Saturday was a busy day for Katie Linehan.

The Guilderland High School senior was involved in four races at the Section II swim meet at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, though she won an award before the meet even began.

Linehan was given the Section II Scholar-Athlete Award and then went out and qualified for the state meet in two individual races — she also swam in two relays — representing the Guilderville swim team.

Linehan qualified for the state meet in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle races. She has qualified in the 50 for the past two years. She qualified Saturday for the 100 for the first time.
"I feel relief mostly," Linehan said after swimming the 100-yard race. "I did everything I wanted to do this season."

It has been a long season for Linehan and her teammates from the combined Guilderland and Voorheesville team.

Their popular assistant coach, Ed Sayer, died last month at the age of 22 after a long battle with cystic fibrosis. Since his death, the swimmers have worn his name on shirts and written on their arms and legs.

With Linehan and the other seniors’ leadership, the Guilderville swimmers were able to overcome the tragedy and put together a good season. Twenty-three out of 33 team members qualified for the sectional meet. Five advanced to Saturday’s finals.

Joining Linehan at states next week will be diver Toni Marie Whitbeck. Whitbeck was one of five Guilderville divers to qualify for sectionals, but the only one to advace to Saturday’s final.
"It wasn’t my best meet," Whitbeck said. "I didn’t know I made it until the last dive."

Whitbeck, a junior, led a contingent of younger swimmers in the finals.
"We did really well," said Guilderville Coach Walt Lane. "We had a lot of young girls that got into the finals."

"Psyched"

Linehan was the only senior to reach the finals.

Linehan finished fourth in the 50-yard freestyle race. She won the event last year but she was still pleased after the race.
"I actually had a better time," she said. "I had a 24.89, which was faster than last year."

Linehan’s 24.89 was good enough to set a school record for the event.

The Guilderland senior then competed in a fast final in the 100-yard freestyle. She swam to a time of 55 seconds, besting her preliminary time of 55.31 and surpassing the 55.30 she needed to qualify for states.
"I couldn’t figure out the scoring system," Linehan said of the scoreboard at the Robison Pool. "I figured out that I was third, but I didn’t get my time. I didn’t know it until my dad told me. I was psyched."

Linehan finished behind MaryAnn Gaffuri of Albany High School who won with a time of 54.56 and Joanna Ferreri of Niskayuna, who finished with a time of 54.94.
"I knew I was up with them," Linehan said. "It was a relief to go so fast. Hopefully, I can do even better at states."

It will be the third trip for Linehan at states, but the first time she will compete in two events.
"Now I’m happy that I’ve made the 100," Linehan said. "I’ve always just missed it."
"It’s a very tough double," Lane said. "She trained hard for it."

Linehan plans on continuing to swim in college. She has looked at a few schools, including the State University of New York College at Geneseo and the University at Rochester. Linehan wants to study to become an orthodontist.

Diving in

Whitbeck had a little more drama on her way to qualifying for states.

She needed a good third and final dive just to give herself a shot at making it to next weekends’ meet at Erie County Community College near Buffalo.
"My first dive was not what I wanted it to be," Whitbeck said. "The next two were better. During the season, at one diving meet I had a 383 and I wanted to do it again. All my dives that day were the best that day.
"Today, I barely made it," Whitbeck added.

Whitbeck scored a 380.7 to just squeak into qualifying position by seventh-tenths of a point.

It was the second straight year she has had a close call at sectionals.
"Last year, I only missed it by point-nine," Whitbeck said. "I wanted to go this year. I worked hard to get myself in position.""She worked really hard to improve," Lane said. "There are a couple of dives where we added the degree of difficulty. That made a difference this year. She worked very hard and was focused."

It was an emotional experience for Whitbeck as she wasn’t sure she qualified until the judges’ scores came back about 10 minutes after the diving competition. She was the last of 11 divers to qualify for the state meet.
"This year, this section is the best in the state," Whitbeck said. "You compete against the best and, whatever you want to do, you have to try and beat them."

While Linehan has high expectations for the state meet, Whitbeck, a junior, is hoping to gain some experience in her first trip to compettion.
"This year I want to have fun and try my best," she said.

Making a splash

A number of young Guilderville swimmers made a mark on the Section II meet as well.

Junior Stephenie Bintz just missed qualifying for the state meet in the 100-yard backstroke. She finished ninth with a time of 1:02.93 The state qualifying time in the event is 1:02.50.

Bintz qualified for states last year as a sophomore.
"I think she’ll be there next year," Lane said. "She worked really hard this year. You’re going to see her at states next year."

Bintz joined Linehan and ninth-grader Erin Dewey and sophomore Tori Stuto to swim in the 200-yard medley relay. The Guilderville team finished eighth overall.

Dewey swam in the 200-yard individual medley. She had a time of 2:22.43 to finish 14th.

Eighth-grader Brittney Ginsburg finished 15th in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:47.18.

Ginsburg teamed up with senior Bridget Schultz, sophomore Moriah Knight, and Stuto to swim in the 200-yard freestyle relay. The relay team finished 12th in 1:50.71.

Stevie Church, a sophomore, finished 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:16.11.

The final race of the day was a bright one for Guilderville. The 400-yard freestyle relay team of junior Tara Dougherty, Bintz, Dewey, and Linehan finished sixth. They had a time of 3:57.45.

Lane said it will be tough to lose a senior leader like Linehan.
"She is a great leader," Lane said. "We had six captains that did a wonderful job. Katie led by example. All the younger swimmers looked up to her, which is very, very good. We are going to miss her leadership next year."

But returners will take over the leadership duties.
"Next year, we’ll have some leaders that will be pretty strong," Lane said. "Stephenie Bintz can fit into that role. Erin Dewey is only a sophomore; she is one of the outstanding swimmers on the team. We’ll have super-caliber kids next year."