Amherst wins half of events, still falls to Starpoint

Despite winning six of 11 events, the Amherst Central varsity girls swimming team dropped a 95-75 decision last Friday to Starpoint in the first dual meet of the 2006 season.

"Starpoint is a well-coached team with plenty of depth," said Amherst coach Ann Doleski. "The results of this meet underline the importance of second, third and even fourth place finishes."

Amherst got out of the gate quickly in this meet as Eva Lankes, Kaelyn Sullivan, Brianne Burton and Michelle Niblock combined to win the first event, the 200 medley relay in an excellent, early-season time. These same four also nipped Starpoint by one tenth of a second in one of the most exciting events of the night the 200 free relay.

Burton was a double winner for the Lady Tigers in individual events, touching first in the 200 IM and the 100 fly. Other winners for Amherst were Eva Lankes (100 backstroke) and Kaelyn Sullivan (100 breastroke). Excellent performances were turned in by Ellie Poleon (200 and 500 freestyle), Andrea Pratt (100 breast) and Melissa Tschamler (200 IM and 100 fly).

"All the girls have been working hard since late August, and we have seen much improvement in a very short time," said coach Kim Skomra. "We expect to see more of the same in the weeks to come."

Jordan Beamer, Larissa Kumm and Allison Scaringi performed well for Amherst in their first-ever high school dual meet.