Lady Marines dominate state meet

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Last season as sophomores, Long Beach’s Maggie Aroesty and Lancaster’s Kristen Romano finished first and second, respectively, in the 200 individual medley at the New York State High School girls swimming championships.

Last weekend as first-year teammates, they led the Lady Marines to a record-setting performance at the state meet at Ithaca College. Aroesty repeated as 200 IM champion and added the 100 breaststroke title in state-record time, while Romano, who relocated to Long Beach from the Buffalo area, won the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke titles.

The dynamic duo was also part of a state-winning and state record-setting 200 medley relay, joining senior Morgan Harrington and seventh-grader Joanie Cash. Romano swam the backstroke, Aroesty the breaststroke, Harrington the fly, and Cash the anchor freestyle leg.

“The relay set the tone for the whole meet,” said Aroesty, who established a new state record in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1 minute flat and also set the Nassau County record (1:58.45) in the 200 IM.

For Romano, the 100 butterfly (54.76) was her coveted first state triumph. “Winning a state championship has always been a goal of mine, so it feels great to accomplish it,” said Romano, who in addition to being state runner-up to Aroesty last season was state runner-up in the 100 backstroke as a freshman. “It’s also really awesome to share the feeling of winning with three other girls in the relay,” she added.

Long Beach coach John Skudin said the medley relay was on track all season to do something special and he was waiting on all four legs to fire their best on the same day. The relay finished in 1:44.63. “It was just one of those things I knew had a chance to happen, and it happened at the perfect time,” he said. “Maggie and Kristen gave us a big start, and Morgan and Joanie were tremendous under pressure.

“Looking back at everything the girls accomplished, it’s surreal,” he said.

Aroesty, who has five state titles in three seasons and was named Most Outstanding Swimmer for the second consecutive year at the state meet, said having Romano as a high school and club (Long Island Aquatic) teammate helped push them both to another level.

“We’re competitive with each other, but it’s a friendly competition,” Aroesty said. “We’ve become close friends.”

Aroesty, Romano, classmate Caroline Farrell and freshman Kaley Skarren comprised a 400 freestyle relay that finished third in the state meet and shattered the previous Nassau record by four seconds with a time of 3:30.40.

“In six events, we brought home five state titles and set either a state or county record in all six,” Skudin said. “That’s pretty incredible.”