Swimmers from CR North, CB East and Norristown are featured in this week’s notebook.
National Conference
Indians persevere - This has been a disappointing season for the Council Rock North boys.
But senior Nick Gallagher and his teammates have soldiered on.
The Indians ended the dual meet season with back-to-back losses in the Suburban One League National Conference, a first for the program. They fell to William Tennent for the first time ever and finished the season with a loss to district rival Council Rock South, only the second time the Golden Hawks have prevailed over CR North.
“It’s a little disappointing to lose to South, but I’ve known these guys all my life,” Gallagher said. “I’ve been swimming since I was five and I started at the aquatics club here at Council Rock when I was eight so I’ve been swimming club with a lot of the South guys for about 10 years now.
“You don’t want to lose, but if I was going to lose to anyone it would be those guys. It’s always been a friendly rivalry and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
CR North finished the dual meet season 3-3, with a loss to Pennsbury and wins over Bensalem, Neshaminy and Abington.
“It’s been a tough year but everyone tried their best,” Gallagher said. “We couldn’t have done any better. This is a great group of guys and I’m proud of the effort our team put out.”
Gallagher plans to attend Bucks County Community College and wants to major in psychology.
“After Bucks, I want to go out West,” he said. “I love Newtown but I want to see the rest of the country and get some experiences.”
Out of the pool, he is a lifeguard in the summer and dabbles in guitar.
Continental Conference
CB East’s Weber looking to finish strong - This absolutely wasn’t the senior year Tara Weber envisioned.
But this year’s home finale for the Central Bucks East captain was a triumph.
Weber competed in the 50-yard freestyle for the Patriots against non-league foe Neshaminy, finishing in third place with her time of 28.53 on CB East’s senior recognition day.
It was the first time she’d competed since the very beginning of the season. A blood clot would not dissolve and eventually necessitated the removal of a rib.
“I’m so happy to be back,” Weber said. “I got in the water a few days before the meet for about a half an hour, just to get used to it.
“On the weekend, TK (CB East girls head coach Tom Kane) asked me if I wanted to swim in the meet. Of course I did so he put me in the 50.
“I was so nervous. I had so many butterflies and I was shaking so much on the block but it was so exciting to get in and swim and I’m happy with my time. It’s close to what I did at the beginning of the season.”
Weber will compete at the conference championships.
“I’m hoping to finish strong,” she said. “I have my old tech suit from last year so I’m going to wear it and just hope to beat my time.”
She will attend Fairfield University in the fall and will major in nursing, and she is a member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
American Conference
Messics has sights set on conference championships - At Norristown, it isn’t about wins and losses..jpg)
“We focus on individual accomplishments here,” said junior Cole Messics. “That’s what we’re about. We know we won’t get the wins in the dual meets so it’s about everyone doing their best.
“We have a really close team. We’re all friends and we support each other.”
Messics began swimming at a young age.
“When I was little my parents wanted me to learn to swim so I could be safe in the water,” he said. “I just stuck with it.”
Messics also plays soccer and baseball for the Eagles, and while he considers baseball his best sport, he takes swimming seriously. He is already thinking about the American Conference championship meet.
“My main event is the 50 freestyle but I’ll also swim the 100 free,” he said. “That’s what I swam last year. I feel like we’re all ready as a team to go there and do our best.
“The meet is at Upper Dublin and that’s such a fast pool so I’m looking forward to seeing what my time drops are going to be.”
He is a member of the National Honor Society.
“I like that because it keeps you well rounded and on top of your education,” he said.
He has not chosen a college yet but is hoping to study engineering.
“Right now I’m looking at Drexel because it’s a good school and it’s not too far away,” he said. “I don’t plan to do a sport in college because I really want to focus on my education so I want to get as much out of sports now as I can.”
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