Brandes, Kinnicutt headline dominant LCAA Championship for Lady Sea Lions; Oswald siblings help cause with top five scores off diving board
BATH — It will go down as another undefeated season in the water for the Lady Sea Lions of Wellsville, after they wrapped up shop last weekend with their 10th straight win tucked away. It was now time to get down to brass tax in the postseason — a chance for the team to make some more noise.
Their first piece of business came on two separate days — on Thursday in the Livingston County Diving championships, and then the overall League Championship meet on Saturday at Bath-Haverling.
Just like their 2021 regular season campaign, their day in the water was filled with loads of success, as they captured the Livingston County Athletic Association crown with a dominant performance that saw six first place finishes, and a myriad of secondary finishes put toward a 607.5 point first place finish to become champions over second place Livonia and third place Wayland-Cohocton.
The Lady Sea Lions totaled six first place finishes in all to power their Livingston County Championship performance, starting the meet strong with their two 200 medley relay teams placing both first and second, with the winning team of Tiernee Brandes, Hayden Waldon, Isabelle Hart and Grace Kinnicutt finishing on top with a winning 2:08.94 time to start the meet on the strongest of notes.
The team of Morgan Mattison, Allie Bidzerkowny, Kaelyn Crawford and Emily Budinger would provide the second place finish for Wellsville in the 200 medley. For longtime head coach Steve Hand, he said the 1-2 finish in the meet’s opening event was one that changed the outlook of the meet for the rest of the afternoon.
“The LCAA meet started Thursday with Diving, and Ashley and Kaylee (Oswald) had us off to a great start. Swimming went just as well. To take first and second place in the first relay set the tone for us for the rest of the meet,” he said. “Tiernee (Brandes) had a nice win in the 200 free, all four girls in the 100 butterfly dropped time with Grace getting the win, and Cameron (Gordon) getting a Sectional cut in almost her last swim as a Senior. Kennedy (Ewing) had a great race with a personal best in the 500, Emily (Budinger) finished a great second place, and Jasmine (Outman) had a Sectional time herself in the back. We know we still have some work to do to try and retain the Class C title, so we’ll keep working hard.”
Brandes and Kinnicutt would then become a spark plug for Wellsville’s individual victories in the water, with Brandes paving the way towards a pair herself, one coming in each half of the meet, with her first win being recorded in the 200 freestyle behind a time of 2:09.86, and later in the 100 backstroke with a winning time of 1:06.01. Kinnicutt would chime in with a win herself in the 100 butterfly, scoring a medaling time of 1:06.66.
The two Lady Sea Lions would rejoin Kinnicutt, as well as Mattison to converge on the team’s final relay victory in the second half, racing toward triumph in the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:47.64.
Not only did the first place finishes net Wellsville massive points, but the team totaled nine secondary finishes within the top three against their competition. Outside of Wellsville’s second 200 medley relay team finishing behind the winners, seven more secondary individual finishes were collected with Kinnicutt, Mattison, Waldon, Budinger and Kennedy Ewing all finishing second place in the 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke, respectively.
Waldon and Bidzerkowny would add second and third place finishes in the same event, in the 100 backstroke, while the team of Hart, Crawford, Ewing and Kaylee Oswald came together to record a second place 400 freestyle relay finish at meet’s end.
Back on Thursday, the momentum began with magnificent performances off the diving board from both Oswald siblings, as Ashley Oswald placed second overall with a score of 332.30, while Kaylee followed up with a fourth place finish.
Up next for the Lady Sea Lions, they now prepare for tri-meet action on Wednesday in preparation for Sectionals, heading to Livonia to swim with both Palmyra-Macedon and the host Lady Bulldogs beginning at 5 p.m.
