Even without the basic benefit of a home pool, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls swim team is still a rising power in the local ranks. To prove that point, the Northstars went to Camillus Wednesday night and won its 2009 season opener, beating the West Genesee Wildcats 101-83. Nicole Blidy and Regina LaRosa led CNS with two individual victories apiece. Blidy first struck in the 50 freestyle, prevailing in 26.54 seconds, and went on to take the 100 butterfly in a time of 1:04.13. As for LaRosa, she started by tearing through the 200 freestyle in 2:03.21, following that up by winning the 100 freestyle in 57.44 seconds. In all, Blidy and LaRosa each took part in four winning efforts, combining with Marinda McIntyre, Lauren Festa and Amanda Telesca for a top time of 2:02.18 in the 200 medley relay. In the 400 freestyle relay, LaRosa, Emily Altier, Nicole Blidy and Katherine Blidy bested the four-minute mark, winning in 3:59.62. and in the 200 freestyle relay, LaRosa, Katherine Blidy, Ruffrage and Telesca finished in 1:49.28. Elswehere, Altieri got through the 500 freestyle (5:43.13) and Chrissy Howard accumulated 200.15 points in diving. WG’s Kim Pedrotti won both the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke. While this was going on, Liverpool could not keep Fayetteville-Manlius from extending its meet win streak to 17, beating the Warriors 110-76 at Nottingham High School, where the Hornets call home. Despite the loss, Becky Evangelista stood out for Liverpool, winning the 50 freestyle (25.92 seconds) before edging F-M’s Hadley Cameron-Carter, 56.82 seconds to 56.87, in the 100 freestyle. Madison Sestak added a win in the 100 butterfly in 1:08.09. F-M proved too much, though, as Melissa James set the tone, winning twice on her own (200 IM and 100 breastroke) and also taking part in two relays as the Hornets swept all three of those events.