Most teams would be crippled by the loss of four All-Americans in two years -- including two who competed at the Olympic trials.

The Ithaca High School girls swimming and diving team isn't like most teams. After losing the likes of Emily Peck, Logan Todhunter, and Lindsey and Lauren Norberg to graduation in the past two years, the Little Red captured its 21st consecutive Southern Tier Athletic Conference championship with the help of some young, up-and-coming talent.

If things go well in Watkins Glen on Saturday, the Little Red will celebrate its 20th straight Section 4 Class A title. The finals will be 9 a.m. for Class A; 1 p.m. for Class B and 5 p.m. for Class C.

Longtime Ithaca High coach Roy Staley believes that with a little maturity and nurturing, his team can once again rise to an elite position at the state level.

"We're a very, very young team," Staley said. "They have to get a little more focused on swimming all year round, not just during the short high school season. We're not one of the top 10 in the state yet, but they certainly have the ability -- they're coming together as a unit."

Ithaca has won almost a half-dozen state titles -- unofficially, since the state doesn't keep official team scores -- in the past decade by relying on a talented stable of swimmers, many of whom went on to swim at Division I colleges. Their influence can still be seen in the team's five seniors who swam alongside them for so many years.

Senior tri-captain Devin Musa has been on the team for six years, and attributes much of her leadership ability to the swimmers that mentored her.

"Being surrounded by such amazing, fast girls was a great experience for all of us," Musa said. "They taught us how to push the rest of the team to do their best. We've lost the girls who were pushing us so now we have to be the ones to do it."

Added fellow captain Maeve Russell: "I learned good practice techniques and how to never give up and fight through any pain or injuries I might encounter. ... Their commitment is something that we want to carry on."

Without such dominant swimmers at the top of their lineup, Ithaca has relied on depth, with some of that coming from middle school-level athletes. The Little Red has lost just one dual swim meet in nearly two decades, and with such success comes a bull's-eye. Although the meets might be a little closer than they used to be, the end result has still been the same.

"We really wanted to keep it going, and we knew we could do it," Musa said. "We stuck our heads together and swam with all of our heart."

After graduating nearly a dozen seniors in the past few years, Staley knows his young team may be the most vulnerable they've been in the past, and that teams are going to keep trying to be the ones who finally beat the Little Red.

"The last few years our team was so talented that we couldn't make a mistake no matter what we did," Staley said. "There are kids out there swimming strong who can't wait to do battle with Ithaca and are telling themselves, 'Let's be the ones to upset them and beat them.' It keeps our team motivated."

With such a young team, immaturity would seem to be a problem, but Staley insists it's quite the opposite.

"Of all the years I've coached, this team is definitely the most likeable," he said. "They are just nice people. They're a lot of fun on the deck and are hard workers, very coachable. We didn't run into any of the problems that you usually get with little groups, this one got along the whole time."

Seventh-grader Rachel Todhunter, the team's youngest swimmer and Logan Todhunter's sister, agrees.

"The captains do a great job of keeping everyone in a good mood and happy -- they're very positive and we know we can go talk to them about anything in or out of the pool," she said.

Going into sectionals, Ithaca will rely on their key swimmers to make it to the state level. Shelby Williams qualified first in the 50- and 100-yard freestyle, freshman Karrina Browning will be competing in the 500 and 200 freestyles. Both Musa and Russell qualified first in their events and the other captain, Lindsey Davenport, was first in the 200 individual medley.

Staley believes that as long as the team stays focused on the ultimate goal, there are only good things ahead for his team.

"You can have all the talent in the world, and you can have a gift, but unless you nurture it you're not going to go anywhere," Staley said.