By Rich Fisher
Fish4scores.com

Dec. 7: Granted, Trenton is a team that Hamilton West should beat in swimming, no matter whether it’s girls or boys.

But that doesn’t mean the Hornets couldn’t feel darn good about themselves after both teams broke into the win column today.

The girls took a 122-42 victory over the Tornadoes, while the boys swam to a 101-66 triumph.

“I think they looked great, I was really proud of them,” boys coach Mary Kanoc said. “It’s always great to get a win. It’s fun too. Our kids are competitive, but it’s a fun meet for all of them. I like how both these teams always cheer for each other.”

Andrew Gonzalez, who celebrated the first three-win day of his career, feels it’s all about having fun.

“For this team, we may not be good doing swimming, but we have a lot of heart and spirit,” the senior said. “Even though I don’t do really good in IMs, I always try to have a good time. It doesn’t matter if I win or not. But it was exciting today.”

Indeed, Cruz won the 200 IM in 3:04.3, took the 100 free in 1:07.63 and was part of the winning 200 medley relay team along with Travis Prekop, Christian Elley and Taj Adams (2:27.85).

Elley won the 200  free (2:39.53), Adams the 100 fly (1:24.57) and Prekop the 400 free (5:09.61). Other Hornet winners were Steve Paterno (100 back, 1:22.98) and the 400 free relay team of Ben Andrejco, Joseph Fuentes, Dan Fechter and Joshua Cleary (5:01.67).

Also gaining points with top-5 finishes were Youssef Elsayed, Chris Hernandez and Taras Mykhaylyshyn.

“This is my last year, I’m gonna make the most of it,” Gonzalez said. “We all want to at least try to have a good time and try to have some enjoyment this season. I think we can get a few more wins if we keep working together and try to be cooperative and be a family.”

That camaraderie seems to already be there throughout the program, according to prized freshman Kylie Mackersie.

“We’re definitely growing, community wise,” Mackersie said. “We can all come to each other and talk to anyone about anything. There are people I know I can always go to and have a shoulder to lean on.”

Mackersie’s cousin Jordan Roldan, also a prized freshman whose mom owns the West 100 breast record, felt happiness for the entire team after the victory.

“It was really nice,” said Roland, who set the school record in the 400 in the season’s first dual meet and then re-set it. “I like to see the team, when they get first, get really excited about it. I like to see our team scoring points, it’s just more positive and gets everybody excited about the sport.”

Mackersie and Roldan only swam one event each as others got their chance to shine. Kylie won the 100 fly (1:24.46) and Jordan took the 200 IM (2:43.52).

Elizabeth Mains (200 medley relay, 2:41.35; 100 back, 1:30.92), Vladia Trinh (200 MR, 100 breast, 1:37.57) and Kelsey Bernhard (200 MR, 100 free, 1:22.46) were all double winners for Hamilton. Other first-place finishers included Stephanie DeLeon (200 free, 3:09.07), Alyssa Firestine (50 free, 35.7), Shelby South (400 free, 5:28.43) and the 400 free relay team of Alexis Solymasi, Jasmine Hull, Kristin Redrovan and Caitlin Sharkey (6:20.49). Jamie Pelletteri rounded out the medley relay.

Also earning points with top-five finishes were Ziona Richardson, Colleen Heffernan, Amanda Collins, Olena Mykhaylyshyn, Brittany Perez, Samantha Caster and Joanna Buchner.

“We’re getting a lot better,” Mackersie said. “We have new swimmers who learned all the strokes in two weeks, which is really good. I know it took me a long time when I was younger. It’s just nice to see people get the win and see how excited they are.”

Coach Maria Ciaralli said, “I’m just looking for them to keep working hard at practices, improving their times. That’s all you can ask for. Hopefully we’ll have some good swims coming up at the beginning of the new year.”