Lady Friars finish 4th at the 2016 State Championships!
| Finalists | ||
| 200 Medley Relay:
(Caruana, Pikulik, Mattutat, Clancy) |
200 Free Relay:
(Meyers, Smerechniak, Bardak, Gellineau) |
400 Free Relay:
(Bardak, Meyers, Smerechniak, Gellineau) |
| 200 Free:
Briana Gellineau |
100 Back:
Beth Caruana |
100 Breast:
Jillian Smerechniak |
| 200 IM:
Emily Bardak |
100 Free:
Emily Bardak |
500 Free:
Briana Gellineau |
#HIS7ORY!
What a
weekend! Holy Cow… can you
believe it?
You know, I’ve always heard the term…
Lucky 7.
It’s been my whole life… 7 is a lucky number.
Well, not this time!
SEVEN undefeated straight Championship seasons has been worked for and
EARNED by many swimmers who get to call themselves… the FRIARS!
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016…
ALL undefeated… ALL
CHAMPIONS!
Why is this achievement so difficult?
Well, in my experience, once you approach 4 and
beyond, you now have athletes who have never felt the pain of a loss.
To feel what it’s like to see another team take that Championship
plaque that YOU worked so hard for… and hold it over THEIR head.
It’s a tough reality, but it happens.
Our Lady Friars of 2006 and 2007 held off that incredible Sacred
Heart team that was so dominant but just couldn’t hold off the depth of
the Friars, until 2008 and 2009… we couldn’t hold them off any longer.
Our 2009 team was our best team
in history at the time, but still couldn’t hoist that plaque.
Those two years were a driving
force to get the Friars back on top.
Enter 2010.
The Lady Friars were as hungry as ever, and a hungry team is
tough to beat. Our dual meet
was won by a mere 8 inches (remember that touch-out Coach Shannon?) and
the Championship was won on how good our 4th entry swam.
The Friars were back on Top!
Fast forward to 2013.
I remember the morning practice when I spoke to our team… we were
again at the crossroad where no swimmer on the roster felt the pain of a
loss. Our seniors were going
for a respectable undefeated high school career… but I also spoke to our
freshmen. I let them know
that their own senior year would be historic within our league.
Sacred Heart had done 6 straight…
We’ve even done 6… but no one had done 7!
There was a spark in their eye that morning.
The goal became implanted very deep within their hearts.
For them it wasn’t just a stat…
they wanted it to become reality.
For the next three years thereafter, these Friars
set out to outwork every team out there.
This monumental feat is not going to be handed to them, or to be
expected, (or to be given to them because they have the coolest colors…
ok, I happen to think Black and Gold looks awesome!) but it would have
to be earned. Every meet, they
entered the water FIRST.
Every meet no matter who we faced, was important to not only win, but to
learn how we can do our very best at Champs.
They will achieve this goal as a team.
Champs weekend is finally here.
These ladies are confident and ready to embrace the challenge,
just as they did one week earlier as they defeated Sacred Heart and
finally the tough TMLA who gave them the push they needed.
That team was not taken lightly and not one swim was taken for
granted. Following that meet, I
couldn’t contain my own excitement and looked forward to our coaches
meeting to put our Champs lineup on paper.
This lineup needed multiple meetings, emails, and
text messages as I was in constant contact with Coaches Liz, Scott, and
Shannon. Every possible idea
was discussed to the smallest detail to give this team the best possible
shot at their goal. ** I
thank each of them for their patience, knowledge, and passion.
I couldn’t ask for a better coaching team.
You ARE the BEST!
The Aquatic Center is packed.
Different team colors were beginning to gather, and of course my
eyes were scanning for Black and Gold.
As I found each one, I would see the mix of nerves and excitement
on their faces as they file into their bleacher and hang their posters.
Less than one hour of warm-ups and this team is ready to GO!
What a roller coaster of events our 200 medley
relay was this year! So many
members of this team came together to make it successful.
When our season began, the medley relay was the first State cut
time achieved by the Friars.
Beth Caruana, Jillian Smerechniak, Emily Bardak, and Briana Gellineau
looked like a great State relay.
