KITTLE, BENJAMIN, VASCOE PACE WAVERLY'S EFFORT AT LEAGUE MEET
By: Tim Birney | Waverly Athletics | October 23, 2021 | Photo courtesy Lori Vascoe
WATKINS GLEN — Eighth-grader Mara Kittle had four top-three finishes,
and seniors Lourden Benjamin and Delaney Vascoe each finished in the top
four in four events to pace Waverly’s efforts here Saturday at the IAC
Girls Swimming & Diving Championships.
Watkins Glen / O-M
claimed the team title with 437 points, while Lansing was second with
385 points, Southern Cayuga was third with 289 points, Waverly was
fourth with 232, and Dryden took fifth with 227.5 points. Notre Dame
finished sixth with 158 points, and Whitney Point was seventh with 24.5
points.
Junior diver Josie VanDyke earned the only first-place
finish for the Lady Wolverines. She won the 1-meter diving competition
with a personal-best score of 259.75 points.
Benjamin and junior Sophia DeSisti had the best individual finishes for Waverly, both earning second-place medals.
Benjamin
was second in the 500-yard freestyle in a personal-best time of
6:03.06, while Vascoe was third in a personal-best time of 6:06.24, and
8th-grader Emma Vanderhoof was 12th in a personal-best time of 7:08.04.
DeSisti was runner-up in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 59.42 seconds.
DeSisti
and Benjamin also teamed with Kittle, and Vascoe for a second-place
finish in the 200-yard medley relay in a season-best time of 2:05.27.
Kittle had a trio of third-place finishes, including two third-place individual finishes.
Kittle
was third in the 50-yard freestyle in a personal-best time of 26.78
seconds, which lands her 10th all-time in school history in the event,
and DeSisti was fifth in a personal-best time of 27.5 seconds.
Kittle
was also third in the 100-yard backstroke in a personal-best time of
1:04.89, which puts her No. 2 all-time in program history. VanDyke was
12th in 1:23.71.
Kittle, Benjamin, Vascoe, and DeSisti teamed to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a season-best time of 1:51.56.
About the Author
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
