Pool of talent growing for Notre Dame

Defining success at the high school level can be tricky.

Take the Elmira Notre Dame girls swimming team. The Crusaders won exactly one dual meet this season because of a small roster, yet they've produced multiple section and pool records, as well as personal records in bunches that have continued to unite this group of 10 girls while giving another boost to a program that is only four seasons old.

Notre Dame will put the final touch on its season Friday and Saturday at Ithaca College when its top two swimmers — senior Molly Craig and her sophomore sister Catherine — compete at the New York State Girls Swimming and Diving Championships. No doubt teammates will be in attendance to complete the ride, with Molly among the favorites to advance to the championship finals in two races.

"I've enjoyed it a whole lot," freshman Caroline Rogers said. "Probably my favorite varsity season so far. My teammates are so nice. They'll do anything for anybody. They're so supportive, too. ... Coming into Notre Dame, I knew nobody. Now we're all like sisters and it's really great."

Notre Dame's swim program started in 2013 as a combined venture with the established Elmira Express program. The girls practiced together and were coached by John Sentigar for two seasons, though they were scored in meets separately. With the Express numbers growing, the Crusaders ended up on their own in 2015, though Elmira offered its secondary pool at Elmira High School for practices.

The head coaching responsibilities went to Julianne Dunn this season, with help from assistant Francis Craig, father of Molly and Catherine. Last year, Craig co-coached with Neil Zimmerman, who still helps at meets when his work schedule allows.

Notre Dame's only win in a dual meet this season came against Whitney Point, but the Crusaders turned in a fifth-place finish at the Interscholastic Athletic Conference championships and took fourth at the Section 4 Class C meet. Notre Dame won five events at each meet.

Getting better individually and collectively is the main goal. Rogers, for instance, was posting times of seven and eight minutes in the 500 freestyle as a seventh-grader. Her best time now is in the 5:43 range.

"For me, winning meets wasn't really the goal," Dunn said. "We had so many personal bests, so many great swims, so many good races — at a certain point, points really didn't matter. We had so many girls trying new events. I see so many improvements in technique and stroke and to go to bigger races like the IACs and invitationals, that was bigger for me than anything else. And they're going to be better swimmers at the end of it."

Molly Craig dominates, leads

Pool and Section 4 Class C records fell all season long for Molly Craig, who qualified for the state championship meet in six of the eight individual swimming events: 200-yard freestyle, 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke. She was — by far — the class of the field at sectionals, setting Class C records in the 200 IM (2:05.03) and the 500 freestyle (5:06.60). The first of those broke a 10-year-old Owego Free Academy pool mark that was held by Ithaca's Lindsey Norberg.

She set 10 pool records at seven facilities for Notre Dame and holds IAC records in the 200 IM, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Molly Craig also has Section 4 Class C marks in the IM and every freestyle except the 50.

Craig's only loss this season came in the 500 freestyle at the Shenendehowa Invitational to Pittsford's Lindsay Stone, a three-time state champion. Craig will swim in the IM and the 500 freestyle at the state meet, where she will be one of Section 4's top hopes to advance to the championship finals.

That will require a top-10 time in Friday's preliminaries, though. Last year, she placed eighth in the state in the IM. She is seeded fourth in the event this year with a top time of 2:04.97. Molly Craig also is the eighth seed in the 500 (5:02.31).

The mindset when it comes to her records and accomplishments? They're nice, but more work always remains.

"We have a lot of pride in our success," she said. "It's great to acknowledge it, but once we achieve it, we kind of move on and say, 'It's great, but it's time to move on to the next thing and stay focused on the goals ahead."

Catherine Craig set some records this season, too, including IAC and Waverly pool records in the 100 breaststroke. She will join Molly at the state meet, competing in the 200 IM and the breaststroke.

"She definitely inspires me a lot," Catherine said of her sister. "She's an incredible swimmer and I definitely aspire to be as good as her. ... How hard she works in practice, I admire that. She's one of the hardest workers I know.

"It's crazy to think that my sister has so many records. It makes me want to work harder, just that extra little bit in practice. When she gets a record, it's just a special moment every time."

Hours in the pool

Molly Craig's commitment to her craft is part of a collective mindset for a program that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. It can be tough to stand out at a school that has produced state champions in soccer and softball within the last year.

Notre Dame doesn't practice at its school and doesn't have home meets because Elmira isn't equipped to host. The closest the Crusaders had to a home meet came at the end of the regular season, when Elmira gave them a chance to hold Senior Night in a head-to-head meet at Ernie Davis Academy.

"We take a lot of pride in it. We all work really hard," Catherine Craig said. "Not everyone knows that at Notre Dame because swimming isn't the most recognized, but I think everyone on this team is a really hard worker and we take pride in what we do in practice and in meets — and it pays off."

Swimming remains a growing sport at Notre Dame. The program had five girls in 2013, seven two years ago and eight last year. There are no divers, either, but there are some advantages to having a small group.

"We're small enough that everybody can race everything as opposed to some of the bigger teams, where a kid might end up swimming the same thing over and over again," Francis Craig said. "Our group is all over the place in what they've swam."

Said Rogers: "In some ways, it almost makes me push harder because there's a smaller group. You want to be the best you can be to make up for that lack of bodies we don't have. It really helps push you into being a great swimmer so your team can be better at meets."

Still, that doesn't mean the program wouldn't like to have more girls in the pool. Last year was made difficult because Notre Dame didn't find out until the summer that it wouldn't be training with the Elmira girls.

"Now that we really have our feet underneath us, this season has seemed so much more fluid for us," Dunn said. "It's just continuing to grow numbers, continuing to grow strength. I think that a lot of our younger swimmers are starting to grow that leadership and start to get more kids involved and grow the team. I'm excited to see what's to come."

Small, close-knit team

Dunn had been an assistant before becoming head coach this year. She was also there to see the help that Sentigar provided the Crusaders during those first two seasons, with help from the likes of Francis Craig.

Losing that daily connection with the Elmira girls and Sentigar was tough.

"It's still a team sport and these kids do it in part to be connected to other kids," Francis Craig said. "The big issue early on was our girls were good friends with all the kids from Elmira. It wasn't a competitive thing among the swimmers. They shared the same lanes, they did the same practices and there was some sense of loss when their buddies weren't there anymore."

The good news is they had a chance to swim with other buddies, and some new buddies, all fall. The created friendships is no small result of Notre Dame's decision to bring swimming to the school.

"We're really close. We all do things together and go places together," said senior Emily Schmidt. "It's really close-knit."

Schmidt joined the team in 10th grade and has been a key member of the Crusaders' successful relays in addition to her individual success.

"I wasn't feeling as close with the other team I was on compared to this team and I knew swimming was really close," she said. "You need to cheer everybody on and be together as a group because it wasn't just a single person doing all the work for the team, it was the team together."

NYS GIRLS SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

When: Friday and Saturday

Where: Ithaca College

Friday's schedule: swimming prelims start at 10:30 a.m., diving starts at 2 p.m.

Saturday's schedule: swimming finals start at 10 a.m.

Tickets: $8 per session (available at gofan.co/app/school/NYSPHSAA).

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