Well, as it turned out, the medley was the
only relay with a cut time as
we headed into Champs. This
brought about hours of strategizing, including last minute decisions.
Our Championship prelims relay consisted of Lily
Lancellotti, Devin Gilio, Michelle Franco, and Sydney Bernhardt.
Four swimmers who are rock solid and with outstanding technique…
They were flawless!
One major decision (that you will read in detail
later) was to try and take down TMLA’s awesome 200 free relay.
With that, and already having the State cut, this was our Finals
Medley Relay:
TMLA posted a better medley in prelims than we ever
thought they’d do with a 1:52 relay… and just off the State cut.
It’s only the first event… and we have a mountain of a challenge
in front of us. I spoke to
Beth at Champs about her relay leadership.
If our other three Friars could swim with her confidence… we’re
golden (and black of course… haha).
Well, she sure led by example as her kick-out off the start was
total perfection. Beth made
a statement… Try to catch
us!
She posted a phenomenal 27.01 split and off the
block went Danielle Pikulik!
Danielle has consistently been one of our top breaststrokers, and this
was her time to shine. There
was no catching Danielle as she actually out-split one of the top
breaststrokers in the league right next to her by a tenth with her 31.15
swim! Holy cow!
My arms are in the air already…
Michelle Franco flies off the block (pun intended).
No lead will be big enough for Gabby to go against the league
record holder, Sam Merino (TMLA).
Michelle is pulling away…
We are screaming as our lead increases; but will it
be enough?? I’m
shaking Chandler Lulley’s arm as she is standing next to me (Coach
Shannon’s sister) while I scream for Michelle in anticipation of what’s
to come.
To complete this challenge, we needed a true
anchor; a rock solid, confident anchor.
We found that in Gabby Mattutat.
She knew what and who she was up against, and it never shook her.
Gabby was blistering down the pool… but here comes Sam Merino.
That girl can tear it up!
Sure, that gap was closing… but it was,
A.
too big, and B. you’re not catching
Gabby… NOT TODAY!
They did it!
That relay was SPECTACULAR!
All of our heads turn to the clock in unison.
Look at that time!
They are not only champions, but a State Qualifying
1:51.40!
I was so thrilled, so overjoyed, and we are just getting started.
**
State edit:
Our Medley Relay was
seeded 28th for States.
Right away, I was reminded of last years 200 free relay that was
seeded 28th, and scored for us.
At the conclusion of Champs, we [coaches] decided to bring all
our swimmers who can contribute to the relay, Beth Caruana, Danielle
Pikulik, Michelle Franco, Kiersten Clancy, and Gabby Mattutat.
I’m not kidding when I say deciding these state relays was the
toughest one we’ve ever made.
I had a meeting with all 5 girls in Ithaca with our final
decision. We needed to be
top 20 to score, and we were going for it.
We looked at every split time possible to get us one second
faster. Our prelim relay was
Beth, Danielle, Gabby, and Clancy.
No joke, the pressure was ON.
Again, I leaned on Beth for leadership.
I watched this relay,
and I don’t think I took a breath for the entire one minute and 50
seconds… I almost couldn’t
cheer. My legs were shaking
so I sat on the bleacher to help me focus as I scrolled through meet
mobile. 1…2….3….4…5…
scroll, scroll, scroll…
Please God, I know you’re a Friar fan…
don’t let me go past 20.
I see “St. Anthony’s”,
right there next to the number 20!
NOW I CAN CHEER!
My arms fly into the air as that seems to be a normal reaction
for me, and scoot to the warm-down pool.
“You guys did it! 20th!”
I yell as we all hug in a celebration.
(it turns out there was a scoring error, and we were actually
seeded 18th).
Our master plan was; if
the relay didn’t make it, we were going to change it and swim Michelle.
So, I once again had to explain to her that I wasn’t going to
change a scoring relay. She
understood with the maturity way beyond a freshman and warmed up with
her team as she is supposed to and was ready to go at a moments notice
if need be. She is
incredible.
Our same relay looked
more nervous, but definitely determined.
They just wanted to move up as much as possible.
So the plan was to keep it simple, just race and beat as many
teams as possible. As it
turned out… they beat TWO MORE and finished 16th overall in
NY State! What an
accomplishment. It’s one I
will never forget.
