SOL Boys/Girls Swimming Notebook (2-15-17)

Swimmers from Council Rock North, Souderton and Upper Moreland are featured in this week’s notebook.

National Conference

Meggie Roberts, Council Rock North
Meggie Roberts is really looking forward to the Suburban One League National Conference swimming championship meet.
Roberts, a senior for Council Rock North, is hoping she and her teammates can capture their ninth consecutive league title.
“That would be a great way to finish out my senior year,” she said. “I’d really love to go out strong.”
CR North enters the meet with a conference dual meet record of 6-0.
“That does give us an advantage,” Roberts said. “We’ll still have to swim well. “There is pressure to keep that title streak going but I think it’s more fun just to see how much time everyone on our team can drop and to work on being a unified team.”
Roberts began swimming as a youngster.
“My mom was a swimmer,” she said. “When she was 18 or 19, she was invited to the Olympic Trials but she didn’t go because she was going to medical school.
“She put me in swimming and I fell in love with it and kept with it.”
She is still waiting to hear from several colleges but would like to major in international studies with philosophy.
“I plan on becoming a lawyer,” she said. “International studies is more because I just love languages and learning about other cultures, plus I plan to study abroad.”
She is a member of the National Honor Society, the English National Honor Society, the Business National Honor Society and Rho Kappa, the National Honor Society for Social Studies.
“I do community work with them and it’s really fun,” she said.

Continental Conference

Alexa Crossgrove, Souderton
Alexa Crossgrove followed her older sister Ariana right into swimming.
“I took lessons when I was little and my sister decided she wanted to start competitive swimming when she was seven and I was five, so I decided I wanted to do it, too,” said Crossgrove, now a junior at Souderton.
“I just stuck with it, and so did she. She’s now a freshman swimming at Millersville. We were both on the Souderton team for two years, and it was a great experience for me to have an older sibling on the team.
“High school swimming is a big step up, and she helped me along, plus I had been to a bunch of her meets so I kind of knew what to expect. Watching her meets really gave me some insight. I saw how the team worked together and how close they were, and I was really looking forward to being a part of that.
“It’s everything I thought it would be. It’s like a second family to me.”
Crossgrove takes her role as an upperclassman seriously.
“We have some freshmen girls on the team this year and I try to be friendly and encourage them,” she said. “I know how hard it is when you’re new and I want them to feel comfortable.
“I’m really looking forward to next season because although we’re losing some great team members we do have a good group of swimmers who will be back and I know we’re getting some good new freshmen in. I’m excited to see what we can do as a team and what I can do as an individual.”
She hasn’t chosen a college yet but is considering physical therapy as a major.

American Conference

Melanie Wittick, Upper Moreland
Melanie Wittick was searching for a winter sport when she decided to try out for the Upper Moreland swim team.
“I wanted something to help me stay in shape and I didn’t want to play basketball,” said Wittick, now a senior. “I played soccer in the fall and lacrosse in the spring. I decided to give swimming a try and I’m glad I did.”
She missed her sophomore year with a torn ACL.
“I had to take a season off to recover but I was able to play lacrosse that year, so I was happy with that,” she said.
Lacrosse is actually her primary sport. She has committed to playing at Marywood next year and is undecided on a major. She is also interested in the ROTC program at Wilkes University.
“I gave up soccer after that because I didn’t want to risk injury for a sport I really wasn’t that interested in playing,” she said.
In her junior year she went to the District One meet as a member of all three relays.
“That was a really awesome experience,” she said. “It was so much fun to get even closer to those girls over the two or three extra weeks of practice we had. We worked hard but it was a blast. We re-tapered for districts so I was beat by the end of the season. It’s grueling and I had no idea of that until I did it but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”
Wittick is hoping to get to the district meet again this year on at least one relay.
“We have more good swimmers this year but I’m more than happy to swim in whatever spot they need me to,” she said.