WEST NYACK ― Three different swimmers won two individual Section 1 titles Monday at Felix Festa Middle School at the Section 1 championships.
Ursuline sophomore Jane Chevalier won her first title of the day in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:50.13, a time in consideration for all-American status. Her second of the day came in the 500 freestyle where she won in 4:52.89. That was an automatic all-American time.
“It’s really crazy,” Chevalier said of her two Section 1 titles. “Last year, I was second in the (200 IM) and third in the (500 free) because I got touched out. It’s really great to claim the titles this year. I’m looking forward to see what I can do at states.”
Horace Greeley junior Serene Jourdy defended both of her titles from last season. She won the 100 butterfly again this year. She did it in 55.16 seconds. That time was in consideration for all-American status and she lowered a meet record she set last year.
“I was really nervous before the race,” Jourdy said of the butterfly. “I was like ‘Oh my goodness I need to break my own record. Otherwise, it would be kind of embarrassing if I didn’t.’ I don’t know why it was in my head but I was so happy to have broken it. That’s really what I was trying to do when I was racing. I’m super happy to have accomplished that.”
Her second win came in the 100 backstroke where she finished in 55.54 seconds. That time is also in consideration for all-American status.
The third swimmer to win two individual titles was Tappan Zee senior Lani Bao. She won the 50 free and the 100 free. Bao won the 50 in 23.67 seconds, then won the 100 free in 51.76 seconds.
“It feels amazing,” Bao said of her wins. “I’ve trained so hard. I tried my best. For the past few years, I’ve gotten second or third but this year I’ve finally achieved my goal.”
Ursuline wins team title for the first time in a decade
The last time Ursuline won the Section 1 team championship, Michael Phelps finished his illustrious career at the Rio Olympics in 2016.
Monday at Felix Festa Middle School, the Koalas did just that.
They scored 308 points to win the title.
“This has been our best season yet,” Ursuline senior Davia Richardson said. “As a senior, this is such a great way to go out. I’m so happy to be doing it with this team dynamic and I’m just having so much fun.”
That fun included a pair of relay Section 1 titles – one in the first event of the night in the 200-yard medley relay and then the 200 free relay.
Richardson was a member of both relays and they were the first gold medals she’s won at the Section 1 meet.
“This is really great,” Richardson said. “It’s such a great way to go out. I’m just really proud of this team and proud of the relays. We’ve worked so, so hard for this. In year’s past, we’ve gotten out touched a lot. So to know we brought it home finally and almost in all-American consideration time is such a great thing.”
On both relays with Richardson were Chevalier, sophomore Catherine Buzzaid, junior Emilia Plawiak, and freshmen Sheena Terri and Hayden Turnbull.
Fox Lane took second, scoring 284 points. Scarsdale, last year’s team champion took third (256). Horace Greeley was fourth (201 points) and White Plains took fifth (174).
The rest of the Section 1 champions
The other Section 1 championships include Nyack senior Alex Fox in the 200 individual medley, Pelham junior Claire Reed and Scarsdale’s quartet of Ying Fang, sophomores Sophie Reis and Alex Horney along with junior Sunny Kang winning the title in the 400 free relay.
Scarsdale diving wins second straight Section 1 title.
The Section 1 Diving championships got the tournament started on Nov. 6 at SUNY Purchase. Scarsdale sophomore Ava Turner won the Section 1 title scoring 459.05 points. John Jay-Cross River’s Samantha Mishler took second and Edgemont’s Emilia Huang took third.
To qualify for the New York State championships, divers have to score 440 points or above.
Joining Turner, Mishler and Huang on the state team are Scarsdale senior Iris Wang (last year’s Section 1 champion), and White Plains senior Ryleigh Baumann.
What’s next for Section 1 swimming and diving
The Section 1 swimmers and divers will compete at the NYSPHSAA championships Friday, Nov. 21 and Saturday, Nov. 22 at the Webster Aquatic Center in Webster. The swim preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. on Friday. The diving will follow at 1:20 p.m. with the full 11 dive program. The swimming finals will begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
Twitter: @LoHud_Debbie
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Chevalier, Jourdy, Bao win double gold at Section 1 swim meet, Ursuline wins team title
Reporting by Debbie Schechter, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
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