All of our individual events this year were so
deep, starting with the 200 free.
Pleasant Palmer worked hard this year on maintaining her stroke
technique in the second half of her races.
That work was evident as she qualified for Finals, and swam a
beautiful 2:06.91. Amanda Nasti is
now no stranger to the pressure of Champs.
She swam like a seasoned veteran in prelims, qualifying her for
Finals, and finished 7th with her
2:04.66.
Amanda Heinz is as valuable a swimmer as you can find.
She can swim a multitude of events and be successful, and she’s
only a sophomore. Heinz swam
a super strong 2:00.42 and
finished 5th overall!
Since I watched Briana Gellineau split a 54.4 in
the relay carnival in September, I’ve been waiting to see her swim at
Champs. Well, my waiting was
over as I saw her split a 54.1 at the 100, and she never looked back.
Briana dominated the 200 free as she
smashed an 11 year old St.
Anthony’s School Record by 2.5 seconds with a
1:52.59!
Holy Fast!
** Note:
All four of these Lady Friars qualified for Finals (top 8) and
ALL FOUR dropped time and swam faster in finals!
States Edit:
Briana went on to swim
the 200 free at States, and dropped even MORE time with her personal
best 1:52.25 and breaking her
own School Record! Her
incredible swim placed her 7th overall in NY State!
Congrats Briana!
(yes, I’m a fan)
Emily had a huge lesson learning season.
We [the coaches] couldn’t believe that she even increased her
work ethic more than it already was.
Swimming tired every dual meet, she learned to embrace her
disappointments and learn from it.
Hard work pays off.
Always. Emily finally let
her body rest, and she was unstoppable.
She won 200 IM with her personal best
2:07.73!
** Note:
again, all Four Friars were in Finals in the 200 IM!
States Edit:
Jillian Smerechniak
swam on to finish 30th overall in NY State!
Emily qualified for
Finals in the IM, and finished 9th overall in NY State!
I just also need to point out for all you swimmers who work hard
every day, the last for times Emily swam the 200 IM:
Champs prelims:
2:08.97
Champs finals:
2:07.73 ** best time
States prelims:
2:07.38 ** best time
States Finals:
2:07.29 ** best time.
Lesson learned.
Sacred Heart can SPRINT.
The Mary Louis Academy can SPRINT.
Can the Friars possibly get another event with all four in
Finals?? Heck yeah, we
can!
Gabby Mattutat is just so powerful.
Her pull pattern is one of the best.
She was incredible with her flat start
26.11!
One freshman that we [coaches] enjoyed screaming for this season
was Frankie Pellegrino. This
girl is definitely a true Friar!
What a fight she has in her.
We were so impressed with her
26.37 personal best 50 free!
Kiersten Clancy is one swimmer that I really leaned
on this season. I never gave
her a break. I chirped in
her ear all season long.
Why? Because I knew she
could handle it. And handle
it she did! Clancy sprinted
to a 26.29 personal best that
placed her 5th overall and in consideration for State relays.
I remember right after Katherine Meyers prelim
swim: It was a great swim,
and she knew it. I could
tell she was pleased and wanted to smile… but underneath that smile was
a drive to do something truly great.
Kat simply walked up to me, looked directly at me and stated “I’m
making States”. With the
look she had in her eyes, man I believed her.
So the coach in me just firmly stated (to match Kat’s intensity),
“Then go warm down. You have
a lot of swimming ahead of you.”
Katherine came back to finals ready to go.
The fierce competitor in her was at level 10.
Without any fear, she stepped on that block against the very best
and only 24.84 seconds after she heard that “beep”,
Katherine Meyers was going to States!
(oh… she was smiling now!)
Heading into Champs weekend, our focus is to take
each day one at a time. We
swim Trials as if there is no Finals so that we make sure we put
ourselves in the position to win.
Our 100 butterflyers did just that.
Just as she did in the 200 IM, Kat Gamble swam into Finals and
took 8th place overall to once again have all 4 Friars in the
top heat. Oh… and she did
that with a personal best 1:05.77!
