Mackenzie Gula didn’t get a chance to swim the 100-yard breaststroke at last year’s New York state Public High School Athletic Association championship meet due to an injury.

It hurt not to be able to swim her favorite event.
She qualified for states in the event again, after winning Section 9 championships in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard butterfly, and she headlines a group of 10 local swimmers attending the NYSPHSAA girls’ swimming championships on Friday and Saturday at the Webster Aquatic Center in Section 5.

“I was really excited for this year because last year I couldn’t swim breaststroke. I had a little injury, but we took it off, rested it, it’s all good. This year, sections was more like a redemption for me because the breaststroke is back. I’ve been in love with that stroke since I was 8 years old.”

After winning the Section 9 championship on November 5, Gula is ranked 15th in the state in the breaststroke, and 18th in the butterfly. She posted her best time in both events at the Section 9 meet.

“I honestly wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to do it this year,” Webster said. “I’m so excited.”
Heading into the state meet, she is ranked 29th in the state with her sectional final time of 24.60. She’s also ranked 17th in the state in the 100-yard freestyle.

“I was so excited,” Webster said. “I looked at my time and I didn’t think that I made it. I thought I was off by like half a second, and then (coach John Barth) told me I was going to states and I’m just so excited. I can’t wait to swim there in my first individual event.”

Pine Bush has generated the most excitement in recent years with their relays, especially after last year when the 200-yard freestyle relay team won the NYSPHSAA championship and second in the Federation.

This year, the Bushmen were best in the 400-yard freestyle as Webster and Gula, both juniors, will team with senior Samantha McKee and sophomore Sadie DeGeorge. The team won the section championship, beating Valley Central by two seconds, and enters the state meet ranked 12th in the state.

Webster, DeGeorge and McKee will team with senior Alexandra Vargas in the 200-yard freestyle after hitting the state standard at the sectional preliminaries. They finished second in the section and enter the state meet ranked 15th in the state.
The 200-yard medley relay team didn’t hit the state standard but qualified for the state meet by virtue of their Section 9 championship.

Gula will swim that event with freshmen Alanah Giannini and Ella Humphrey, who will make their first trip to the state meet. Ashley Martin, like Gula, has been to states before as part of the relay.

“I was so excited to help the medley relay go to states, and to get two freshmen there, I was so excited,” Gula said. “The biggest thing for me when I was a younger girl – when I was in seventh and eighth grade, and I made states going with the older girls who taught me what it’s like to be a team and how much fun you can have at a bigger meet with all the other competitors around.”

The Valley Central Vikings will be sending a pair of experienced swimmers to the state meet. Senior Cali White is going to states in the 200- and 100-yard freestyles, after finishing second and third in both events. Grace Satriano, also a senior, is attending in the 50-yard freestyle.

White posted her best time in the 200-yard freestyle on October 22 to qualify for the state championships. She’s currently ranked 32nd in the state. She posted her best time in the 100-yard freestyle at the Section 9 championships when she finished third in 53.51, who posted her best time in the section finals.

Satriano may have finished sixth in the 50-yard freestyle at the Section 9 championships, but her preliminary time of 24.53 that got her to the state meet.