BY RICH PALZEWIC
SPORTS EDITOR
FOND DU LAC – With a little more than three weeks until the Fox River Classic Conference girls’ swimming meet, Bay Port is proving they are the team to beat.
The Pirates chalked up another victory over the weekend at the Fondy Invite by winning the 15-team event at Fond du Lac High School.
Bay Port’s 416.50 points narrowly edged Menomonee Falls/Hamilton by about 20 points for the title.
Ella Thibert (5th), Sasha Sliwinski (7th), Anika Gingle (12th) and Morghan Dufresne (14th) all took part in the 1-meter diving competition among 17 participants.
The Pirates got off to a good start by winning the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:52.90. Members of that team were Riley Melendy, Sydney Aird, Emma Lasecki and Adie Tooley.
Lasecki led a trio of 200 individual medley swimmers by winning overall (2:09.58), while Melendy (3rd – 2:14.32) and Tooley (4th – 2:15.68) also had strong swims. Lasecki won the event by 4.71 seconds, while Melendy finished out of a runner-up spot by less than two-tenths of a second.
Lasecki won her second individual event of the day by winning the 100 butterfly in a time of 57.46.
Emily Calaway came in second in the 500 freestyle (5:22.02), while Melendy also had a successful 100 backstroke where she placed third (1:01.82).
Bay Port went one-two in the 100 breaststroke after Aird (1:09.93) and Tooley (1:11.07) took the first two spots.
Rounding out the top finishes, the Pirates placed second in the 400 freestyle relay in a time of 3:42.54. Melendy, Calaway, Lacy Geurts and Lasecki finished about 1.2 seconds behind the winning team from Menomonee Falls/Hamilton.
Bay Port has won four consecutive FRCC titles and will be going for a fifth Oct. 27 at the Lineville Community Pool.
The Pirates will be hosting Ashwaubenon Oct. 2 at Lineville beginning at 5:30.