At the top of the heat, placing only behind the leagues top
swimmer, Sacred Heart’s Lauryn Johnson, was 4th place
Michelle Franco (1:04.00), 3rd
place Gabby Mattutat (1:02.77),
and our top butterflyer in 2nd place Beth Ann Caruana (58.89)!
Holy cow, that event was a TON of points for the Friars!
** Shout out to Lauren Kryger who had to miss
trials due to a family event at Marist college, but did make it back on
Sunday to cheer for her teammates.
States Edit:
Beth went on to swim
the 100 fly at States and dropped her time again to
58.75 finishing 22nd
overall in NY State!
I am a huge fan of swimmers with beautiful
technique. Sydney Bernhardt
is one of them. She has put
in many years of hard work perfecting her craft, and it’s paying off.
Sydney tore up that pool as she won the event by just under 2
seconds with a personal best 1:01.13!
What a swim!
**
Note: all 4 of those swims
were personal best times
I was just about to type how this next swimmer has
such a bright future with the Friars.
Fact is, she has a bright
present with the Friars!
Every time freshman Frankie Pellegrino stepped on those blocks, everyone
was cheering for her like crazy!
All we ever want as fans, no matter what the sport or athlete, is
to witness true 100% effort.
That’s the heart of being a Friar.
It didn’t take long for Frankie’s heart to be all Friar with her
outstanding Champs performance.
Frankie won her consolation heat by two seconds with her personal
best 57.80!
Incredible.
Once the second half of the season kicked in,
Kiersten Clancy improved every time she hit the water. The 57’s became
56’s, and she finally finished with a
56.02 that gave her an 8th
place finish in Finals.
Katherine Meyers was still feeling psyched after her 50 free, and I
could tell she was still in a zone as she stepped behind the block.
She had a personal best swim by far defeating 5 of the top
sprinters in the league, and finishing 3rd with a
54.40!
WOW!
Another one of the major decisions (and much credit
going to Coach Scott here…) was swimming Emily Bardak in the 100 free
instead of the 100 fly. She
had been looking so strong, and best of all, she was excited to take on
the challenge. I believe she
was a little more nervous in Finals than trials, because now she was top
seed. But, I also believe
that the other top sprinters in the league were MORE nervous to swim
against Emily. She is on
fire, and we all knew it.
She had been working on her start, and it was a great one this time.
By the time she hit the 50, she was the dominant swimmer in the
heat. Coach Liz held onto my
arm for a second… I gave her a glance in between writing splits on my
heat sheet, and the tears of joy were obvious, and contagious.
Emily’s personal best,
State Qualifying 52.32, had all of us jumping and screaming like
crazy!
Emily Bardak was a double winner
at Champs!
States Edit:
I first want to point
out, to score at States in the 100 free this year you had to swim a 53.3
just to get into the top 20.
That’s fast!
So how about Emily
Bardak getting into Finals for the second event at States (200 IM 9th),
and finishing 8th in NY State with a 52.27!
Emily was not only our top overall point scorer at Champs, but
also at States.
Congratulations!
At our coaches meeting: as the names were falling
on the paper, there was the moment that Mary Tonna’s name emerged as our
4th fastest 500 swimmer.
Probably due to the fact that she is so adored by all, there was
excitement on our [coaches] faces.
We were so happy for her to be competing at such an elite level
in her senior year. When
life throws you a challenge… embrace it like a Friar!
Congratulations Mary on an incredible career.
With her freshman nerves a year behind her, I
wasn’t the only coach pushing Amanda Nasti.
We all were. And it’s
because we know what a Championship competitor Nasti is!
She definitely rises to the occasion.
Her trials swim was phenomenal to get her into Finals, where she
swam a beautiful 5:33.92 and
in 7th place! As
soon as the season started, I knew Brittney was training hard for her
senior year. From the St.
John the Baptist meet on… she really began to emerge as a top swimmer.
All four of her Friar Championships were memorable swims, now
topped off with her 6th place overall
5:31.32!
I loved it.
For her first three years, although talented in so
many events, Jillian Smerechniak had been handling our distance
freestyle events like the true Friar she is.
Each year, seniors graduate, and new Friars enter our family.
Enter Briana Gellineau.
