To view photos of Friday’s entire meet, visit the photo gallery by clicking on the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Brian Weaver
NEWTOWN – There was, in fact, a girls’ swimming meet at Council Rock North on Friday.
But you might have missed it among the poetry reading, limbo contest, and dance party.
In a matchup between two Suburban One League squads off to great starts, the meet was only part of the story as the Indians knocked off visiting Abington 102-79.
As soon as the meet ended, both teams huddled at their end of the pool as the Abington boys read a love letter and sang a quick song for the home team while the audience roared with laughter.
As the festivities unfolded – a limbo contest around the starting blocks complete with leis for both teams – the coaches sat back and laughed.
“We had a crazy group of guys maybe eight years ago, and at the end of the CR meet they brought out a big rock and said, ‘We have a gift for you,’” Abington head coach Joe Lennon explained. “And the next year they painted it and brought it in on a little dolly.
“The next year after that, all the girls are dressed, but there’s not a guy to be found. They’re upstairs dancing on the lockers, swapping stories, somebody brought a disco ball.”
Rock North coach Ted Schueller reminded Lennon that a flashlight was involved with the disco ball before adding, “You don’t see this at any other meet. This is what high school sports are about.”
The Indians took control early, finishing one-two in the 200 Medley Relay to open the meet. Both teams held a three-second cushion over the top Abington finishers. North then went on to take three of the top four spots in each of the next three swimming events, and the top two in the first event after the diving break.
Rock North freshman Maddie Meyer continued to impress, winning the 200 and 500 free. She wasn’t going to race in the 500, but agreed to when she realized she could pace Abington’s Kelly Roedig.
“Everybody’s just been doing their job, doing their part,” Schueller said. “I’ve been able to mix lineups up, get some kids into events they normally wouldn’t be swimming. You find out how much deeper we are. In a tough meet, I can move so-and-so into this event, and so on. We’re interchangeable. We can use our depth.”
While Schueller and his troops had an easy time with the Ghosts, his undefeated girls (9-0 overall) have taken nobody lightly. But they have been taking the occasional peek down the schedule at their upcoming rivals: the Pennsbury Falcons.
The Pennsbury-Council Rock rivalry has almost died. It used to be the last meet of the season, but the realignment of the Suburban One League all but eliminated it. Now, however, it’s back, and right where Schueller wants it – the last meet of the year, one that all of their work can build towards.
“We’ll start chatting, talk about using swimmers in spots, and slowly the chatter has started to focus on Pennsbury,” he admitted.
Expecting the rivals-turned-former-rivals-turned-rivals-anew to be the toughest contest of the season, Schueller wants his girls to be focused on that stretch, one which will go from Pennsbury to the league meet to districts, and hopefully to states.
Kylie Smith took the diving crown for Abington, while Courtney Cox and Emily Benson took third and fourth, respectively. The Ghosts picked up eleven points on the boards, but only Alaina Ryan could muster a first place finish in the lanes.
Ryan paced the field with a 58.5 effort in the 100 Free. She turned in a second place performance in the 200 Free and anchored the 200 Free Relay team to a second place finish. Despite the lopsided score, Lennon’s Abington-centric approach kept his girls focused.
“We’ve always emphasized that personal times are what we focus on when we’re going against teams where know that the score won’t be close in the meet,” he said. “We’ve always had that strategy that you can walk away from a meet regardless of the score and be happy with how you swam. You worry about your races. Don’t worry about what the kids in the other lanes are doing.”
This has served the team well. The Ghosts – who focus on freestyle – have gotten all of their relays into districts and have scattered a few more qualifiers across the disciplines. The Indians have 15 of their girls in, only five shy of Schueller’s lofty pre-season goal of 20. Two more just missed in Friday’s meet, a thought that was on the coach’s mind much more than the score as the meet headed home.
In a show of sportsmanship that exemplifies the camaraderie between the two squads, Schueller, as he often does, swam times-only in the last few races, giving the score a chance to close a little bit. His side’s 102-54 lead after the 100 Backstroke was more than enough.
Joe Paterno’s not as old-fashioned as you think.
“We’re not looking to run it up on anybody,” Schueller shrugged. “Nobody needs a score that’s 130 to 40-something.”
Lennon admitted that while winning is important, results never change the fact that the team always races the clock. And while the night’s official title was a swim meet, there was no avoiding the fact that a great time was waiting for all of the swimmers afterward.
“It’s a tradition that’s become a great thing for everybody,” Lennon smiled, his face explaining wordlessly that though North won the meet, there were no losers.
On the boys' side, Rock North rolled to a convincing 108.5-71.5 win.
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