By Brian Weaver
SOUDERTON
NO SURPRISES: At Souderton, head coach Todd Bauer’s girls are swimming at a monster clip, setting themselves up in prime position to make a lot of noise at districts while enjoying a great run through the SOL Continental Conference along the way. But the head coach isn’t surprised.
“It’s just maturity,” he said. “We’ve had an immense amount of talent for a long time, and now half our team is seniors.”
After finishing third behind Conestoga and North Penn at last year’s District 1 AAA meet, the Indians this year look like they’ll be a better fit in gold than bronze. Along the way this year, Souderton has beaten traditional powers North Penn and Pennsbury. The victories haven’t gone unnoticed, but Bauer is quick to point out that the bar can always go a notch higher.
“Each of the last four years we lost to North Penn and Parkland, and this year we beat North Penn,” he said, recalling a heart-stopping meet against North Penn – now their conference rivals – that came down to the last race. “But it’s good to swim teams like Parkland. There’s always somebody better out there.”
Maybe, but that somebody is awful hard to find at this point.
THE DEEP END: On both the boys and girls sides of the pool, the Indians have tremendous depth. The girls’ success starts with their top two swimmers, Angela Severn and Paige Whitmire. Severn is the defending district champion in the 200 freestyle, and Whitmire won bronze at last year’s districts championship in the 50 free. The two were also on the Indians relay team that tied for second.
“Any race, either of them can win it,” Bauer said. “When you have two girls that high-quality, it’s tough to lose relays.”
The supporting cast for the pair has been all but unstoppable as well. Bauer cites his team’s depth as a major reason for their success, with juniors Missy Doll and Mariel Cush adding speed in a number of races.
The boys also start with a strong senior class. Joe Reynolds and Jake Radcliffe are getting fast at the right time, and the divers are doing their part.
Freshman Ozzie Moyer has won all but one meet, and that one was against North Penn and arguably the best diver in Southeast Pennsylvania, Zac Nees. Moyer, fellow freshman Tyler Wertz, and Marcus Dare have combined to give the Indians a potent attack on the boards.
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH
SURPRISE! With a lot of new talent coming into the picture in the 2009 season, Lake wasn’t sure what he’d be in for. After all, the Conference picked up Souderton and CB East with the re-alignment, and he still had to deal with perennial power North Penn. Yet with just a handful of meets left, he couldn’t be more pleased.
“At the beginning of the season I didn’t know what we were going to have,” Lake admitted. “This might be the best record CB South has had.
“Tim Ware, a sophomore, made in the 100 backstroke, and he’s close in the 100 freestyle. He really dropped his time in the back. John Marron has been a real surprise for me in the IM. He swam two years ago, did not swim last year, and came back this year. He actually made districts last week. And Corey Rundle, it’s his second year swimming, he’s less than a second away from making districts in the hundred breaststroke. Last meet he dropped four seconds off his time.”
The young South team is giving Lake reasons to smile as he looks beyond this year. But the season’s not over yet, and it’s only getting longer for the Titans.
Six of swimmers have their district qualifying times, and several more are closing in rapidly. Ilan Khyat leads the way, and Lake expects him to do well in the District 1 AAA meet. The coach isn’t only looking at Khyat, though.
“I’m really excited to see what our breaststrokers can do,” Lake said. “How far can they go down? And Kyle McLaughlin is coming into his own in the past two or three weeks.”
McLaughlin, a captain, dropped his times and is on the edge of qualifying in a pair of events.
MEET OF THE WEEK: Council Rock North vs. Pennsbury. In a meet with big ramifications – the two are 1-2 in the SOL National Conference standings – CR North will travel to Pennsbury to take on the Falcons.
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