For nearly a decade, the Hudson Valley Classic has been smooth sailing in the water for the Pine Bush Bushmen. Saturday’s victory in the annual early season mega-meet at Newburgh Free Academy marked the ninth consecutive year that the defending section champions have emerged victorious.

Of the fifteen schools represented, Pine Bush was the only team to eclipse 200 points this year, with a total score of 268.

Valley Central’s 187 was enough to lock in the third podium. Nestled between the local rivals was Our Lady of Lourdes, with 199. Top scorers Bronwyn Dwyer and Katie Skerritt each had four first-place finishes for Lourdes.

The Bushmen are young, but mighty. From seventh graders to seniors, each had their role in the program’s defense of its Hudson Valley Classic title. Ella Humphrey, a senior, finished with gold medals in the 100 and 50 Breaststroke events.
“There are a lot of great swimmers in Section 9, and we are very excited to see what this season holds in store for us,” said coach John Barth.

Pine Bush’s Norah Germano finished second to Dwyer in the 200 Free, with a time of 2:07.60 to secure the silver. The sophomore secured another silver in the 500 Free, finishing nearly 13 seconds behind Dwyer. Sophia Gallager and Gwen Loennecker also represented the Bushmen with fourth and sixth place finishes. Germano finished seventh overall in total scoring, with 26 individual points.

Emmy White was the leading scorer for Valley Central, securing an individual 24 points. White placed second in the 100M Free in 58.92 seconds.

Senior Molly Hoover followed with 21 of her own, and Samantha Messing with 19. Hoover placed third in the 100M Fly (1:02.75) and sixth in the 50M Free (26.16).

Three silver, plus two bronze medals put the Vikings ahead of Washingtonville and Monroe-Woodbury. The hosting Goldbacks finished sixth. In addition to a lone diver from Middletown, Monroe-Woodbury was the first competition in line for the Vikings, in a head-to-head matchup for the 1M diving event. Propelled by Eleanor O’Neill’s second-place finish to Crusader Molly Connolly, Valley Central gained an edge in the invitational without a first-to-the-wall finish in any event.

O’Neill scored a cumulative 241.80; Viking teammates Kaedence Bresnick and Leah Rieber also contributed qualifying scores to boost Valley Central.

“We’ve been working on a lot of little things, cleaning up things, and I think they executed well,” said Vikings coach Katie Farrugia. “For the first meet – the first dives in competition – they did great.”

The Bushmen and Vikings will meet at Valley Central’s pool on September 15.