Flames take fifth at ECICs; Batta wins 100 breast
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Williamsville East only crowned one champion at last Wednesday's ECIC Championships at Sweet Home High School but a number of swimmers scored points to help the team take fifth out of 13 squads in the "AA" division.

The Flames finished with 202 points.

Kane Hsieh won the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:03.13. Hsieh also came in seventh in the 200 individual medley in 2:14.24.

Matt Geiger took second in the 100 back in 55.05 and fifth in the 200 individual medley in a personal best and state qualifying time of 2:04.58. Batta was also sixth in the 100 free (51.37) and 200 free (1:54.61).

Michael Anderson went 1:53.72 in the 200 free to take fourth. In the 500 free, he swam a personal best time of 5:06.89.

Brad Kim swam a personal best time of 1:09.16 in the 100 breast to place fifth.

Kevin Fan was 10th in the 100 back (1:03.29) and 13th in the 200 IM (2:20.89).

Thomas Mitchell and Greg Zaloom finished 10th (1:59.63) and 15th (2:02.34), respectively, in the 200 free. The two also went 12th (5:39.39) and 16th (5:45.75), respectively, in the 500 free.

Taewook Kang qualified for sectionals with a personal best swim in the 100 fly of 1:04.91. The time placed him 18th.

Josh Vekhter took 18th in the 100 breast in 1:13.62.

Jeff O'Gorman came in 21st in the 100 free in 56.30.

The 200 medley relay (Geiger, Hsieh, Kang and Chris Soh) and the 200 free relay (Mitchell, O'Gorman, Batta and Anderson) each took fifth with times of 1:47.35 and 1:38.04. The 400 free relay of Anderson, Batta, Hsieh and Geiger went 3:30.95 for sixth.

Joe O'Gorman took second in the ECIC diving championships held last Tuesday at Sweet Home. O'Gorman finished with 286.70 points.

"Everywhere we swam we did well," said East coach Mike Doerfler. "Joe dove great. The fifth place was the best finish we've had at ECICs in a long time. It was a great meet for us."

East lost to Iroquois, 66-35, last Thursday at Iroquois. The victory gave Iroquois the division crown. East finished 4-1 in the division, 9-3 overall.

The Flames qualified 12 athletes for the Section VI Championships to be held Wednesday and Thursday at Erie Community College's Burt Flickinger Center.

Swimming warm-ups are set for 4 p.m. each day followed by trials on Wednesday and finals on Thursday with a 5 p.m. starting time. Sectionals for diving are Thursday with warm-ups at 10 a.m. and finals at noon.

Sweet Home

Host team Sweet Home took 11th in the "AA" division with 51 points.

"All of our kids did their best times, or right at them," said Sweet Home coach Dan Mc- Carthy.

Connor Hoffman was the Panthers' highest finisher with a fourth place in the 100 back (1:00.75). Hoffman will be swimming the 50 free and 100 back at sectionals. Hoffman took 21st in the 50 free (24.56) at ECICs.

Collin Sabers, who took 26th in the 200 free in 2:09.35, will also be moving on to sectionals, along with the Panthers' three relays, which each took 11th at ECICs.

The 200 medley relay of Hoffman, Ryan Gilinger, Phillip Stewart and Kristopher O'Connor swam a time of 2:00.25, the 200 free relay of Gilinger, Jon Wolf, Philip Stewart and O'Connor went 1:45.24 and the 400 free relay of O'Connor, Sabers, Wolf and Hoffman finished in 3:55.05.

Gilinger came in 21st in the 100 breast in 1:16.34.

Amherst Central

In the "A" division, the Tigers took eighth with 142 points.

Jacob Hofmar-Glennon placed third in the 100 back (59.77) and sixth in the 200 IM (2:15.24).

Marshall Davis came in eighth in the 200 free (2:02.17) and 10th in the 500 free (5:42.14). Nathan Chau placed eighth in the 100 fly (1:03.93).

Steve Arlington swam a 1:12.72 to take 12th in the 100 breast.

Allen Dengler earned a 13th place in the 100 fly (1:05.11) and 14th in the 500 free (5:53.16).

All three of Amherst's relays (200 medley relay, 1:55.45; 200 free relay, 1:45.47; 400 free relay, 3:54.94) placed seventh.

Williamsville South

Greg Frank and Rob Gardner scored most of the points for the Billies.

Gardner earned seventh places in the 50 free (24.36) and 100 fly (1:03.67). Frank came in 11th in the 500 free (5:42.51) and 16th in the 200 IM (2:24.63).

The Billies finished 12th out of 13 teams in the "A" division with 59 points.