By Chris Metcalf
AVON – The defending Section V Class C champions are back in the pool this winter.
Head coach Dan Paganin enters his 16th season for Avon swimming and diving fresh off a sectional title and also an LCAA divisional crown.
Avon (275 points) outscored both Wellsville (259 pts) and HAC (248 pts) for the sectional crown last year.
Once again, Avon is blessed with outstanding numbers on their roster, which will help come post-season time.
Returning seniors Katrina Dale (Diving), Kaitlyn Geary (IM and Butterfly), Megan McLaughlin (Diving), Taylor Schneider (Diving), and Amy Webster (Distance Free) will certainly give the Braves some experience in their final seasons.
Sophomores Jessie Crye (IM and Backstroke), Izzy Curtis (Diving), Fred Dengler (Free and Breaststroke), Nathan Halpin (Distance Free), Brandon Hunt (Distance Free), and Jax Rene (IM and Backstroke) will add some much-needed depth to the line up while freshmen returners Kyle Gallagher (Butterfly and Breaststroke), and Kristen Hill (Distance Free and Backstroke) will be counted on to provide some more scoring.
Look out for top newcomers; seniors Ludvig Braute (Sprint Free), Lily Ruter (Sprint Free), and Fabian Stamm (Sprint Free); sophomores Mason Cinotti (Sprint Free) and Violet Phillips (Free and Backstroke); freshmen Evie Davis (Free and Backstroke), Kyleigh DeRider (Free), Jack DeVito (Free), Gabriel Mayen (Free), Molly McLaughlin (Diving), Sophia Patti (Free), Josh Polland (Free and Breaststroke), Teddy Rice (Free and Backstroke), and Ellie Tucker (Free); and eighth-grader Tori Halpin (Sprint Free).
“I have been extremely pleased with our efforts to begin the season,” coach Paganin said. “We are blending together a great mix of veteran leaders with some promising newcomers. Overall we are fairly young but have a lot of potential and I have already witnessed much progress early on this season. I anticipate a great deal of growth throughout the season as we aim for lofty individual and team goals. It will be exciting to see this early dedication and hard work pay off as we get into the dual meet portion of the season. We are always setting our sights on the championship portion of the season and I hope our early team chemistry will help us achieve the growth and success we hope for by the time we reach sectionals.”
