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| The Saratoga Woods Dolphins are off to a strong start in the 2002 season, opening with back-to-back dual meet victories. |
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Dolphins jump to quick swim start By Dick Sparrer There was a time when the Saratoga Woods Dolphins ranked as one of the best age-group swim clubs around. But that time was nearly 20 years ago. Since then, the Dolphins have struggled through the summer seasons, losing more meets than they won. That is, until this year. The Dolphins are off to a strong start in the 2002 season with a couple of wins in their first two meets. The local kids outscored Greenmeadow 243-230 and turned back Eichler 241-232, recording 280 personal best times in the process. "We have a lot of depth in each age group, which we didn't used to have," said Marie LaForge, who is in her eighth season as the Dolphins' head coach. "We used to be especially weak in the 13-14 and 15-and-over age groups. Now we have a good-sized group of older kids." But it's in the younger age groups that the Dolphins are especially strong this season. LaForge considers the 6-and-under, 7-8 and 11-12 age divisions to be the strongest for the club this summer. Colin Albert, Maggie Ball, Gregory Kenter, Gabrielle Vasquez, Keith Buchner and Christina Kearney rank among the top swimmers in those age groups for the Dolphins this season. Albert leads the way in the boys 6-and-under age divisions, with top times in the 25-yard backstroke (25.38), breaststroke (29.12) and freestyle (21.50), and Galen Rathjens is the leader in the butterfly (30.92). Ball, Jessica Dean and Nicole MacKenzie are leaders in the girls 6-and-under class. Ball boasts team bests in the breast (28.68) and free (23.15), with Dean tops in the fly (28.92), and MacKenzie the leader in the back (26.76). Kenter is the Saratoga Woods leader in all four events in the boys 7-8 age group (fly, 19.22; back, 26.88; breast, 22.47; free, 15.93) and Vasquez leads in three of four in the girls 7-8 class (back, 28.85; breast, 23.00; free, 16.72). Stephanie Fong is the fly leader (18.52) in the division. Buchner is the Dolphins' leader in the 50-yard back (35.56), breast (37.33) and free (28.92) in the boys 11-12 age group, and Justin LaForge leads in the fly (36.41). In the girls 11-12 division, Kearney is tops in the fly (32.60), back (36.29) and free (30.50), and Sara Ellis is the leader in the breast (39.63). Kristin LaForge, Jimmy Kearney, Stephen Palamidessi and Kelly DeBarr dominate in the other Saratoga Woods age groups. K. LaForge boasts the top times in all four events in the girls 9-10 division (fly, 18.19; back, 19.33; breast, 19.63; free, 35.01). J. Kearney is the boys 13-14 leader in the fly (30.51), back (36.94) and free (28.13), and Michael Dean is tops in the breast (36.13). In the boys 15-18 division, Palamidessi leads in the back (32.09), breast (37.50) and 100-yard free (1:03.90), and Neil Munjal is the leader in the fly (32.28). DeBarr dominates in the girls 15-18 class, leading in the fly (31.43), back (33.07) and 100 free (1:00.64), and Shealyn Villamil leads in the breast (37.29). Kevin Bitter and Alex Hehir share team leads in the boys 9-10 age division. Bitter is the leader in the fly (19.09) and the free (37.22), and Hehir is tops in the back (20.34) and breast (22.90). Amanda Heinisch is the Saratoga leader in the fly (33.65) and free in the girls 13-14 age division. Julianne Grosso is tops in the back (36.44), and Megan McGaffigan is the leader in the breast (37.54). Saratoga Woods fields a team of 122 swimmers, ages 4-17, and only two of the team members are year-round competitors. LaForge is the squad's head coach, and her assistants are Samantha Robertson, Kelly DeBarr, Mekenna Melvin, Bernadette Longo, Rachel Press and Jennifer Ridder. The team director is Susan McPartlan. Thanks to Dory Albert and Pam DeBarr for compiling information for this story. |
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