Her raw power and distance talent allowed us to spread out
Jillian’s talent… and Briana soared as well!
A huge win for us Friar Fans!
For the past few years now, our league has drawn
some of the top distance freestyle talent coming from many teams.
In fact, this year the 500 free had the highest number of State
Qualifiers than any other event with 5… and all from 5 different teams!
(SHA, STA, TMLA, SFP, OLMA).
That’s really cool.
** note: none of them are seniors!
You think a 500 is long and boring…?
Not at our Champs!
These girls put their hearts into these swims, battling for 20 laps.
Brianna chased Lauryn Johnson SHA, (who smashed our league record
by 3 seconds) and gave us a thrilling 2nd place overall
finish with her State Qualifying,
5:05.68!
State Edit:
Briana went on to swim
the 500 in Ithaca at States.
She is so tough and it’s thrilling to see her go!
You think Champs was good?
How about Briana swam 3 seconds faster in Prelims with a
5:02.72.
Then, in Finals…
Briana swam a 5:01.29 (only .28 off the St. Anthony’s school record) and finished
11th overall in NY
State! And she’s not
finished… she has more
incredible swims to come at States.
Read on Friar Fans… read
on!
Note: (This is one important reason why we try not
to declare any of our swimmers in two relays during prelims.
So this moment is to give a huge shout out to Kiersten Clancy,
Frankie Pellegrino, Pleasant Palmer, and Gabby Mattutat.
They were hand picked for their experience, control for safe
starts, and speed to give the Friars an awesome seed for Finals.
They were PERFECT! We were
so happy that we left our options open.)
We went over all the splits, and discussed our
Finals relay order. We
gathered our relay swimmers to discuss our plans.
They weren’t nervous.
Not at all. (man… I was!
Haha). They were
huddled together as one, with a “Let’s do this” attitude.
4 teammates must swim as ONE.
They must trust each other and swim without fear.
We had our perfect 4.
Katherine Meyers, having the meet of her life, had
just qualified for States in the 50 free, so her confidence was way up.
Her 25.62 flat start
split was awesome. Our
Captain Jillian Smerechniak worked incredibly hard with the rest of her
relay on perfecting her start.
Well, it was just that… perfect.
She motored down that pool, head position dead straight.
Never yielding to a single missed stroke, Jillian split an
amazing 24.66!
Our freshman, Briana Gellineau is as tough a competitor as you
can find, so it was no surprise that she too was pulling away from the
other teams. The excitement
in the Friar stands explodes!
Meghan Boyle just might have blown out her vocal cords…
Kate McKevitt and Alannah Chernik definitely did!
Haha
I’m already celebrating as Briana touches the wall with her awesome
24.65 split, because I know
that no one in that pool area is catching Emily.
Not today… not ever!
Holy cow is she moving. It’s
getting crowded around me as the Friars are moving out of the stands and
closer to the pool because they can’t help but feel the excitement.
Coach Shannon and her sister Chandler are actually leaving their
feet as they celebrate the last few yards of Emily’s swim.
Her hand on the wall… and even Emily turns to look at the clock:
There it is!
Not just Emily’s sick
24.00 split… but a new CHSAA
record!! The Friars have
done it again, winning the 200 free relay in dramatic fashion and top
the record board with a 1:38.93!
States Edit:
As soon as this relay
finished at Champs on the heels of the successful Medley Relay, Coach
Scott and I smiled as we knew we were looking at possible State finals
relay.
Well, turns out… we
were correct.
This relay KILLED IT!
They were awesome.
Katherine must have done 20 practice starts, and the nerves were
building a bit. Pressure was
definitely ON, this was Finals.
So it was time to just rely on instinct, and just
race.
Well, her best start was this one and she touched the wall at a
25.02.
Jillian, who emerged as the vocal leader of the relay, was
incredible with her 24.52
split! HUGE!
We did change the
order, giving Briana as much time as she needed after her 500 free
swims, and giving her a more “pressure” swim where she was thriving all
weekend long. So off the
block in a flash was Emily Bardak.
Man… she just motored in that water with a
24.07 split!
WHEW!
