Katie Smith from Pittsford High School took the top seed and a State Record in prelims of the New York High School State Championship meet on Friday.
She swam a 23.05, which broke the 22-year old State Record set by Scotia’s Richelle Depold in 1991 at 23.25. Depold would go on to tie for 6th at the 1996 Olympic Trials in the 100 free.
She’ll be sided in the final by Clarence senior Dina Rommel, the defending champion, who was a 23.48 in prelims. Last year, Rommel won the title and Smith took 2nd.
Smith also has the top seed in the 100 free, by half-a-second, with a 51.01.
Makayla Sargent from Olean High School also took two top seeds. She was a 56.43 in the 100 fly, the more tenuous of the two events as Paige Kaplan was just behind in 56.56, and four swimmers total were better than 57 seconds.
At heart, Sargent is an IM’er, and in a loaded field, she took the top seed in that race in 2:03.34, which is already her lifetime best. She was the runner-up in the 200 IM last season as a freshman, and her change of second event shows how good her potential could be: she was 6th at last year’s meet in the 100 breast.
Full meet results are available on Meet Mobile. Finals will begin at 11AM on Saturday at Ithaca College.
