RCS athletes swim to success

RAVENA-COEYMANS-SELKIRK — With the 2018 season coming to a close, the RCS Girls Swimming and Diving Team raced to the finish line in the Section II Division II Championships.

And they had many successes along the way, as well as close races lost by a hair’s breadth. In a sport measured in tenths of a second, every moment counts and can prove critical.

RCS finished in fourth place overall, just five points behind Emma Willard, who took third. They were 27 points behind second place Glens Falls.

The athletes competed hard, and set several records throughout the three-day competition. Two school relay records were set, and one individual record was broken.

For swimmer Emily Sulik, she took home her first-ever division title in the 200 individual medley; she barely missed the cut for states by .07 seconds. She also placed third in the 100 butterfly.

Gillian Burch’s success in the pool continued. Burch has been a top swimmer for RCS for years, taking home a sectionals medal in 2017 and a first-place ribbon in the 100 breaststroke that same year.

This year she went on to win her fourth and fifth division titles, coming in first place in the 200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke. For the second year in a row Burch was awarded the Section II Division II Coaches Award.

Burch and Sulik were also part of the four-person 200 medley relay that took second place, along with Carys Bartlett and Kaley Pagnotta.

The 400 freestyle relay team of Sulik, Pagnotta, Burch and Emma Rowzee took second place, and set a new RCS record along the way.

Alexis LaQuire came in third in the diving competition, and also competed in the 100 butterfly.