Briana didn’t even look
tired. She’s already raced
over 1500 yards! She is now
swimming against the best anchors in NY State, and swam a
23.70 split giving this relay
yet ANOTHER Catholic HS State
record with a 1:37.76!
They were not only a “finals” relay; they are the
4th fastest relay in New York State!
It’s been many years that we have been a team of
super strong backstrokers.
Our 50 backstroke was well represented by seniors, Sam Silva and Marist
bound Devon Connolly (awesome Lacrosse player!
Good Luck Dev-O), who BOTH swam best times in their final swims
as Friars. (that’s the way
to do it!) Celine Marino gave me
a huge “high five” celebrating her teammate’s success! Freshman Skye
Bates may have looked nervous, but her hard work all season long paid
off as she also swam her personal best.
The Friar on the very top and winning the event by 1.6 seconds
was Sarah Schatz, who (ok, no surprise here…)
swam her personal best!
The 100 Back was a tight event this year. (with the
exception of ONE swimmer, I’ll get to her last).
For example, from 6th place all the way down to 12th
place, was only separated by 1 second.
ONE. That’s tight.
So, our Lady Friars had to battle.
** here I want to give a huge shout our to our
Captain, Meghan Boyle. She
would have swam this event, but had to dance.
She has trained all her life in dancing, and is looking to do
this in college. Best of
luck always Meghan.
What I loved most about Alannah Chernik’s swim was
that she was vocal about how confident she was.
It was Champs, and she was ready to make an impact and score for
her team. How about this,
her seed time was a 1:13, but she swam a phenomenal
1:08.38!
It’s simple. When
it’s Champs, the Friars step up.
Period. Just like
Vanessa Franco also did, as she finished 10th overall with
her 1:08.59. We [the
coaches] were thrilled with Lily Lancellotti’s season.
She had a minor setback with a sore shoulder, but recovered
perfectly dropping 3 seconds and finished 3rd overall with a
1:05.31!
For four straight years, Beth Caruana has been a
top backstroker to watch in the league.
This year, Beth won the 100 backstroke by…
ready for this?
3.6 seconds!
Beth dominated with her State Qualifying 57.40!
State Edit:
Beth went on to swim
awesome in Ithaca. I thought
her turns were fantastic, and as her race went on, her turns even got
faster. Her third turn was
by far her best… lightning!
Beth swam even faster
in prelims, with a 57.20 and qualified for finals.
There she (you guessed it) swam even faster and her thrilling
57.04 gave her a 6th
place overall in NY State!
She is truly one exciting competitor to watch.
Best of Luck swimming at
Colgate Beth!!
**
(just a shout-out here to Deijah Harris who really improved EVERY meet
this year. Upon joining our
staff this year, Coach Shannon was immediately impressed with how hard
Deijah worked. She had a
family conflict this year that prevented her from swimming in this event
where she belonged).
Abby Federlein worked a ton on her breaststroke
technique (great job here Coach Liz!) and as a result, dropped 1.6
seconds for her personal best 44.14.
Ever hear the saying “great things come in small
packages”? Well, we have
that with Sydney Bernhardt.
I am a stroke technique fanatic, so when I see someone like Sydney swim,
I am thrilled. Sydney
dropped 2 seconds and her 40.98 gave her a 10th place finish.
(I’m making the call now… wait till you see the awesome senior
year that Sydney will have!)
We had TWO freshmen at the top of the 50
backstroke. That’s right…
Gracie Edmonds and Jennifer Nagle were .01 apart in their seed time, and
.38 apart in their 1-2 finish!
Every time the two of them swam together this season, it was
clear they are the future of the Friar breaststrokers.
I can’t wait to see them next season!
When you want to win a Championship, you have to
swim well at trials and get into the highest heat you can.
We took that approach in the beginning of the meet, and carried
it all the way to the 100 breaststroke, where all FOUR of our Lady
Friars swam into finals.
Devin Gilio
loves the big meets. And
the more you lean on her, the better she does.
I also have to say, this year more than her first three years,
her freestyle was awesome and I used her a lot there.
She was rock solid in relays for us all season.
Now, into her specialty; breaststroke, she finished 10th overall
in Finals swimming a 1:12.78.
