By Brian Weaver
This week, the notebook looks forward and backward, recapping the Suburban One League championships from last week and asking coaches on their perspectives going into the District One meet, arguably the toughest district-level meet in the state.
CONTINENTAL
Boys
Ever see the inside of North Penn’s natatorium?
It’s tough to tell what’s harder: comprehending the size of the championship banners on the wall or trying to count how many different years are on them for league, district, and state titles.
With that in mind, North Penn’s arrival on the scene this year meant bad news for the Continental Conference. After rolling through the competition in the regular season, the high-speed Knights ran away with the league title. They won seven of the meet’s events – six of those victories coming in pool-record times – and the diving competition on their way to 393 points, nearly 130 better than their nearest competitor, Central Bucks East. The Patriots tallied 265.3 points, good enough to top third-place Souderton at 198.
Stephan Hoch took first in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly while contributing in the Knights’ 200 medley relay and 400 free relay wins. Teammates Nick Ortlieb, Jack Else, and Craig Hennessey also added individual wins, while the incomparable Zac Nees dove past the competition on the boards.
Only Central Bucks West’s Sean Cook could match Hoch’s individual performance. Cook tallied two individual wins, first in the 200 free and then later in the 100 back. West finished fourth with 147.5 points.
Girls
On the girls’ side, Souderton did their best North Penn impression, winning the conference title in thunderous fashion.
The Indians finished first in all but one event – North Penn’s Nicole Dibonaventura handily won the 200 free by over 2.5 seconds – en route to 344 points. Paige Whitmire notched wins in the 100 back and 100 fly while chipping in a leg on each of the champion 200 medley relay and 200 free relay squads. Mariel Kush and Missy Doll each added a first and a second for the champions, who finished 55 points clear of second-place North Penn.
Angela Severn put up a double-victory of her own, taking the 100 free over teammate Doll and the 200 individual medley.
“My concern this season is that they would overlook leagues because we’ve been preaching districts all year. Our goal is to win districts and go on to states and do good things there,” Souderton head coach Todd Bauer said. “All you have to do is swim well the first couple of events and it just kind of snowballs.”
The scores fell off after that. Hatboro-Horsham took third with 181 points. The Hatters’ Chelsea Adlam and Kelsey Tennent finished one-two in the diving competition with scores of 380.25 and 375.25, respectively.
CB West and CB East tangled for the four and five spots, the former edging the latter with 144 points to East’s 142.5.
NATIONAL
Girls
At the start of the season Council Rock North coach Ted Schueller set three goals. First was an undefeated season. The Indians got that. Second was beating Pennsbury. They got that one, too.
The Indians’ final goal was a league championship, and they completed the hat trick and knocked out the rest of the conference one last time, their 372 points good enough to get past Pennsbury at 341.
North and Pennsbury went one-two, respectively, in all three relays, the Indians gaining precious ground as a team. Kate Dillione showed off her distance prowess, taking the 200 and 500 free. In the 500, her 5:11.39 broke a 24-year-old pool record.
Every member of North’s team earned a point for the cause. The victors had a top three finisher in every event except the 200 IM, where Melanie Busch blew out the field, her 2:09.97 over four seconds quicker than everybody else in the field. Busch helped her William Tennant team to a third place finish at 201 points.
Perhaps even more impressive was the fact that 11 members of North’s team had the stomach virus the week of leagues.
“Brooke Burschlag and Sarah Wells rolled out of bed the day before, turned around and still swam with a 101 fever to make sure they didn’t let the team down,” Schueller said.
Pennsbury got wins from Catherine Reeves in the 100 free, Madeline Barlow in the 100 fly, and Alison Ludwick’s 100 breast performance.
Boys
The boys saw Pennsbury get revenge on North with the Falcons taking the league title over the Indians thanks to a thrilling 270-267 margin. The victory meant Pennsbury’s first conference title since 1988.
Abington kept it close with a 234.50 point showing, good enough for third. But with each finish, it became more and more a showdown between the top two. Either North or Pennsbury won each event in the meet.
The victors got a big performance from Matt Chrzanowski, who blazed to a 22.01 in the 50 free and won the 100 free to sweep the sprints. He anchored the victory in the 200 free relay, as well.
Pennsbury’s lead held until the last few events, when North made things interesting. After Pat Griffin won the 100 back for the Falcons, David Brown let the field know that North wasn’t done yet, going 1-2 in the 100 breast with teammate James Sturner and blowing out the field by more than 3.5 seconds.
AMERICAN
Girls
Upper Dublin sizzled the pool at Upper Merion for the American Conference championship. The Cardinals blew away everybody, with second place Plymouth Whitemarsh managing only 201 points to the victors’ 380.5.
Upper Dublin went one-two in three of the first four events while winning the fourth. Ellie Houser took the 200 free and Erin Regan the 200 individual medley. Then Megan Lafferty took the 50 free and 100 fly by more than a second each. Carolyn Meier bagged a win in the 100 free, putting things all but out of reach for the rest of the field.
However, the Cardinals refuse to get ahead of themselves going into the district meet. Coach Brian Palme won’t let them.
