Preiss Qualifies for States

    Marina Preiss, an East Hampton High School sophomore, qualified this past weekend at the county girls swimming championships for the state meet in the 50 and 100-yard freestyle races.

    Preiss won the 50, in 24.58 seconds, and was second in the 100, in 52.96. The state meet is to be held this weekend at Erie Community College in Buffalo.

    In other postseason action, Dana Cebulski, East Hampton’s freshman all-county cross-country runner, placed 40th among 132 runners in the state Class B race Saturday in Verona, N.Y., which is near Rome.

    Diane O’Donnell, Cebulski’s coach, said, “Dana ran a good race. Rain and snow the day before made the course a mess — girls were slipping and falling. . . . Her inexperience hurt her a bit, she kept getting boxed in and never really found her stride. Because of the slippery conditions, all the times were slow, some by as much as three minutes. Dana’s 21:31 was good, considering. The winning time was 19:43. We were happy for her, but she wasn’t. She said it wasn’t good enough. She has the desire — she can only get better.”

    Cebulski, who finished as the 113th ranked cross-country runner in the entire state and 15th countywide, is to compete in the regional Foot Locker championships’ freshman race at Sunken Meadow State Park on Nov. 26.

    O’Donnell expects her to do well on her home course. “I see her comfortably finishing in the top 10,” she said.

    Back to girls swimming, East Hampton’s team, which is coached by John McGeehan, placed seventh among the 16 schools vying in the county meet.

    Bonac’s relay teams did well. The 200 freestyle relay team of Preiss, Maddie Minetree, Mikayla Mott, and Carly Drew, who were the runners-up in 1:42.28, just missed the state-qualifying time of 1:42.18, and Preiss, Mott, Drew, and Morgan German finished fifth in the 200 medley relay, in 1:55.22. Drew, an eighth grader, placed ninth in the 100 butterfly.