Horseheads' Cullin Cole, Waverly relay capture New York state titles in boys swimming

Seniors Cullin Cole of Horseheads and Jerrell Sackett of Waverly capped record-breaking high school careers with state titles and All-American times Saturday at the New York State Boys Swimming & Diving Championships at Ithaca College.

Cole finished first in the 50-yard freestyle to earn public schools and Federation state titles. He lowered his team record to 20.51 seconds and later set a Horseheads record in the 100 freestyle as part of a fourth-place public schools finish.

Cole helped Horseheads' 400 relay take eighth after reducing his school record again in the 50 with a leadoff time of 20.44 in the 200 freestyle relay to achieve the All-American standard of 20.49. Horseheads placed 11th in that relay. Both relays broke school records.

"My plan was to go in and make history," Cole said. "Definitely came out and did that. I was very happy to say I did that. The meet in general went very well. (Friday) I swam decent, not as well as I wanted to. But today I knew I had to clean it up a little bit and pick up my pace and I did that. I ended up very successful. I was very happy."

Sackett's day was highlighted by leading off Waverly's 200 freestyle relay, which posted a time of 1:25.58 to earn the public schools state title. Chaminade, a member of the Catholic High School Athletic Association, won the Federation title in 1:24.58. Sackett was joined on the relay by Ryan Clark, Liam Wright and Oscar Williams.

Sackett added top-four finishes in the 50 and 100 freestyles.

Also from Section 4, Chenango Valley's Tyler Schultz posted top-six finishes in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. On Friday, Schultz broke the Section 4 record in the breaststroke with a prelim time of 56.91, surpassing the mark of 56.96 set two years ago by Corning's Cal Bartone.

Cullin Cole shined in finals

Cole saved his best for last in the 50 freestyle, with his swim of 20.51 seconds a drop of 0.34 seconds from his prelim time to beat runner-up Stephen McDonald of Chaminade (20.85) to the finish. Gabriel Rzezwicki of Lakeland-Panas and Brayden Henkel of Albany Academy tied for third (second public schools) in 20.86 seconds.

Last year Cole took fifth overall and fourth in public schools competition with a time of 21.22.

"It was very, very rewarding," Cole said of becoming a state champ. "There's not many words to describe how I felt after winning that. It was very tight. I thought it was going to be a lot tighter than it was. I was a little nervous during that race that I was going slower than I wanted to. I came out on top. I was very happy."

Cole said it took about three seconds after hitting the wall before he realized he won.

"I looked up at the board kind of confused for a second and then it fully hit me," he said.

Cole's improvement in the 100 freestyle was similar. He went from a prelim time of 46.95 to a consolation finals effort of 45.68 seconds.

Because Cole was in the top-10 among public schools swimmers in prelims, he qualified for a medal spot. He won the consolation heat to place 11th in the Federation standings. McDonald took first overall in the 100 freestyle in 45.07, followed by public schools winner Finn Quested of Rhinebeck in 45.12.

The previous Horseheads 100 record of 46.11 belonged to Kevin Nagy, who set it in winning a state championship in 1983. That time gave Nagy the Section 4 record. The current section record belongs to Ithaca's Ryan Nicholson with a time of 44.34 in 2014.

Cole thought he had a shot at the record last year and was confident this season he'd break it. It took until his final attempt to do so.

"I didn't get it (Friday), so that kind of bummed me, but then today when I got it it was definitely a feeling of relief," he said. "A little pressure released because I wanted that record really bad. Getting it was very breathtaking."

Horseheads relay placed eighth

Cole closed the meet by swimming the final leg on Horseheads' 400 freestyle relay, which placed eighth overall and seventh among public schools in 3:12.80, a nearly three-second drop from prelims. The relay also included Shoonfon Li, Alexander Villegas and Kaden TenEyck.

Horseheads' 200 freestyle relay of Cole, TenEyck, Villegas and Li went two seconds faster than prelims and placed 11th in 1:27.30. They were the fastest relay in the consolation race. Cole was moved to the leadoff leg, the only leg that counts toward individual records, to give him a final shot at All-American honors for the 50 freestyle.

"Having those teammates to back me up and having those relays is just icing to the cake," Cole said. "It’s great to be around these guys. The atmosphere I get around these guys is just amazing."

Li placed 15th in the 200 IM with a consolation finals time of 1:55.48 and 21st in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:46.92 in the bonus race.

Jerrell Sackett led way for Waverly

Sackett took fifth overall and fourth among public schools in the 50 with a time of 21.05.

Sackett was fourth overall and third among public schools in the 100 freestyle in 45.59.

His prelim times of 20.79 and 44.88 both ranked first.

Sackett led off Waverly's 200 freestyle relay with a split of 20.45 seconds, breaking his own school record of 20.76 for the 50 set during Friday's relay prelims. Sackett's time earned him All-American honors.

The Wolverines ended up with an All-American consideration time of 1:25.58 to finish exactly one second behind Chaminade. Pittsford was runner-up to Waverly's public schools title in 1:25.75.

Waverly's 400 freestyle relay, which included the same swimmers as the 200 relay, was disqualified after qualifying ninth.

Clark tied for 23rd in the 50 freestyle (21.93).

CV's Tyler Schultz seventh in two events

Schultz posted a time of 1:53.22 in the championship race of the 200 IM to place seventh overall and sixth among public schools. Aaron Gasiewicz of Lancaster won in 1:49.04.

The seventh-place time for Schultz in the 100 breaststroke was 57.19, also good for sixth among public schools. Henkel placed first in 54.33.

Chenango Valley's Amir Sadykov placed 10th in the 100 breaststroke (ninth for public schools) in 58.63 and tied for 23rd in the 50 freestyle with Clark (21.93).

Maine-Endwell relay 23rd

Maine-Endwell's 200 freestyle relay of Strati Anastos, Cole Medina, Conner Steele and Billy Gorman placed 23rd in 1:29.57, improving on a prelim time of 1:30.17.

Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today

This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Champs from Horseheads, Waverly lead Section 4 at NY state swimming