SECTION IV GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING: OWEGO MAKES BIG SPLASH IN PRELIMS (24 PHOTOS) (2019-11-06)

Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Owego swimmers recorded six top finishes in the preliminary round of the Section IV C lass B Girls Swimming & Diving Championship here Wednesday.

The Indians' Katie Shoen touched the wall first in two individual events while teammates Emma Stephenson and Jennifer Scott won one individual heat apiece. The trio joined Ashleigh Gault to take the top spot in the 200 medley relay and 200 free relay as well.

Shoen recorded times of 53.92 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle and 1:00.34 in the 100 backstroke. Her time in both events eclipsed the state qualifying standards — 54:36 seconds for the 100 free and 1:00.42 for the back. She topped the qualifying standard in the 50 free during the regular season.

In the 100 back, Shoen would lead a 1-2-3 showing by Owego with Gault's time of 1:00.5 just missing the state standard. Emma French landed the No. 3 spot with a 1:03.1.

Stephenson recorded a time of 2:03.83 to take the 200 free and Scott logged a 1:02.19 in the 100 butterfly.

Owego's medley relay earned the No. 1 position with a time of 1:50.77, exceeding the state standard (1:52.35), and the 200 free relay was also first with a 1:42.17.

Other runners-up for the Indians included Scott in the 50 free (25:47 seconds), and Stephenson in the 500 free (5:42.36). Their other third-place finisher was Gault in the 100 free (55.62 seconds).

Strong showings were also turned in by the 400 free relay of Jenna Bergmann, Holly Kersten, Allison Welch and French, which placed fourth (4:10.15), while Kersten took sixth in the 200 free (2:13.81) and eighth in the 500 free (6:03.42), and French was eighth in the 100 free (58.61).

Consolation qualifiers from Owego include Leah Watson in the 100 fly (10th, 1:12.53) and 200 individual medley (14th, 2:41.99), Bergmann in the 50 free (11th, 28.18) and 100 free (12th, 1:02.12), Ashleigh Allen in the 100 fly (11th, 1:12.59), Carly Kirtland in the 100 breaststroke (11th, 1:21.83), Allison Shoen in the 200 free (14th, 2:21.76) and 100 back (14th, 1:15.54); Morgan Cote in the 50 free (14th, 28.94) and 200 free (16th, 2:27.63), and Emma Pawlak in the 500 free (16th, 6:50.51).

The top 16 finishers in individual events and top eight in relays advance to Saturday's finals at Watkins Glen. Diving will be held Friday at WG.
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IN PHOTO 1: Owego's Katie Shoen (bottom) and Emma French. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.