St. Anthony's 200-yard medley relay enjoys record-setting title
From left, St. Anthony's Aaron Mendoza, Noah Cakir, Keanne Hernandez and Matthew McManus pose for a portrait after winning the 200-yard medley relay of the preliminary round of the 2023 NYSPHSAA Boys Swimming & Diving Championships in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday. Credit: Heather Ainsworth/Heather Ainsworth
Salute To The Champs: St. Anthony’s, 200-yard medley relay
Aaron Mendoza, Noah Cakir, Keanne Hernandez, Matt McManus
The St. Anthony’s 200-yard medley relay team that claimed the CHSAA title in a Federation-record time showed up for the state championships with two goals in mind — defend its Federation title and smash its record.
Junior Aaron Mendoza (backstroke), sophomores Noah Cakir (breaststroke), Keanne Hernandez (butterfly) and senior anchor Matt McManus (freestyle) took their turns in the pool and reached both goals.
“For these kids, hard work paid off,” coach Dan McBride said. “They’ve been working for this all season long.”
Their record upon arrival for the meet was 1:32.58. Their record upon departure: 1:32.29, good for automatic All-American.
“We train on our club team together, Team Suffolk,” said McManus, who has committed to Marist. “We just talk the whole practice. We have a really good connection, and when you have a good connection, it’s really easy to like each other and work really well together.”