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Competing at the Section 5 girls championships, where the Panthers won their 15th straight team title, Stone won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:46.80 to nip the time of 4:46.97 in 1995 by Friends Academy's Jessica Foschi, who went on to become a 15-time all-American at Stanford.
Foschi tested positive for a banned substance the summer before setting he state mark, though she denied ever taking the substance and blamed the positive test on a saboteur. United States Swimming handed down a two-year probation that eventually was commuted so that she could compete at the 1996 Olympic Trials. Her scholastic eligibility status was batted around extensively before the NYSPHSAA decided that she would be eligible to compete for Friends Academy, setting the table for her state mark.
Another noteworthy record fell when Pelham sophomore sensation Kate Douglass broke a national age-group mark and set a state high school best in the 50 freestyle at the Section 1 championships. Douglass, 14, finished in :22.32 to break the age-group mark of :22.44 by the legendary Dara Torres in 1982.
• In girls basketball, Medina sophomore Maddie Williams broke the presumed state record by making 16 3-point baskets during an 82-23 victory over Holley during which she scored 54 points -- crushing her previous career best of 22.
Coming attraction
Joseph Girard III of Glens Falls quarterbacked the football team to a NYSPHSAA championship in the fall. In the winter, he continued a march to what could be a state basketball record for career points that might stand for a long, long time.
Girard scored 41 points in an 82-55 win over Coxsackie-Athens in the Section 2 Class B tournament to go over 2,000 for his career. He ended his sophomore season at 2,157 points over his three-year career, putting him within range of breaking the state record of 2,946 by Lance Stephenson before the end of his junior season.
Impressive in their own way
Section 5 schools scored a sweep of all five divisions in the second annual NYSPHSAA
competitive cheerleading championships, with Fairport and Avon successfully defending.
Section 1 boys soccer teams completed a dominating postseason by winning four NYSPHSAA championships in Middletown for an unprecedented sweep. The section's four playoff representatives (they did not have a Class D entry) outscored opponents 41-11 in 19 playoff victories. Prior to last fall, Section 1 only had a total of three state champions in boys soccer going back to 2008.
