SYRACUSE – When the Baldwinsville girls swim team went to Nottingham High School for Wednesday’s Section III Class A championship meet sophomore Olivia McManus would stand out in several ways, and nowhere was this more the case than in the 100-yard butterfly.
With her time of 59.52 seconds, McManus not only beat the field by more than three seconds, she also got under the 1:00.02 standard needed to qualify for the Nov. 22-23 state championship meet at Webster Aquatic center.
McManus’ previous best time in the fall in this event was 1:03.97 – which freshman Addie Atherton beat with 1:03.88 to grab third in the event, later adding a sixth in the 100 breaststroke going 1:17.06.
Before this, McManus battled for top honors in the 200 individual medley as she finished in 2:21.09, runner-up to the winning 2:19.42 of Cicero-North Syracuse’’s Leah Benedict.
Eighth-grader Ella Mekker was eighth in the 200 IM 2:31.88 but did better in the 100 backstroke, going a season-best 1:04.90 to snare third place not far from the winning 1:02.76 put up by another Northstars swimmer, Cassidy Payrot, as Addy Grosso was sixth in 1:10.06.