Although Amanda Heniz can swim so many events, one
of her best is the 100 breast.
Coach Liz was screaming for “Heinzy” (and I love all the homeroom
stories) and she had such a strong second half where she finished 4th
overall with an all time personal best
1:09.46.
Danielle Pikulik had a storybook season.
It was so exciting to see her
GO.
I know I sound redundant at this point, but Danielle works her
butt off and when it comes time to perform at the big meets, she gets it
done. Seeded with a 1:12,
just .2 off her all time best, Danielle swam a prelim 1:10.03.
Then, in finals she dropped even more to a
109.12 and finished 3rd overall in the league!
Her accomplishments this season were a joy to see.
When Jillian Smerechniak had that great swim at the
Sacred Heart meet and went a 1:09, I was so happy.
Then, to look up at that clock in trials and see a State
Qualifying 1:07.42, I think I was screaming louder than her Mom. (ok..
maybe not). But, that
already was a NEW St. Anthony’s school record that was
held for 9 years. Now in
Finals, Jillian practically parted the seas in the Nassau Aquatic Center
and swam a beautiful State Qualifying, and again
new school record, 1:06.50!
Jillian has certainly left her mark here at St. Anthony’s.
State Edit:
Jillian’s 100 breast
followed the 200 free relay by only minutes.
We didn’t even get a chance to celebrate her relay swim yet, as
we had her go from the relay to the warm down pool and right to the
block again. I can’t even
tell you how impressed I was with her
1:07.23. (20th in
NYS) From here, she had to go back to the warm down pool for the 400
free relay, but I’m going to save this part of her story for later…
keep reading!
Take your mark…
The crowd of black and gold behind me gravitated
out of the bleachers and it began getting more crowded around me.
The high pitched screams of the “girls” team began to sound like
I was at a nickelodeon concert; as Katherine Meyers was tearing up the
pool. She hits the touch
pad, and is attempting to look at the clock, and also climb out of the
pool… she could have just
listened to the sounds of the cheers coming from her teammates that
would have told her that she indeed
qualified for States with her
54.01 split!
Off the block goes Emily… and the Friars are
gone.
The lead just continues to stretch.
She topped off her incredible weekend with her 4th
gold medal and a 52.57 split.
Amazing.
Jillian Smerechniak is at her best.
I’m still smiling from her breaststroke swim, and adding to it
the excitement of watching this 54.55… She… is… flying!
Our final swimmer of the entire Champs weekend,
Briana Gellineau hits the water.
The Friars aren’t even waiting for the finish, they are cheering
already. History in the
making is only about 52 seconds away (well,
52.73 for the exact split).
This is not just about an undefeated season, or winning Champs.
This is about doing something no other team has been able to
accomplish, and Briana’s hand on the touch pad at
3:34.84 made it official!
SEVEN straight undefeated Championships for the Friars!
The celebrating begins, especially for our seniors who carried
this goal with them for four years.
I’m not going to lie as I was emotionally touched as they
embraced each other because I know this is a moment that they will
remember for the rest of their lives.
I congratulate these seniors on their perfect 36-0 record.
Well deserved.
Our Captains Jillian and Meghan accept the
Championship plaque and hoist it over their heads as their teammates
slip their “HIS7ORY was made” T shirts over their heads.
(** shout out to Bill Towers who got these T shirts
done for me overnight!) This
is a great moment. A
monumental moment. And,
there was about a good 10 minutes of “selfies” that followed.
This is such a magnificent moment for ALL our
athletes. I gave a shout out
to all our Lady Friars who were a part of the last 7 Championships, but
I also hugged each of my coaches.
Without them this isn’t possible.
I lean on them every day and they are always there for me.
Thank you so much to ALL our Friar parents.
Your continued support has brought together one heck of a close
Friar Family. And yes,
we DO hear those cheers from across the pool!
States edit:
Our 400 free relay:
What a relay!
I say it every year.
The girls State meet is one of the physically toughest meets there is.
We are no longer a team of 40 girls who can fill in multiple
spots. We are now 9 girls
who are constantly racing.
The pressure is tremendous, and the Friar desire to perform our best is
always there. So as
exhausted as our girls are… they are stepping on the block for the final
race of the season; full of adrenaline and fight.
