By David J. Hill
NORTH TONAWANDA — Marissa Dressel did what she’s done for the past five years — win — and her teammates matched her performance Saturday as Kenmore West won the Niagara Frontier League Girls Swimming & Diving Championship for the second straight year.
The Blue Devils won 10 out of 12 events, including all three relays, to win the team total with 320 points. Niagara Falls finished second (283.5) and Lockport third (206). North Tonawanda hosted this year’s meet.
“This is absolutely insane, the girls are swimming so fast,” Dressel said midway through the meet.
A two-time state champion last fall, Dressel won four titles Saturday — two individual and two relays — including the 50 freestyle in a pool record time of 24.19 seconds, breaking the mark she had set two days earlier in prelims.
“I’ve never swam a 50 before in a high school championship meet, so it was really exciting to sprint that fast,” she said.
“It was really fun, I had to get myself really pumped up because you have to do everything right — a good start, a good turn and bury your head on the finish,” added Dressel, who swam the second leg of Ken West’s 200 free relay, which won in both a pool and league record time of 1:40.22. Joining Dressel on the relay were Haley Rice, Alanna Blasting and Lindsey Sagasta.
Dressel also captured the 500 free (5:04.53). She wrapped up her final NFL championship meet by joining teammates Lindsey Sagasta, Jenna Rice and Leah Villari in winning the 400 free relay in a pool record time of 3:43.01.
Haley Rice also was a quadruple event winner, cruising to victory in the 100 butterfly with a pool record time of 58.76, beating the time Dressel set two years ago as a sophomore. She also won the 200 individual medley in 2:15.47.
“Almost every single girl swam best times,” said Ken West coach Carrie Meetze. “They knew what was on the line. Ken West girls are competitors, and when the time is right to swim fast, they know how to pull it out.”
Two other huge performances on the day were turned in by Niagara Falls sophomore Emily York and North Tonawanda’s 200 free relay. York swam to victory in the 100 free in a pool record 54.41.
“That’s really good. I dropped almost a full second since last week. I’ve been working on (my stroke) for a long time, so it feels really good for it to pay off,” York said, adding that teammate Anastasia Gabriele, who took second, pushed her the whole race.
The Lady Jacks’ 200 relay quartet of Staci Czaja, Andi Parish, Stephanie Vogel and Madison Wawrzynek met the state meet qualifying time in the relay with their third place finish in 1:43.56.
“We’ve been working at this relay for like two years, and we finally just broke it, even after losing two seniors,” Czaja said. “It’s so exciting, because we put so much effort into this. I started dropping all the other strokes just to practice for this relay, so we’ve made a lot of sacrifices to be here.”
NT’s Parish won the 100 breaststroke in 1:08.85. Ken West senior Leah Villari captured the 100 backstroke in 1:01.99. Both girls have already met state qualifying times.
With two big championship meets remaining on the schedule — sectionals Nov. 13-14 and the state meet (Nov. 20-21) — the NFL meet served as a good tuneup, Dressel said.
“We get to pick out those little things we need to work on and get better because when you race at those meets, you race against so many more people, and you have to be ready.”
Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.
