Kathryn Montefusco is heading back to the New York State swimming and diving championships in Ithaca after qualifying in a pair of events this week. The Huntington High School freshman blew past the cut times for the state meet during a regular late season meet.
“I’m very excited to go back to the states this year and I’m particularly happy that I qualified in a second event,” Montefusco said. “I’m looking forward to competing against some of the fastest swimmers in the state and improving my time.”
Blue Devil coaches Christopher Helmke and Meg McConnell couldn’t have been happier for the teenager, who has put in a remarkable amount of work to maximize her performance.
“Hard work and dedication has paid off for Kathryn,” Helmke said. “She has an incredible ability to capitalize on opportunities when they present themselves. That happened yesterday as she made the state cut times in the 100 breaststroke and 100 freestyle.”
The state championships are set for Friday and Saturday, November 22-23 at Ithaca College. “My original goal this season was to qualify for the state championship meet,” Montefusco said. “Now that I’ve qualified, my next goal is to make the finals in both of my events at the states and swim my best times.”
The Blue Devil star swam the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.75, besting the state cut time of 1:08.60 in the event. She completed the 100 freestyle in 54.17 seconds, beating the state qualifying time of 54.36.
“The team just finished our dual meets and we have our league championships next week,” Montefusco said. “We are hoping to perform very well as a team and to have many qualifiers for the county championships. Coach Helmke and Coach Meg are working very hard with the team this year, trying to have as many swimmers going to these championship meets as possible. We are all very excited to see where the rest of the season brings us.”
