Bees Make a Splash: Boys Swimming Triumphs Over Oswego in Thrilling Comeback

ONONDAGA COUNTY – Following its initial loss of the season to Fayetteville-Manlius on Jan. 3, the Baldwinsville boys squad swiftly returned to victory at home.

Faced with Oswego last Tuesday evening at Baker High School, the Bees prevailed in seven out of the 11 events listed, finishing second in the remaining four while overcoming the Buccaneers 49-43.

Both Alex Nicita and Alex Atherton triumphed in two events each, with Nicita first excelling in the 200-yard freestyle, clocking in at one minute 51.93 seconds, well ahead of the 2:02.52 from teammate Marco VanCour.

Transitioning to the 100 freestyle, Nicita was swift, winning the event in 51.14 seconds, almost five seconds ahead of Oswego’s Liam Sugar, who finished at 56 flat, while Brayden Anders placed third in 56.21 and Aiden Tallarico (58.65) fourth.

Meanwhile, Atherton secured first-place points in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:18.41, although Manlius-Pebble Hill star Sun-Jin Shah triumphed in 2:02.32. A similar scenario unfolded in the 100 butterfly, where Atherton posted 59.19 seconds, leading all the Buccaneers’ swimmers but falling short to Shah’s 56.12.

Adrian Clay completed the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.23, with Ethan Gramiak (1:15.53) placing third. VanCour won the 500 freestyle in 5:32.23 compared to the flat 5:45 of Oswego’s Jack Canale Giberson.

Owen Nizar clinched victory in the 100 backstroke in 1:02.48, narrowly beating Dylan Danesco’s 1:04.38, while Myles Reynolds (1:12.10) edged out Tallarico (1:13.74) for third. Brayden Anders was runner-up in the 50 freestyle at 25.18 seconds, just behind Clay’s 25.13 and Oswego’s Cooper Dawson, who finished at 24.01.

The Bees also secured the 200 medley relay in 1:52.60 against the Bucs’ 1:55.87 and took the 400 freestyle relay in 3:40.26, overcoming Oswego’s 3:43.36. B’ville completed the 200 freestyle relay in 1:38.63, finishing behind the Bucs’ 1:37.01.

Nick Pompo did not participate in the diving at this meet, but when he competed on Saturday at the Salt City Dive Invitational held at Nottingham High School, he again topped the standings.

Having qualified for the state championship meet in March at a similar event in late December in Mexico, Pompo amassed 541.55 points this time, surpassing Jamesville-DeWitt/CBA’s Cameron Corona, whose 497.90 also qualified him for the state meet, while Cicero-North Syracuse’s Nate Ornoski finished third with 493.10.