Blue Devils Set Stage for Future
It wasn't a championship season, but it just might have set the stage for significant success in the future. The Huntington High School girls' swimming and diving team finished with a 3-7 record but with just six seniors and 26 underclassmen set to return next fall, the Blue Devils feel optimistic about what lies ahead.
Coached by Christopher Helmke and Meg McConnell, the squad was captained by Phoebe Curran and Samantha Mohr. Huntington was eighth in the League II championships and 13th in the Section XI State Qualifying Meet.
"Our team continues to show great potential as we improved our overall record to 3-7," Helmke said. "This year, one league was eliminated, placing us in a position to compete against larger schools. Yet, we still improved."
Huntington was led by diver Molly Arceri, who qualified for the state championships for the second consecutive season and set a new school record along the way, Erica Flor, Emily Maggio, Diana Harvey, Samantha Mohr, Jessica Baik, Taylor Palmer and Phoebe Curran.
Season highlights included:
• 200 medley relay of Erica Flor, Samantha Mohr, Diana Harvey and Emily Maggio touched out in a time of 2:06.16, dropping over two seconds at the county championships.
• 200 freestyle relay of Diana Harvey, Jessica Baik, Taylor Palmer and Emily Maggio raced to a season best time of 1:56.13, dropping over 1.5 seconds at the county championships.
• Erica Flor showed marked improvement in her times in two individual events: 200 individual medley – 2:23.51 and the 100 backstroke – 1:04.44. She cut three seconds off her time in both events.
• Emily Maggio swam her fastest 500 freestyle time in Huntington's last meet. The 5:56.4 performance showed a drop of two seconds.
• Diver Molly Arceri took first place in every single meet and went on to win league and county titles, set a new school diving record and earn a second trip to the state finals in Buffalo.
Huntington has a crowded stable of talented young swimmers. "Adding to our seasoned core of athletes was a new group of seventh and eighth graders that helped to score points throughout the season," Helmke said.
The Blue Devils' won-loss record is a little deceiving. The team enjoyed many fine performances. "Our driving force of top swimmers, combined with our county championship diver, Molly Arceri, made for an exciting season," Helmke said.