We are swimming the
Granddaddy against the best of the best.
The top swimmers in NY State are behind the blocks in groups of
4… adjusting goggles,
shaking arms, hugging teammates to somehow combine powers, and jumping
in place because none of them can contain their energy.
It’s time to empty the tank.
Everything you have left…
it gets left in the pool.
**
make sure you read these splits carefully:
We have our rock solid
Emily Bardak leading us off.
Her confidence at this point has never been higher.
This team WILL follow her lead.
She bolts off the block and I’m already hitting Coach Scott in
the arm.
Holy fast… she is flying.
Emily throws up a 52.33
from a flat start! I’m
already screaming and there are three Friars to go.
Geez…
Katherine Meyers has
had the Champs AND State meets of her life.
She has never swam better.
This final state swim will cap off a phenomenal 4 year career…
and she touches the wall with a
54.53! The top teams are
already separated from the pack…
And the
pink CHSAA caps
are with them!
Ok… so understand what
had happened to Jillian Smerechniak.
Remember this is a tough meet?
Well, it happens that this meet was so poorly run, (mostly
because the people who give out awards want to make sure it is more
special for the “public school” kids.
If things weren’t so darn political and just about the kids…
everything would be fine) that there were delays throughout the entire
meet. Until the 200 free
relay – through the 400 free relay. They
decided no awards, no breaks. Jillian
is stepping on the block to compete in Finals for the third time in
about 20 minutes. Truth:
After Jillian finished her 100 breast, I was reading her body
language from across the pool and saw the exhaustion.
I immediately went to Kiersten Clancy and began warming her up as
an alternate for the relay.
Our alternates at States are so important and they are ALWAYS prepared
and ready to go right until the relay goes behind the block.
I finally got to speak to Jill and I asked her to do as she has
done for the past 4 years.
“Give this team everything you have”.
As tired as she was, she smiled and gave me a nod of approval
because she knows I believe in her.
Coach Andrew from St. Francis Prep noticed how upset I was.
How can I continue to push this girl?
The human side of me; my heart was melting.
The Coach in me; believes in my swimmers and I have no doubt that
Jillian can handle this. I
thanked Kiersten for being ready, but Jillian is good to go.
Good to go?
Are you kidding? Her
first three laps looked effortless, and she is motoring.
Her final lap, it was obvious that her arms were getting heavy,
but she wasn’t slowing down.
Briana is flying off the block above her, taking on the top anchor
swimmers, as Jillian touches the wall with a …
ready?
53.81!
Oh my gosh… what a swim!
Briana is tearing up
the pool, swimming her final 100 yards of her 1,700 yards of racing
(that’s not a typo, 1,700 yards at States!), and she is flying.
Briana has us locked in 4th, as the 5th
place team is now 2 seconds behind her…
**
For quite some time now, St. Anthony’s has been an overall top 10
team at States. We’ve
finished as high as 3rd (twice) and last year we had a great
performance finishing 5th.
We once again graduated a TON of scoring talent, and here we are
moments away from another monumental performance by 9 Friars,
representing 40, and being summed up in Briana Gellineau’s anchor swim.
We don’t give up… ever.
We are the Friars!
Briana’s final touch of
the pad at 53.04 seconds gave
the Lady Friars another 4th fastest relay in NY State, at
3:33.71.
Once again our season best.
We are 4th overall in New York State,
edging out the mighty Orchard Park by 1 point!
WHAT? We placed
higher than last year?! I’m
in awe at how hard this team swam.
1.
Pittsford
326
2. Long
Beach 192
3.
Pelham 190
4. St.
Anthony’s 160
5.
Orchard Park 159
(note:
and although Newsday ranked us 3rd on Long Island, we beat #2
ranked Garden City by 50 points)
just saying…
| 2016 Paper Airplane Champion |
| Hannah Harkins Sacred Heart |
 |
Friars 2016 State Team
Emily Bardak
Katherine
Meyers Jillian
Smerechniak Danielle
Pikulik Kiersten
Clancy Gabby
Mattutat Michelle
Franco Briana
Gellineau
