This week’s notebook features swimmers from Pennsbury, Quakertown and Cheltenham.
National Conference
Edenhofner career ends prematurely - John Edenhofner’s high school career didn’t end the way he had envisioned it.
The Pennsbury senior injured his knee swimming the breaststroke leg of the 200-yard medley relay in a double dual meet at West Chester Henderson on Friday, Jan. 6.
It was just the fourth meet of the season for Pennsbury.
“This was not the way I wanted my senior year to go,” Edenhofner said. “I was really hoping to swim at the league championships. That’s always a nice end to the season.”
A swimmer in his childhood, he did not try out for the team as a freshman.
“I’d been swimming casually since I was pretty young,” he said. “When I was in ninth grade I didn’t think I was good enough to be on the team but in 10th grade I thought ‘why not try out?’ so I did and I’m really glad I did that.
“Swimming is over for me, and that’s very disappointing but I had a good time while I was here. This was something to take up my time after school but now that I have a lot of time I’m finding that I’m filling it. I’m sleeping more and hanging out at my friends’ house.
“There really is life after swimming.”
He is a member of the National Honor Society.
Edenhofner is also about to become an Eagle Scout.
“I just finished by project,” he said. “I constructed ceremonial furniture for a lodge. It was an altar and a lectern.
“I don’t know how to do woodwork so it was pretty new to me.”
He has been accepted to Penn State and is waiting to hear back from Lehigh, Bucknell and Delaware and would like to major in chemical engineering.
Continental Conference
Renn stands out for Panthers - Quakertown has a very small team, with just three boys and 10 girls making up the entire program.
The Panthers are hurt by the fact that there is no pool at the school. They swim at the Upper Bucks YMCA.
“Not having a pool is certainly a detriment,” said senior captain Megan Renn. “We’re lucky the YMCA is so close, but without a pool in the high school it’s hard to attract people to the program because swimming doesn’t come to mind for them.”
But there are some advantages to having a smaller team.
“We won’t win any meets but on the up side, we do all get a lot of individual attention and we’re all able to improve,” Renn said.
“Also, everyone on the team is very close and we all know each other really well and we’re all friends. I don’t think that would happen on a really big team.”
Quakertown is able to have two-hour practices this year.
“That was big for us,”Renn said. “We used to have to do a lot of dryland work but now we’re in the water for two whole hours.
“I think that will really make a difference for us.”
Renn has qualified for the District One Class AAA meet in the 50-yard freestyle.
“Normally I would qualify for districts at our championship meet so to do it early was a big relief,” said Renn, who also runs cross country and track for Quakertown. “It really helped my confidence.”
Teammate and fellow senior Cheyenne Kressley has also qualified for districts in the 50 freestyle.
“We’re always pushing each other and using each other to get faster,” Renn said. “We have pretty similar times and that competition brings out the best in both of us.
“We’re such great friends that we’re able to use each other as training partners without it being detrimental to our friendship. We’re both better swimmers because of it.”
Renn is looking forward to the conference championships.
“Normally I start off the season well and then hit a mid-season slump but that didn’t happen to me this year,” she said. “I’ve been swimming well all season so that makes me really optimistic about champs.”
She will attend Pitt with a major in pre-physical therapy.
“I’m not sure if I want to swim on the team there because it’s such a good program but I want to try to continue swimming,” she said. “I would miss it if I gave it up so I’m probably going to try club swimming.”
Quakertown coach Wendy Yons knows what she has in Renn.
“This is my fourth year coaching and I’ve had Megan on the team all four years,” Yons said. “She has just been a swimmer who stood out among everyone.
“She has a wonderful character and is a cheerful, upbeat kind of girl. She’s a real leader on our team and has shown leadership qualities since her freshman year.”
American Conference
Brown high on future of Cheltenham program - The Cheltenham swim team doesn’t need to hire a public relations consultant.
Carolyn Brown is already doing that job for them.
The junior’s enthusiasm for the program is boundless.
“We have such a good group of girls,” said Brown, who swims the sprint freestyle events for the Panthers. “We’re having such a good season.”
Cheltenham notched a key conference win this year over Plymouth-Whitemarsh.
“We beat PW by five points,” Brown said. “It was so exciting. That was a really big win for us.”
She and her teammates are aiming high at the upcoming conference championships, slated for Feb. 17-18 at Upper Dublin.
“We’re in a tough conference because of Upper Dublin and Wissahickon,” she said. “They’ll be the top teams in our league for sure.
“But we definitely have a chance at third place, which would really be something. If we work really hard, we can do it.”
Brown anchors the 200-yard medley relay along with Molly McHugh, Erin Burke and Lizzie Richart.
“Last year at champs our medley was .04 off the school record so we’re definitely going for it this year,” she said. “It would be great to see our names on the board and none of us are seniors so if we don’t get it this year, we still have time.”
The current mark of 1:59.13 has stood since 2006.
The Panthers have just one District One Class AAA qualifier, Richart in the 100 butterfly.
“We’re hoping to get the relays qualified at champs and we have a freshman, Tiana Soldacki, who’s a couple of seconds away in the butterfly,” Brown said.
Cheltenham’s pool has been having some problems so the teams practiced at Upper Dublin.
“It was very nice of them to offer their pool,” Brown said. “Swimming is such a great community.”
Brown is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society. She is also a midfielder on the field hockey team and this spring plans to be the manager for the girls’ lacrosse team.
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