Chan, Schlichte win state swimming titles

BUFFALO -- Take the craziest path to a state title imaginable and that's how Lindsay Schlichte pulled off a win at yesterday's state swimming and diving championships.

The junior from Garden City won the 500 freestyle after she tied with junior Brittany Friese of Newburgh, both touching in 4:52.07. Ties in the shorter races are rare enough, but in the 500, it's pretty much unheard of.

The win in the 500 capped off a big day for Nassau as junior Olivia Chan of Sewanhaka also delivered with two titles. The 36th annual event, which showcased the talents of 30 swimmers from Nassau and 34 from Suffolk, concluded at the Erie CC Flickinger Center in downtown.

Schlichte earned her share of the title with a strong kick over the final 25 yards. "It's crazy after that many laps to have the same, exact time," said Schlichte. "To both have a time like that is insane. We're both champions. That's just how it is. We're both No. 1 in the state." It was Garden City's first state champion since 2007.

Someone gave Chan a stuffed animal before the meet for good luck. She didn't need it. Chan was able to repeat as the public school state champion in the 100 breaststroke breaking her own Nassau record with a 1:02.76. She also won the 200 individual medley in 2:03.57. Her resume now includes five state titles.

"I came here with this goal in mind to get those state titles," Chan said. "I really wanted to break a 1:03 on my breaststroke and I'm really happy I did."

Senior Molly Arceri of Huntington was state runner-up in diving. She saved her best dive for last scoring 48 points on her reverse 1.5 pike, to propel her into second place with an 11-dive total of 464.85. "It's not one of my best dives, but somehow I just knew I had to do really good on it," said Arceri, who placed 12th last year.

It was a busy day for junior Nicole Hetzer, who swam in the finals of four events for Connetquot. She was second to Chan in the 200 IM in 2:07.28 and took fifth in the breaststroke. She helped a pair of relays take third places in season-best times. The defending state champion 200 medley relay finished in 1:48.81 while the 200 freestyle relay went 1:38.45.

Trudi Ann Patrick of Jericho, who broke the school record in the 100 butterfly during Friday's prelims, placed third in the finals in 56.58.

Bellmore-Merrick saw two school records fall as freshman Jessica Arana went 5:05.96 in the 500 freestyle and the 400 free relay team of Gabbie Toback, Arana, Natalia Wilkins and Kerry Giovanniello timed 3:39.05. Toback was fifth in the backstroke.

Sophomore Molly Treble of Massapequa enjoyed a pair of top five finishes as she was fourth in the 500 free and fifth in the 200 free.

St. Anthony's had a pair of relays finish in the top five in the Federation. It's 400 free relay went 3:34.71 while the 200 medley relay went 1:49.21, both bettering their times from prelims.

Albany won the event with 588.50 points. Its 400 freestyle relay broke the state record with a 3:28.84. Suffolk was fifth followed by Nassau in sixth.

Annie Zhu of Brooklyn Tech of the PSAL made the selection of meet MVP an easy one. She won Federation titles in 100 breaststroke breaking the state meet record with a 1:01.14 and won the 200 IM 1:59.36. Both are automatic All-American times. Zhu has signed a letter of intent with Georgia.