Berkshire County Swim League Celebrates Trying Season
NEW LEBANON, N.Y. – To find the real winners at Saturday’s Berkshire County Individuals swim meet, you sometimes had to look past the first-place finishers.
“Riley Steinman had a great meet today,” Pittsfield coach Jim Harrington said. “She had a great opening relay leg, she had a great 50 free and a great [butterfly].”
She did not walk away with a title at the meet, modified this year to be a mixed-gender event with girls and boys swimming together in the four-lane pool at New Lebanon High School.
But the final event of the Berkshire County League season is always more about dropping times and making cuts for next week's sectional tournament than coming in first.
And on that score, the Generals had a successful outing.
“Emily Bradford qualified for Western Mass in the 100 breaststroke, so now we have three kids who are double qualifiers individually and all three relays,” Harrington said. “That’s big for PHS. That’s a good year for us.”
And the Generals also got a pair of wins on Saturday from Kiera Devine, who took the 200-yard freestyle in 2 minutes, 9.16 seconds and the 500 free in 5:41.46, shaving a couple of tenths off her seed time in the event.
Taconic's day was highlighted by Mia Zuccalo, who won the 100 breaststroke in 1:12.80.
Host New Lebanon/Berlin got a pair of wins from junior Alex Sotek. She won the 100 backstroke in 1:03.75 and lowered her school record in the 100 butterfly with a time of 1:00.97.
The Tigers also got a number of strong swims that do not show up at the top of the leaderboard but will pay dividends down the road.
“The younger kids did so well this year,” New Lebanon coach Tim Christiansen said. “The other coach, Danielle Jones, who did such a great job with them this year. One girl dropped 11 seconds in the 100, another guy dropped 10 seconds in the 100. They've just worked really hard in the last couple of weeks.
“A lot of them are in the seventh grade. They're jumping in the pool for the first time, and you're not going to see a lot of great times the first year. It's a lot of stroke work.”
New Lebanon also took one of the relays, the meet-ending 400 free relay, where Sote and Allison Slater joined teammates Lance Schroder and Liam Buckenroth to edge Monument Mountain by five seconds.
The Spartans, meanwhile, took the other two relays and got a pair of individual wins from Sam Cybulski, who won the 50 free in 24.53 and the 100 free in 53.04.
Monument Mountain coach Jill Svirida was happy with the way her team overcame challenges all season long and in the 24 hours leading up to the meet.
“We had a big meet on Wednesday that was really high energy, very emotional, Senior Night,” Svirida said. “And with only one practice [because of Friday’s ice storm], it was a little tougher to get up for today than it might have been in typical circumstances, but I'm really proud of the efforts.
“It's been a tough [season], not as far as the swimming. In the pool, they've been amazing. But we've had a lot of interruptions and setbacks and frustrations. Through it all, they've always focused on the moment. Our team mantra has been, 'Focus on this moment only,' and we just focus on what we have in front of us, knowing that it could be taken away. That's been really effective.”
Pittsfield’s Harrington agreed that it has been a difficult season for local swimmers.
“I think with COVID, some of these kids didn't swim much at all going into the season,” he said. “So it's good to see them back in form.
“It's somewhat emotional to see that they've maintained such a high level, and hopefully we can carry it into next weekend.”
Top Six Finishers
200 medley relay: 1. Monument Mountain (Cybulski, Dillon, Annand, Redpath), 1:54.55; 2. Taconic 2:01.47; 3. Pittsfield 2:04.49; 4. Mount Anthony, 2:07.44; 5. Taconic B 2:10.48; 6. New Lebanon/Berlin, 2:12.68.
200 freestyle: 1. Kiera Devine, PHS, 2:09.16; 2. Mia Bencivenga, Tac, 2:10.90; 3. Maddie Fife, MM, 2:14.34; 4. Hailey Rumlow, PHS, 2:16.37; 5. Jacob Gray, MM, 2:11.83; 6. Lance Schroder, NL, 2:13.35.
200 individual medley: 1. Quinn Dillon, MM, 2:21.42; 2. Zoe Holmes, MM, 2:23.88; 3. Emily Bradford, PHS, 2:39.07; 4. Jacquie Arre, TH, 2:54.29; 5. Elizabeth Wheeler, W, 2:56.93; 6. Jada Siv, PHS, 3:00.95.
50 freestyle: 1. Sam Cybulski, MM, 24.53; 2. Stevie Zuccalo, Tac, 24.80; 3. Zach Annand, MM, 25.63; 4. James Swanton, PHS, 25.97; 5. Asa Chard, PHS, 26.15; 6. Quinn Redpath, MM, 26.39.
100 butterfly: 1. Alex Sotek, NL, 1:00.97; 2. Quinn Dillon, MM, 1:04.16; 3. Zoe Holmes, MM, 1:04.37; 4. Jacob Gray, MM, 1:06.70; 5. Leo Plaza, TH, 1:09.44; 6. Riley Steinman, PHS, 1:09.94.
100 freestyle: 1. Sam Cybulski, MM, 53.04; 2. Stevie Zuccalo, Tac, 56.51; 3. Jackie Roccabruna, PHS, 58.03; 4. James Swanton, PHS, 58.29; 5. Lance Schroder, NL, 58.84; 6. Isaac Schultz, MM, 59.15.
500 freestyle: 1. Kiera Devine, PHS, 5:41.46; 2. Allison Slater, NL, 5:44.90; 3. Mia Bencivenga, Tac, 5:45.15; 4. Maddie Fife, MM, 6:06.88; 5. Liam Buckenroth, NL, 6:22.81; 6. Sarah Curti, Wah, 6:47.29.
200 free relay: 1. Monument Mountain (Cybulski, Schultz, Annand, Redpath) 1:43.50; 2. Taconic, 1:49.22; 3. Pittsfield, 1:49.50; 4. Mount Anthony, 1:53.57; 5. Monument Mountain B, 1:55.06; 6. New Lebanon/Berlin, 2:01.63.
100 backstroke: 1. Alex Sotek, NL, 1:03.75; 2. Benjamin Bradway, Tac, 1:08.47; 3. Shay Callanan, MAU, 1:11.02; 4. Leo Plaza, TH, 1:11.65; 5. Helen Thorp, MM, 1:14.70; 6. Kendall Madison, MAU, 1:14.81.
100 breaststroke: 1. Mia Zuccalo, Tac, 1:12.80; 2. Zach Annand, MM, 1:13.49; 3. Scott Langlois, Tac, 1:15.37; 4. Allison Slater, NL, 1:17.96; 5. Emily Bradford, PHS, 1:18.72; 6. Anthony Trapani, Tac, 1:21.69.
400 free relay: 1. New Lebanon/Berlin (Schroder, Buckenroth, Sotek, Slater) 4:01.54; 2. Monument Mountain, 4:06.56; 3. Pittsfield, 4:08.27; 4. Monument Mountain B, 4:13.52; 5. New Lebanon/Berlin B, 4:13.84; 6. Taconic, 4:19.31.