Fanwood-Scotch Plains Girls Black Team Has Dual Season Opener

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA (FSPY) Girls “Black” swim team had its dual meet season opener at home against the Greater Somerset County YMCA (GSCY) Division 1 Girls team on Saturday, October 14, 2023. It was a tight race to the wall with GSCY edging FSPY out of a win by 8 points with a score of 206-198.

Individual Medleys (IM)

Starting off with the IMs, Sophia Lukov, Brooklynn Mihansky and Maya Mital took 1st, 4th and 5th place, respectively in the 100 IM for the 9-10 age group. In the 100 IM for 11-12s, Rose Ferreiro and Sage-Alyssa Isleta took 4th and 5th, respectively. Jane Kavanagh took 1st place for the 13-14 200 IM, with Mary Ferreiro taking the 4th place spot. Clare Logan continued the 1st place run for 15-18 200 IM, with Maddie Goret, Laura Kim and Emily Constable following close behind in 3rd, 4th and 5th place.

Freestyle

Avery Ruberto started off the freestyle races with a 1st place finish for the 8 and unders in the 25 free with Liliana Jucha coming in at 6th place. Eva Slade followed with another 1st place finish for team FSPY for the 9-10 on the 50 free, with teammate Daphne Canaran touching the wall in 4th place. Milan Fevrier kept the 1st place streak going for the 11-12 50 free. Kaylee Chung finished 6th, adding points for the team. The 13-14 100 free event saw 2nd and 3rd place finishes for Janice Yip and Amy Jiang, respectively. The 15-18 girls earned four of the top 6 places in the 150 yard free with Billie Sherratt in 2nd, Normandie Beversluis in 4th, Catherine Ritter in 5th and Brooke Labarge in 6th.

Breaststroke

A. Ruberto went back into the pool for the 8 and under 25 breaststroke finishing 2nd, with Natalia Bickoff coming in 5th place. S. Lukov and Samara Bithun represented the 9-10s in the 50 breast finishing 2nd and 4th, respectively. More points came through for FSPY in the 11-12 50 breast with Juliet Bickoff placing 3rd and Kelsey Ruberto in 5th. In the 13-14 100 breast, Tessa DeGennaro finished in 3rd place with teammate Emma Crall in 6th. The 15-18 race saw the team’s 1st place finish in the breaststroke events with Constable touching the wall first with Goret following her in 2nd and Beversluis in 4th.

Backstroke

More great swims followed in the backstroke events. Gabriella Lukov easily out-touched the competition with her 1st place finished in the 8 and under 25 backstroke. Teammate Ella Bennett scored points with 4th place finish. For the 9-10 50 back, Canaran and Mital swam into 2nd and 5th place, respectively. The 11-12 earned more points in the 50 back with R. Ferreiro in 3rd, Isleta in 4th and Chung in 6th. Kavanagh brought in a 1st place finish for the 13-14 100 back with teammates M. Ferreiro and Jiang in 3rd and 5th, respectively. The 15-18 girls rounded out the backstroke events with a 2nd place finish from Logan and 6th place from Ritter in the 150 back.

Butterfly

G. Lukov kicked off the butterfly events with a 2nd place finish in the 8 and under 25 fly. Bennett and Jucha joined her in the top 6 at 5th and 6th place, respectively. For the 9-10 50 fly event, Mihansky swam into 2nd with Slade right behind in 3rd. Bickoff and Fevrier earned 2nd and 3rd place finishes with teammate Eva Lubenow in 6th place for the 11-12 50 fly. The 13-14s followed with 3rd and 4th place swims from Yip and Crall respectively. The 15-18 girls finished out the individual events with impressive swims from Sherratt at 1st, Kim at 2nd and Labarge in 6th for the 150 fly.

Freestyle Relays

It was a 2nd place finish for the 8 and under relay team of A. Ruberto, Bennett, Jucha and G. Lukov. The 9-10 relay team of Mihansky, Mital, Slade and S. Lukov finished in 1st place. The 11-12 relay team of R. Ferreiro, J. Bickoff, Fevrier and Isleta touched 1st with the 2nd relay team of Elle Purse, K. Ruberto, Chung and Lubenow coming in 5th. The 13-14 relay team of Yip, DeGennaro, M. Ferreiro and Kavanagh finished in 2nd place. The two relay teams for the 15-18 girls finished out the meet with exciting swims. The relay team of Logan, Constable, Sherratt and Ritter came in 1st with the relay team of Mya Uku, Goret, Kim and Beversluis finished 2nd.

The Girls Black team will be on road for their next dual meet against the Greater Monmouth County YMCA swim team on November 4, 2023.

The Fanwood-Scotch Plains YMCA swim team is a year-round competitive team offering high-quality professional coaching and technique instruction. For more information, contact Chris Karelus, Head Coach and Director of Competitive Aquatics, 908-889-8880 x 129.