Sisters Cherry and Yuna Lee lift Jericho girls to Nassau swim title
The Jericho girls swimming team places first at the Nassau championships on Saturday in East Meadow. Credit: Kelvin Loarca
It took grit, determination and believing — when it seemed no one else believed. That’s how Jericho earned its crown. Jericho won the Nassau girls swimming championship on Saturday, the school’s first county girls swim title in program history.
Coach Richard Stern said this is the first time since the 1990s that the Nassau title has been truly up for grabs. In prior years, other teams were usually chasing Section VIII goliaths Manhasset, Syosset and Garden City for the team championship. But this year, Stern felt his team was a dangerous contender.
And he was right as Jericho, led by sisters Cherry and Yuna Lee, scored 337 points to win the competition at the Nassau Aquatic Center.
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Stern said. “I told the girls at the beginning of the year that this is their chance and they really made it count. After [Friday’s preliminaries], they started to believe that we could really do it and they put themselves in a great position to swim really well today.”
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Jericho did not win any of Saturday’s events, but the team’s consistency secured its victory. Three third-place finishes propelled Jericho. Senior Cherry Lee clocked her season-best time in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing third in 1 minute, 6.67 seconds. Her sister Yuna, a junior, placed third in the 100 butterfly in 57.18 seconds, shaving 1.27 seconds off her season-best time. And Yuri Shlivko placed third in the 200 individual medley, clocking 2:05.29.
“Swimming is about depth, maneuvering and figuring out a lineup where you could score the most points,” Stern said. “We had some outstanding individual swims and individual dives, but we performed our best as a team today.”
Natalie Wu of Herricks won the 100 butterfly in 55.80, Kayra Patan of Herricks took the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.93 and Una Diaz of Long Beach won the 200 IM in 2:02.96
Jericho had four individual swimmers, including the Lee sisters, along with two relay teams qualify for the NYSPHSAA championships at Webster Aquatic Center in Webster in two weeks. Prelims in that meet begin Nov. 21.
Cherry is a state qualifier in the 200 IM and 100 breaststroke; Yuna qualified in the 100 and 200 freestyle events and the 100 butterfly; Shlivko advances in the 200 and 500 freestyle and 200 IM, and will join teammate Emma Tian in the 100 breaststroke.
In addition, Jericho’s 200 freestyle relay of the Lees, Mia Shu and Johanna Duan, and the 400 freestyle relay of the Lees, Shlivko and Lilly Liang are also state qualifiers.
Cherry Lee, a five-year varsity swimmer, said the only word to describe how winning a county championship feels is “incredible!”
“If there were another word, I’d use it,” she said. “We competed against such amazing swimmers today, but we all had each other’s backs. To come out on top is just incredible. There’s no other way I’d want to spend my last season.”
Port Washington-Roslyn totaled 315 points to finish as runner-up in team scoring with several impressive races. Carina Dai had two first-place finishes: in the 50 freestyle in 24.31, and as part of the 200 freestyle relay that touched in 1:38.91. She also placed second in the 100 butterfly (56:01) and was a member of the 400 freestyle relay (3:37.24).
“To touch the wall and win is such an amazing feeling,” Dai said. “Regardless of what team we’re on, these girls are some of my closest friends and I love competing with and against them, but I also love competing against myself. Even if I’m not the one who touches the wall first, I’m happy knowing that I did my best because whoever wins the race truly deserves it.”
