Mere Points Have Decided Last Few Meets for Bonac Girls Swimmers

The East Hampton/Pierson/Bridgehampton girls swim team lost yet another close League II meet, this time to Half Hollow Hills/Kings Park, at the East Hampton YMCA RECenter on October 8.

After having lost its League II opener, 87-81, to Ward Melville, which was also a home meet on September 30, the Bonackers gave Hills another close battle, but ultimately lost, 90-85. That dropped their record to 3-3 overall, 1-3 in League II.

Bonac’s 200-yard medley relay “A” team of Pierson sophomore Vanessa Rizzo, East Hampton senior co-captain Lizzy Daniels, East Hampton junior Ginger Griffin and Pierson eighth-grader Heidi Rizzo, continued its torrid start to the season by winning in 1:54.44. That team is one of many which have already qualified for the Section XI Championships, in fact, all three of Bonac’s relay teams (200 free relay, 400 free relay) have hit qualifying times for the county meet.

Hills came right back to win the next event, the 200-yard freestyle, although Springs School eighth-grader Avienne O’Shea did her best in preventing that, finishing second in 2:07.99, just seventh-tenths of a second off junior Alexis Weiss’s winning time. Hills went on to take first place in seven of the remaining 10 events, which would eventually bare out in the final score. But East Hampton head coach Craig Brierley was enthused by the way his team kept it a close meet throughout.

The 400 free relay team of East Hampton freshman Sydney Powers, O’Shea and Heidi and Vanessa Rizzo closed out the meet with a win in 4:00.48.

“That is a testament to the depth of our roster and the talent the Bonac girls have,” he wrote in his weekly newsletter to the team and its parents. “Our girls continue to put up best times.”

Brierley noted that Heidi Rizzo earned two more additional county-qualifying times in both the 200 free and 100-yard backstroke. She had already qualified in the 100-yard butterfly and 100-yard freestyle. Her older sister Vanessa has qualified in the 200-yard individual medley, 50 free, 100 free, 100 back and 100 breast. O’Shea has qualified in both the 200 free and 200 IM; Daniels has qualified in the 200 IM, 50 free, 100 fly, 100 back and 100 breast.

East Hampton freshman Molly Grande was named Swimmer of the Meet by team captains following last week’s meet. As Brierley explained, in the days leading up to the meet, Grande was not feeling well, but eventually competed against Hills. She was initially entered in only two events as to not overdo it, Brierley said, but after a teammate was unable to swim an event, Grande offered to swim it for her. She placed fourth and earned valuable points for the team. The captains also said Grande always cheers on teammates.

In observance of Breast Cancer Awareness month, the Bonackers donned pink swim caps as a way to help raise awareness for the disease. Pierson senior co-captain Lily Caplin has also crafted pink ribbons that will be given out to opposing teams

“We want to show our support for breast cancer survivors, patients and to all that are affected by this disease,” Brierley said. “We also want to remember those who lost their lives to breast cancer.”

An annual favorite activity for the team, the girls wrote letters to their future selves that will be mailed to them after they graduate high school. For many, this won’t be for a couple of years, so it turns out to be an insightful activity where they’re able to reflect back on things like their personal growth over time, Brierley said, and what they hoped to accomplish.

Three meets remain in the regular season, two of which are this week. East Hampton competed at Connetquot High School on Tuesday, and will compete against Sayville/Bayport-Blue Point at Sayville Middle School this Thursday, October 16, at 5:30 p.m. before hosting Central Islip in its final meet of the regular season at home on Tuesday, October 21, again at 5:30 p.m.

The League II Championships are scheduled for October 30 at Sachem East High School at 5 p.m. The Section XI Swimming Championships will be November 9 at Stony Brook University at 9:30 a.m.