:13.44.
Finn Morgan had a 2:33.21 in the 200 IM. Previous best time was 2:39.42.
Shep Olsen broke the 1:10 in the 100 back. Old time was 1:10.07, new time is 1:09.70.
Cooperstown 101, Holland Patent 78
We had 15 personal best times at our last home meet of the year Thursday, Jan. 18, at The Clark Sports Center. It is extremely unusual to have this many PRs so late in the season!
Macon Aramini swam 2:18.74 in the 200 IM. He dropped more than five seconds from his previous best time, 2:24.48.
Macon Aramini also had a 54.79 in the 100 freestyle. He went from 56.85 to 54.79, a two second drop.
Margaret Raffo had 6:11.99 in the 500 freestyle. Her previous record was 6:14.12.
Lachlan Morgan swam a 6:53.38 in the 500 freestyle. His previous time was 7:05.67.
Emerson Toulson PRed his 100 free with a time of 1:10.51, beating his old time of 1:14.00.
Colton Kinley swam the 100 Breaststroke in 1:36.92. This is his first attempt at this event this year.
Shep Olsen's time in the 200 freestyle was 2:15.95, better than his previous 2:18.78.
Brendan Heavner swam the 200 free in 2:32.29. His previous best time was 2:34.82.
Brendan Heavner also PRed in the 100 free with a 1:10.80. His previous time was 1:11.32.
Sonam Gyamtso qualified for sectionals in the 50 freestyle with a 27.85. His previous record was 29.02. Gyamtso also PRed in the 100 freestyle with a 1:08.44, dropping four seconds from his old record of 1:12.64.
Noah Harding posted a new PR in the 50 free, a 31.87. He would go on to break this record one day later at Sherburne-Earlville.
Noah Harding swam the 100 free in 1:12.86. His previous best time was 1:15.82.
Hayden Spencer went 30.84 in the 50 freestyle; his previous best time was 31.71. Hayden swam the 100 backstroke in 1:36.76, beating his previous best time of 1:44.00.
Congratulations to all the members of Cooperstown varsity swimming.
Our next event will be the Tri-Valley League Championships on Saturday, Jan. 27, starting at 10 a.m., at Rome Free Academy.
(Coach John Hodgson celebrates senior night with the three Hawkeyes who will graduate in June, from left, Emerson Toulson, Margaret Raffo and Finn Morgan. Contributed photo.)
BOOSTER CLUB HELP NEEDED!
We need help for January home events. We had great volunteer turnout for the tournaments. Please help us keep it going in the new year!
Coverage of Cooperstown’s 2023-24 is brought to you in part by an anonymous local business. To sponsor a team, season or the school year, contact Greg at JYDBook@gmail.com.