Pittsford’s Lindsay Stone wins the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.08 during the NYSPHSAA Girls Swimming & Diving Championships.
Pittsford swimmers set such high expectations for themselves that even when they come up short they still win state titles.
Junior Lindsay Stone won her third state title in the 500-yard freestyle and senior Katie Smith defended her state title in the 50 freestyle, leading Pittsford to the team crown at the state championships at Ithaca College on Saturday.
The top two Pittsford performances came from its 200 and 400 freestyle relay teams that both set state records in the process of winning state titles.
Smith bettered her time from a year ago by .31 seconds in the championship race of the 50 freestyle a day after setting the new state record in the event with a 22.72.
Pittsford’s Katie Smith, white cap, takes off from the blocks on her way to winning the 50-yard freestyle final with a time of 22.77.
The 400 relay team of Stone, Emma Corby, Becca Evans and Smith broke a state record set by Clarence-VI in 2013, when they edged out Pittsford by .27 seconds.
Smith was on that relay team in 2013 and said the Clarence time had been on their minds.
“That race (in 2013) was a very exciting race and it was a record we have been chasing all year,” Smith said. “It was exciting to break their record and it was a great last event for me.”
Stone shaved nearly a second off her 500 freestyle time to three-peat in the event. She won her first state title as a freshman and notices a difference two year later.
“I’m a more driven athlete now,” said Stone, who will be swimming at Senior Nationals in two weeks. “Seeing my third 500 title is amazing and it’s nice seeing hard work pay off.”
Smith and Stone will be joining Pittsford graduate PJ Ransford in June at the Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska.
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State championships
Team: 1. Pittsford 315.5, 2. Long Beach-VIII 192, 3. Pelham-I 190, 4. Orchard Park-VI 178, 5. St. Anthony’s-C 151, 12. Victor 82, 22. Hilton 47, 23. Penfield 46, T-39. Honeoye Falls-Lima, Newark 24, 45. Dansville 21, 48. Canandaigua 18, T-49. Irondequoit, Rush-Henrietta 16, 53. Letchworth 15, T-61. Brighton, Fairport 11, 77. Greece 5.
200 medley relay: 4. Pittsford (Stephie Riley, Sarah Minnigh, Megan Deuel, Sara Smith) 1:49.21; 7. Victor (Abby Fenn, Mia Baggett, Natalie Zaravella, Caroline Wood), 1:49.80; 200 freestyle: 2. Lindsay Stone (P) 1:48.29**, 3. Emma Corby (P) 1:51.77; 200 IM: Zaravella (V) 2:06.55; 50 freestyle: Katie Smith (P) 22:77**, 5. Becca Evans (P) 23.83, 6. Bailey Klafehn (H) 23.89, 10. Toni Naccarella (Pen) 24.22; 100 butterfly: Corby (P) 56.59, 6. Evans (P) 56.70; 100 freestyle: 4. Smith (P) 50.94, 7. Klafehn (H) 52.30; 500 freestyle: Stone (P) 4:48.08**; 200 freestyle relay: 1. Pittsford (Evans, Corby, Stone, Smith) 1:33.77**^, 9. Penfield (Charlotte Jarvis, Serafina Viola, Naccarella) Bridgette Merriman) 1:38.43; 100 backstroke: Grace Chen (F) 57.19; 100 breaststroke: 5. Grace Baumer (HF-L) 1:05.22; 9. Zaravella (V) 1:06.20; 400 freestyle relay: 1. Pittsford (Stone, Corby, Evans, Smith) 3:25.24**^.
^State record
**Automatic All-American
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