“We’ve got to take care of Upper Dublin,” he said. “One thing that we always try to do with our kids is have them eat a little humble pie. We know there are always opportunities to learn. We swim teams that we know will either beat us or that we really have to earn a win.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh did everything they could to stay close, scoring several place finishes. The Colonials notched a first and third result in the 100 breaststroke courtesy of Charlotte Cornog and Lindsey Moyer.
The host team got a lift when Taylor Mateja pulled a victory out in the 100 back. The Vikings finished fourth, their 147 points just 15 behind Springfield in third.
Boys
If any part of you questions the importance of depth on a swim team, please let that doubt go at this point. Upper Dublin won two relays in the boys’ championship, but besides that, only Dan Fizgerald (100 back and 50 free) and Calvin Starosta (100 free) managed individual wins.
Yet Upper Dublin didn’t just win the meet. They annihilated the competition. The Cardinals raked in 369.5 points. Wissahickon managed 228 of their own to finish solidly in second ahead of Plymouth Whitemarsh. But the day belonged to the Cardinals.
Upper Dublin had scorers across the board, stealing two of the top three spots in four different individual events.
“The way the heats were seeded, we had three or four guys in the top heats,” head coach Lisa Fantini said. “We’re hoping that depth may carry over for districts again as it did last year.”
Despite a fifth place finish, Upper Moreland dictated the diving competition. Pat McPeak and JP Zorreli took first and third, respectively.
LOOKING AHEAD
The District One Championships this coming weekend should offer a showcase of SOL teams, but league coaches are quick to point out that it’s a big district.
“I think the competition at districts, particularly with Radnor, West Chester Henderson, and Boyertown, is going to be a great team race at this year’s districts,” said North Penn boys’ coach Brian Daly.
While Daly is quick to note teams like Upper Dublin and his own Knights as top-tier competition, he acknowledges that the SOL isn’t the only fish in this talented pool.
Fantini was equally grounded when speaking of her team’s chances to repeat after they knocked North Penn off the podium to win last year’s district crown.
“We don’t talk about it too much now because I don’t want to overdo it,” she said. “We kind of laid out a game plan a couple weeks ago, the captains and I, and so right now we’re just focusing on racing, getting out, being aggressive, and just cranking it out. It just comes down to who’s going to taper the best and swim the fastest.
“Last year I think there were a few races where we snuck in a couple points because we had somebody in the first couple of heats beat some people in the later, faster heats. It amazes me that every year the meets keep getting faster and faster.”
With under a week left before the clash at districts, most coaches have either started to taper or are about to. As they close in towards the day of reckoning – swimming-wise, not the Pearly Gates one – they note that the swimmers aren’t worried about other teams or other individual swimmers.
“For most of the girls, this was their goal meet from the beginning. This is where they want to swim fast. You trained since last states for this moment. There’s nothing to hold back, nothing to look past. I tell them, ‘You’re ready, and it’s just time to go for the gold,’” Palme said.
Palme should have several swimmers from his American Conference championship squad place, but he’s looking for one in particular to do some of the heavy lifting.
“Meg Lafferty has a good chance. Right now she’s seeded first in the 100 fly and second in the 100 back,” he said. “She has goals and dreams, and she’s going to do what she can to go after those”
Lafferty embodies the spirit of that group of swimmers whose success raises the bar so high the platform divers might worry about clipping them on one of their flips. Pennsbury’s Matt Chrzanowski is another of that group.
Chrzanowski’s league wins may be only a preview of things to come. He’s seeded fifth in the 50 and fourth in the 100. He stands poised to collect hardware by virtue of an unrivaled desire to win.
“Matt has a real nice edge to the way he swims, and he’s a real good competitor,” Pennsbury coach John Wilson explained. “I’ve seen him when he loses and how upset he gets when he knows he should have beaten a guy.
“I could see him doing a 21 [he just missed with a 22.01 to win the National Conference title] and I could see him come out and go into 47 or lower in the 100. Those races are quick and you’ve got to have it all together. Has a great start, and that’s part of it.”
The start. The turn. The exchange. All of the technical pieces, even down to the tiniest fundamentals, focus crisply in the lens of districts.
Schueller points to these as potential turning points in any race, but especially relays. He gives an example from last year’s District 1 meet.
“Two of the officials behind [our] lane said their exchanges are right on the money, toes are touching and fingertips are touching,” he said. “Now we’re working on that stuff a half-hour, 45 minutes every day. Every time they go and do one they’re looking up, wondering, ‘Am I early, am I late?’”
Bauer doesn’t let it escape his swimmers, either.
“One false start in a relay, one disqualification in an individual event, and it’s a completely different meet,” he said.
Souderton and North’s dedication to the little things certainly made a difference during the year, but with leagues behind them a large reset button has been pressed.
“I kind of preach to the girls all year long it’s not important to be swimming fast in November, December, or even January for that matter. It’s important to swim fast when it matters most, and now’s when it matters most,” Schueller said.
“Usually, once you’re inside of a week, your job as a coach is done,” Daly explains. “They’re pretty much on their own at this point. Now it’s where the team takes over and tries to establish some momentum and get it going.”
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