Goshen girls’ swim team achieve personal bests

Last week, the Goshen High School girls’ swim team had a challenging schedule adding two losses and one win to their record, making it 4-5.

First up was a dual meet including Valley Central and Rhinebeck. Though the team fell to Valley Central, they put in a lot of effort and swam past Rhinebeck.

In the individual 200 freestyle event, Siel Johnson of Chester clocked the fastest time of 2:11.88 and landed her a spot in Sections. Goshen swimmers Aimee Mancuso and Zoe Panzer continue to improve by knocking seconds off of their time.

For the 50 free, Alexis Sofia placed first vs Rhinebeck and newcomer Ayla Panzer took over two seconds off her time and beat her Rhinebeck opponent to the wall, earning her fastest swim of the season. In the 500 free, Aimee Mancuso cut down on her time and senior captain, Amelie McDonnell pulled out a second-place performance versus Rhinebeck. Coming in with a strong third-place finish in the 100 free was Tasha Zellner-Portela with diver Kaylee Croughan taking a shot at the event not too far behind her.

Ellis Rocchio edged out her competition in the 100 breast and had a strong second place finish.

The highlights of the week included the medley relay consisting of Tasha Zellner-Portela, Ellis Rocchio, Rhyanne Ruffy and Alexis Sofia tagging out the Rhinebeck team. With that intense dual meet behind them, the Gladiators turned their attention to another strong competitor: Washingtonville.

In the matchup against Washingtonville, Grace Matthews and Alexis Sofia held off the Wizards to score in the 100 fly event, while Keira Albanese turned in a personal best in the 100 free. Several swimmers turned in personal best times, including Aimee Mancuso in both the 200 and 500 free, Grace Matthews in the 200 individual medley, and Keira Albanese in the 100 free. Amelie McDonnell turned in her best time of the season for the 200 individual medley.

Diving continues to be impressive with Kaylee Croughan and Rhyanne Ruffy securing the one and two positions, respectively, versus Rhinebeck and one and three, respectively, in the matchup against Washingtonville.

Chester swimmer Ariel Lopez defeated several swimmers over the course of the meets, proving that the 50 free and 100 backstroke are great events for her to compete in.