Scores: Oswego 80 - 91 Auburn
The Oswego Buccaneers kicked off their 2019-20 swim season with a strong meet against the visiting Auburn Maroons. The Maroons proved too much for the Bucs, but with four athletes already achieving Sectional cut times, and 17 best times posted, it was a successful first meet.
The meet started off with a close race in the 200 medley relay. Oswego's relay finished less than two tenths of a second behind Auburn's. Every swimmer on Oswego's relay team posted a best time in the effort. Eighth grader Treyse Miller posted an impressive lead off backstroke split of 33.73. Junior Jake Smith followed that up with a 32.60 breaststroke swim. Senior Casey DeLapp started his butterfly leg behind and 25.73 seconds later touched just ahead of his competition, and then sophomore Jack Tonkin anchored in his fastest 50 freestyle time of 24.99 seconds.
DeLapp hopped right back in the water to win the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:58.19. Sophomore Jacob Sledziona wasn't fast behind, touching 3rd in 2:21.83. Treyse Miller was able to keep the winning streak going by posting his fastest 200 I.M. time of 2:24.88 to win the event. Sophomore Nate Dunn also posted a best time in the I.M. touching 4th in 3:08.33. Both DeLapp and Miller qualified for Sectionals with their impressive swims.
Auburn was able to pull ahead a bit in the 50 freestyle with some fast swims, but Tonkin was able to take second in 27.05 and freshman Harrison Zuber took 5th with a best time of 44.18. Tonkin was then joined by Smith in the diving competition, where they were able to make up a lot of ground for the Bucs. Tokin took first with a Sectional-qualifying score of 208.15 and Smith second with his own Sectional-qualifying score of 173.25. The close meet was tied after the diving points were tallied.
The next event was the 100 butterfly and Seldziona (1:16.06) was able to place 3rd, with Dunn (1:44.17) close behind at 4th place. Following the fly, three Oswego swimmers posted best times in the 100 freestyle to keep Oswego in the meet. Sophomore Curtis Kaye took 2nd with a best time of 1:06.43. Another sophomore, Tyler Tice, touched 5th in 1:17.36, and Harrison Zuber took 6th in 1:44.13.
DeLapp then took his second individual victory of the meet, finishing the 500 freestyle in a Sectional-qualifying time of 5:20.75. Following that win he anchored Oswego's winning 200 freestyle relay team (1:47.33). Tonkin and Miller also contributed to the relay win. Smith led off the relay with his best 50 freestyle time of 27.73. Sledziona did the same thing for Oswego's 200 freestyle "B" relay, leading off in a best time of 30.12.
Next up, in the 100 backstroke, both Tyler Tice (1:35.19) and Curtis Kaye (1:40.38) posted best times to finish 3rd and 4th respectively. Following that, in the 100 breaststroke, Treyse Miller and Jake Smith did the same thing. Miller touched 2nd in a best time of 1:13.60 and Smith 3rd in his best time of 1:17.50. Both boys qualified for Sectionals with their impressive swims.
Finally, Sledziona, Dunn, Tice, and Kaye represented the Bucs in the 400 freestyle relay. They were able to secure 3rd place with a time of 4:54.00. Dunn's freestyle split time of 1:23.25 is his best time ever.
"I was pleasantly surprised by the number of boys who were able to start this season faster than they finished last season. They are to be commended for their commitment to fitness in the off-season and for the work they've already done over the past two and a half weeks of this season. I'm excited to see where we will be in February, but in the meantime, I'm very happy with where we are right now!", Lerch said after the meet.
The Bucs take on Fulton Friday, December 13th at 5:00 PM at home.
