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By Brian Weaver
A college venue. A full house. The best competition in the Philadelphia area.
For most people, swimming in this environment for the first time could be more than a little intimidating.
For Springfield’s freshman- and sophomore-heavy team, it was nothing more than background noise.
Springfield (Montco) took the PIAA District One AA swimming title on Saturday, tallying 334 points. Harriton High school finished a distant second at 268. After a strong first day, the Spartans continued to shovel the coal in on the second day, burning up the competition and coming away with the crown.
Springfield’s young squad had no issues with nervousness. Several sophomores and freshmen contributed to the cause, ignoring the frenzied crowd in the packed pool at La Salle University. Coach Nick Militello thinks this experience bodes well for their chances as they move on.
“On the big stage, states, to get first places you need experience,” Militello said. “Sometimes just strong powerful boys can make it. I can’t say one of these guys didn’t work hard.”
The Spartans were quiet through the first four events, placing swimmers in each event but not picking up many points. They stood in fifth as the swimmers manned the blocks for the boys 200 individual medley, and here they showcased their depth and versatility, giving a preview of how the rest of the meet would go.
John Hacking took sixth, Ryan McWilliam, seventh, Matt del Rio, tenth, and Sam Weisser, 16th. All of this together meant 33 points for Springfield in the event and a jump into second place behind Harriton and just ahead of Springfield (Delaware County) in the standings. Hugh Pedley and Jake Oeschger took second and fourth in the 50 free to close the gap further.
The champions continued to place and gain points, and by the time their 200 free relay tied for the win at 1:29.20, they were 29 points up after one day. Harriton stood in second place, 29 points off of Springfield’s pace at 190-161.
On the second day Hugh Pedley took over. The senior kicked off Day Two with a win in the 100 free, his 47.86 a second better than Strath Haven’s Patrick Dignazio. He then anchored the winning 200 and 400 free relays. Finally, he placed second in a breath-taking finish by the closest of margins in the 50 free, losing to Hunter Harrison of Harriton by one hundredth of a second, 22.06 to 22.07.
“In the relay, we knew we would win as long as we didn’t DQ, and once I got in, I know I just had to go. I couldn’t let down my teammates,” Pedley shrugged afterwards, medals around his neck. “No one person can win districts or states. We’ve worked harder than any other team in the past.
Sophomore Jake Oeschger picked up a fourth place in the 50 free and paced a pair of relays. Freshmen John Hacking and Jesse Fallon went six-seven in the 500 free with Ben Mancini also notching points in 11th. Harrison Lynch and Robert Christoph took seventh and 12th in the 100 back. And then, to flush the competition and put the match all but out of reach, senior RJ Langlois took second and Matt del Rio and Joe Wolgast finished 10 and 11 in the 100 breast.
“I’ve been here 16 years, and this is the most people I’ve brought to districts and the most success we’ve ever had,” Militello beamed afterwards, still dripping from the post-victory jump into the pool.
And though only the champion from the AA level in District One moves on each year, the Spartans are excited for their prospects.
“We might not be the strongest team there,” Pedley said, “but we’ll have more support than we thought, so hopefully we’ll come away with some medals.”
Militello agreed, saying that he’s already pleased with everything his team has done.
“Our 200 and 400 relays are in,” he said. “Our breaststroker [Langlois] with 1:03 is potential. Anything else is gravy.”
In the AAA finals, local heavyweights Upper Dublin and North Penn kept close to the top but didn’t have enough firepower in the end, finishing third and fourth, respectively. North Penn led with 114 points after Day One, well ahead of Boyertown’s 89 in second place. But both the Bears and West Chester Henderson – who sat in fourth after a day – made big strides on Day Two to take the top spots.
With one event left, Boyertown led Henderson 195.5 to 191.5. David McCormick’s win in the 100 breaststroke had pulled the Warriors within four, but they needed to beat Boyertown by at least three places in the final relay.
They did, and they did it in style. In the last heat of the championships, a thrilling contest with all four top teams racing, the Henderson beat not just the Bears but the meet record as well, a 1990 mark set by North Penn at 3:09.27. Upper Dublin took second and North Penn third, closing Boyertown out to fourth and locking up the title for Henderson and their 3:07.93. The Warriors finished with 231.5 points, beating Boyertown by six.
Upper Dublin coach Lisa Fantini had no complaints about her side’s efforts.
“We swam awesome, so it’s hard to complain,” she pointed out. “We went into it and said if we swam as fast as we could, we’d be happy. In a few races we got more points than we expected, and in a few we didn’t.”
She expects a few athletes to get out and head for states. After that, she knows the team has work.
“We have a good group of seniors graduating,” she pointed out, a group that contributed to last year’s District One championship. “We’ll have some rebuilding to do.”
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