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A look at Section 4 hopefuls for the NYS boys swimming & diving championships in Ithaca

Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette
·4 min read

A pair of swimmers from Chenango Valley, one from Horseheads and a Corning diver bring top-10 seeds into this weekend's New York State Public High School Athletic Association Boys Swimming & Diving Championships at Ithaca College.

The meet begins Friday at the Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium and concludes Saturday with swimming finals.

A look at four Section 4 hopefuls heading into the weekend.

More: Getting To Know: Tyler Schultz, Chenango Valley senior swimmer

Tyler Schultz, Chenango Valley

Tyler Schultz, Chenango Valley swimming.
Tyler Schultz, Chenango Valley swimming.

Schultz, a senior, is seeking a return trip to the championship finals of the 200-yard individual medley (1:53.22) and 100 breaststroke (57.19) after posting sixth-place public schools and seventh-place overall finishes in both events last year.

His top time of 1:52.63 in the IM gives him the fourth overall seed. Eric Nadecki of Section 1's Horace Greeley is top seed with an All-American time of 1:49.05.

Schultz's seed time in the breaststroke is 56.88 seconds, a swim that broke his own Section 4 record of 56.91 set last year. Schultz is No. 4 overall seed in the breaststroke, with Max Buchen of Westhampton Beach tops at 54.26.

More: Boys swimming & diving: Horseheads, Maine-Endwell, Watkins Glen/O-M win Section 4 titles

Amir Sadykov, Chenango Valley

Sadykov, also a senior, will join Schultz in competing on two of CV's three relays that advanced to states. He is also among the state's fastest swimmers in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.

His top 50 time this season of 21.22 seconds ranks seventh among those competing after he tied for 23rd overall in last year's state meet in the event.

Sadykov is seeded eighth in the 100 backstroke (51.75), a change for him after he placed 10th overall in the breaststroke at last year's states.

Shoonfon Li, Horseheads

Shoonfon Li of Horseheads swims to first place in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Section 4 Class A boys swimming and diving championship meet Feb. 17, 2024 at Watkins Glen High School.
Shoonfon Li of Horseheads swims to first place in the 100-yard breaststroke at the Section 4 Class A boys swimming and diving championship meet Feb. 17, 2024 at Watkins Glen High School.

The Li family has had a long stretch of swimming success at Horseheads, with Shoonfon Li following the path set by older brother Shoonshin.

Last year Shoonfon, now a senior, finished 15th in the 200 IM and 21st in the 500 freestyle at the state meet, along with helping the Blue Raiders take eighth overall and seventh among public schools in the 400 freestyle relay.

This weekend Li will compete individually in the IM and the backstroke. He is the eighth seed in the IM (1:53.99) and 15th in the backstroke (52.86).

Brenden Jardin-Reed, Corning

Jardin-Reed, a junior, has gone from picking up yardage for Corning's football team in the fall to soaring again on the 1-meter board again this winter.

He will make his second appearance at the state meet after posting a top score of 589.20, which came at the Section 4 Class A championship meet two weekends ago. Jardin-Reed placed 17th last year at states.

His sectional score ranks Jardin-Reed third among those competing this weekend. Tristan Young of Jericho is first at 639.85 and Matthew Wong of Francis Lewis, a PSAL school, is second at 619.20.

NYS boys swimming meet at a glance

Competition begins at 10 a.m. Friday with swimming preliminaries, followed at 1:30 p.m. by the full diving competition.

Swimming gets started at 10 a.m. Saturday, with championship races following bonus and consolation races for the 11 events.

This will be the third year in a row the event is held at IC's Kelsey Partridge Bird Natatorium at the Athletics and Events Center. Ithaca has been renewed as host site for 2025 to 2027.

Ticket information

Tickets are digital only and are available from gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAA. Sales are divided into separate sessions for swim prelims, diving and swim finals. Cost is $11.50 per session.

Section 4 competitors

200 medley relay: Chenango Valley 1:37.44; Maine-Endwell 1:40.61; Horseheads 1:40.53.

200 freestyle: Koen Anderson (Ithaca) 1:49.49.

200 IM: Tyler Schultz (Chenango Valley) 1:52.63; Shoonfon Li (Horseheads) 1:53.99.

50 freestyle: Amir Sadykov (Chenango Valley) 21.22; Kaden TenEyck (Horseheads) 21.89; Eli House (Oneonta) 22.14.

1-meter diving: Brenden Jardin-Reed (Corning) 589.20; Evan Rigal (Johnson City) 490.70; Creed Hackett (Elmira) 485.60;

100 butterfly: Connor Lajza (Lansing) 51.58; Spencer Hwang-Geddes (Ithaca) 53.31.

100 freestyle: Strati Anastos (Maine-Endwell) 48.09; Kaden TenEyck (Horseheads) 48.28.

500 freestyle: Koen Anderson (Ithaca) 4:50.58.

200 freestyle relay: Chenango Valley 1:29.46; Maine-Endwell 1:29.65; Union-Endicott 1:30.02; Horseheads 1:30.26.

100 backstroke: Amir Sadykov (Chenango Valley) 51.75; Shoonfon Li (Horseheads) 52.86.

100 breaststroke: Tyler Schultz (Chenango Valley) 56.88; Eli House (Oneonta) 1:00.63.

400 freestyle relay: Chenango Valley 3:15.03; Maine-Endwell 3:17.72.

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 Elmira Star-Gazette: A look at Section 4 swimmers and divers heading into state meet