LOCALS COMPETE WITH USTA AT AAU SWIMMING & DIVING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS (10 PHOTOS) (2022-08-14)

Southern Tier Sports Report
The Southern Tier Aquatics (USTA) team competed in the AAU National Championships in Greensboro, NC from July 27-30, posting some big performances.

The USTA is comprised of swimmers from the Glen Gators Swim Team, the Ithaca Aquatics team and the Liverpool Jets and the team had 31 athletes attend this year.

There are athletes from Horseheads, Edison, Notre Dame and Watkins Glen among those on the team.

Day 1
The meet began with the 1500 meter freestyle, Thalia Marquez led the girls with a new personal record of 19:26.14 placing 3rd.  Georgia Michel, Lydia Lapierre, and Elise Johnson all placed in the top 12 in the event.  Ryan Dean, Liam Smith, Alex Walters, and James Fedele had strong showings for the boys.  Ryan Dean placed 4th, Alex Walters 8th in the 13-14 boys 1500, while Liam and James both placed in the top 16.

Day 2
The 400 meter medley relays concluded the session
*11-12 girls* placed 4th (Reese Conway, Ella Mekker, Adelaide Atherton, Natailie Thompson),
*11-12 Boys* *(AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONS (MJ Carro, Bryce Shutts, Thomas Vedder, Alex Atherton)
 **13-14 girls* placed 7th (Karina Lapierre, Genevieve Carro, Mia Carro, Adrianna Kuznia) and 8th (Maria Kuksenkova, Molly Gucciardi, Cara Reynolds, Aubrey Klemann),
*13-14 boys* (*AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONS - Ryan Dean, Joseph Lisi, Jack Cavallerano, Vinnie Ocasio) *and 6th place (Alex Walters, Dillan Allyn-Nobles, James Hayden, Alex Nicita.
*15-18 Girls * 2nd place (Alannah Klemann, Faye Mooney, Sibby Lowe, Thalia Marquez) and 4th place (Ashley Konz, Claire Krueger, Ilah Jefferis, Anna Lowe).
*15-18 Boys* 7th place (James Fedele, Jacob Griffin, Caden Griffin, Liam Smith).

Day 3
In the 50 meter freestyle top 16 finishes included Vinnie Ocasio (10th), Ilah Jefferis (12th), Faye Mooney (9th).  Top 8 finishers included Sibby Lowe (4th), and Anna Lowe (2nd).  Ryan Dean added to his scoring finishes
with a 10th place swim in the 200 IM as did Faye Mooney (15th), Elise Johnson (13th), and Ilah Jefferis (11th).  In the 100 meter backstroke team USTA had several top 8 finishers including Ryan Dean (5th), Alannah Klemann (3rd), Anna Lowe (6th), and Sibby Lowe (8th).  Thomas Vedder place 14th in the 50 meter backstroke)

The 400 Freestyle was led by Thalia Marquez's 2nd place finish, followed up by 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, and 16th finishes by Elise Johnson, Sibby Lowe, Georgia Michel, Alannah Klemann, and Ivalee Bascom respectively.  Liam Smith placed 12th in the 15-18 Boys 400 free as Vinnie Ocasio took 6th in the 13-14 age group.  Cara Reynolds was the sole point scorer in the 13-14 girls 400 meter free placing 16th.

The 10 and under athletes had a strong showing on Day 3. Hudson Westervelt placed 9th in the 50 meter freestyle, 10th in the 200 Individual Medley, and 5th in the 50 meter backstroke.  Dom Ocasio placed 17th in the 50 backstroke Mackenzie Fish

The relay of the day was the 400 meter Freestyle Relay 13-14 girls placed 8th (Arianna Kuznia, Addison Grosso, Aubrey Klemann, Mia Carro) and 9th place (Maria Kuksenkova, Molly Gucciardi, Genevieve Carro,
Lily Hall).
*13-14 Boys were the AAU National Champions (Ryan Dean, Vinnie Ocasio, Joseph Lisi, Jack Cavallerano) 4:03.13
* 15-18 Girls were 5th (Alannah Klemann, Kaitlyn Thompson, Kate Gucciardi, Faye Mooney) and 2nd (Sibby Lowe, Thalia Marquez, Ashley Konz, Anna Lowe)
15-18 Boys were 4th (Jacob Griffin, Liam Smith, Caden Griffin, Nathan Alexander)
11-12 Girls placed 4th (Natalie Thompson, Ella Mekker, Reese Conway, Adelaide Atherton)
11-12 Boys placed 2nd (Bryce Shutts, MJ Carro, Thomas Vedder, Alex Atherton)

Day 4
Our final day of competition brought out the best in us.  There were two AAU National Meet Records broken by USTA!
NEW AAU National Meet Records
15-18 Girls 200 Freestyle Relay 1:53.84 (Sibby Lowe, Faye Mooney, Kaitlyn Thompson, Anna Lowe)
13-14 Boys 200 Medley Relay 2:03.28 (Ryan Dean, Joseph Lisi, Jack Cavallerano, Vinnie Ocasio)

Other Highlights from the final day Boys 11-12 100 Meter Backstroke - Thomas Vedder 12th place and MJ Carro
16th place
Boys 13-14 200 meter Backstroke - Ryan Dean 4th place, Alex Walters 16th
Girls 13-14 200 meter Backstroke - Karina Lapierre 11th place
Girls 15-18 200 meter Backstroke - Sibby Lowe (15th), Thalia Marquez (11th), Georgia Michel (10th), Anna Lowe (7th), Alannah Klemann (5th)
Boys 15-18 200 meter Backstroke - Liam Smith 13th
Girls 15-18 100 Meter Breaststroke - Faye Mooney 3rd
Girls 13-14 200 Meter Butterfly - Carra Reynolds (8th), Mia Carro (7th)
Girls 15-18 200 Meter Butterfly - Georgia Michel (5th), Ilah Jefferis (4th)
Girls 13-14 100 Meter Free - Maria Kuksenkova 15th place
Boys 13-14 100 Meter Free - Ryan Dean (11th), Vinnie Ocasio (10th)
Girls 15-18 100 Meter Free - Thalia Marquez (15th), Faye Mooney (14th), Sibby Lowe (12th), Anna Lowe (8th)

Girls 15-18 200 Medley Relay *(AAU NATIONAL CHAMPIONS)* Ashley Konz, Faye Mooney, Anna Lowe, Sibby Lowe
Boys 11-12 200 Free Relay placed 3rd (Alex Atherton, Bryce Shutts, MJ Carro, Sawyer Cavellerano)
Boys 11-12 200 Medley Relay placed 3rd (MJ Carro, Bryce Shutts, Alex Atherton, Thomas Vedder)
Girls 10 and under 100 Backstroke - Mackenzie Fish 2nd place
Boys 9-10 50 Breaststroke - Hudson Westervelt 6th place
Girls 10 and under 100 Free - Mackenzie Fish 3rd place
Boys 10 and under 100 Free - Hudson Westervelt 8th place
Overall the team placed 3rd
Team New England 4044 points
Team Florida 2495 points
USTA 2386.5 points
Girls scores
Team New England 1796 points
Team Florida 1562 points
USTA 1238.5 points
Boys Scores
Team New England 2248 points
USTA 1148 points
Team Arkansas 1115 points
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PROVIDED PHOTOS