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By Alex Frazier
Nerves atingle.
Excitement in the air.
It must be the first swim meet of the year.
The sound of tom-toms and chants filled the Council Rock North natatorium as the Indians and Upper Dublin prepared to renew their annual clash.
For the Upper Dublin boys it was a time for redemption after losing to Rock North last year.
“They had beaten us last year by a couple of points, so we were out to return the favor,” said UD coach Lisa Fantini.
For the Council Rock North girls, the meet could mean the difference between a second straight undefeated season or not.
Despite losing seven versatile seniors last year, the Flying Cardinal boys soared to a 113-70 victory, and the Council Rock North girls embarked on the road to an unblemished season with a 113-73 victory.
“I knew it was going to be tough,” said CR coach Ted Schueller. “It’s always good with Upper Dublin. It’s always a great competitive meet and neither team knows what the other has with new kids coming it. It pushes kids early and you get a feel for your team.”
•••
Senior Alex Stine led Upper Dublin with three first places finishes and a second as the Cardinals racked up 10 victories, including all three relays and a sweep of the diving and the 100 butterfly.
“I had a great meet,” said Stine, who qualified for districts in the 50 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke. “For the first meet that was great for me.”
Stine gave a great effort in stretch in the 50 freestyle, edging Steve Sekula by .21 of a second.
Stine also swam on both the winning 200 medley and 200 free relays.
“It’s unbelievable to have an underclass that’s that fast and comes out that strong,” he said. “They’re adding depth to this team.”
Stine was particularly happy to beat Rock.
“They beat us last year which was a big deal for us because that was the first meet we had lost outside our North Penn dual meet in a long time,” he said. “We came out strong right off the bat with our medley relay.”
Stine couldn’t quite repeat in the 100 breaststroke. He led at the half, but Rock’s James Sturner passed him on the third lap and kicked in strong for the win.
“I am a sprinter at heart so coming back that second 50 breaststroke I was dragging a little bit,” he said. “My times right now are much better than they were last year, which I’m very, very happy about.”
His split in the medley relay, in fact, was a high school PR.
“We’ve been working on a lot of technical things,” said Fantini. “Some people are in better shape than others. We’re just trying to get everyone up to speed. Everyone is steadily improving. It’s a rebuilding year, but we have some good freshmen coming in.”
•••
After making the consolation finals in the 500 freestyle and the 400 free relay last year at states, Rock’s Madison Meyer was eagerly looking forward to the start of her sophomore season.
She didn’t disappoint herself or her team.
Meyer blew out the field in both the 200 and 500 freestyle, winning the 200 by over eight seconds over teammate Kate Dillione (1:57.38) and leading a sweep of the 500 (5:19.54).
She also swam the second leg of the 200 free relay and anchored the 400, both of which easily won.
“I feel it was a good start,” said Meyer. “I’m really excited to start this season. Our team is really strong and we have a lot to look forward to.”
The Indians went 12-0 last year, winning the National Conference.
They hope to repeat that as well as get more swimmers to districts and a few more relays to states.
“This year I feel we’re even deeper and faster,” said Schueller. “We’re probably 12-13 deep in the lineup. It’s one of the strongest Council Rock teams I’ve seen in years.”
Upper Dublin challenged in many of the events (winning five), but the Cardinals didn’t have the depth that Rock did.
“I’m pleased with where we’re at training-wise right now, and that we swam as fast as we did,” said Schueller.
For Meyer who would like to place at states this year, this meet was just the beginning.
“You always start the season with the end in mind,” she said. “Everything you do has a difference later on. Our team’s very excited. We have big goals in mind and those goals are a reality.”
Boys
Upper Dublin 113, Council Rock North 70
200 medley relay—Upper Dublin (Eric Jensen, Alex Stine, Dave Derr, Ashton Leyens) 1:42.96; Council Rock North, 1:47.90; Upper Dublin, 1:50.05
200 freestyle—Brian Wall (UD) 1:53.69; Jake Meyers (CRN) 1:53.75; Paul Caldwell (CRN) 1:57.36
200 IM—James Sturner (CRN) 2:05.88; Leyens (UD) 2:08.95; Vlad Karchevsky (CRN) 2:11.91
200 freestyle—Brian Wall (UD) 1:53.69; Meyers (CRN) 1:53.74; Paul Caldwell (CRN) 1:57.36
50 freestyle—Alex Stine (UD) 23:39; Steve Sekula (CRN) 23:73; Joe Starosta (UD) 24:07
Diving—Drew Johnson (UD) 158.70; Jason Pearce (UD) 151.85; Billy Richards (UD) 131.65
100 butterfly—Derr (UD) 55.16; Wall (UD) 55.87; Bobby Bantley (UD) 59.91
100 freestyle—Leyens (UD) 50.69; Sekula (CRN) 51.76; Tyler Huffman (UD) 52.0
500 freestyle—Jim Newman (CRN) 5:02.36; Caldwell (UD) 5:30.26; Tom Kane (UD) 5:31.42
200 freestyle relay—Upper Dublin (Stine, Derr, Huffman, Leyens) 1:31.95; Council Rock North, 1:37.37; Upper Dublin, 1:38
100 backstroke—Jensen (UD) 1:00.12; Starosta (UD) 1:00.47; Chris Pitler (CRN) 1:01.37
100 breaststroke—Sturner (CRN) 1:05.51; Stine (UD) 1:07.46; Karchevsky (CRN) 1:09.25
400 freestyle relay—Upper Dublin (Derr, Huffman, Wall, Bantley) 3:26.28; Council Rock North, 3:33.17; Upper Dublin, 3:39.99
Girls
Council Rock North 113, Upper Dublin 73
200 medley relay—Council Rock North (Tori Hall, Brooke Burschlag, Kate Dillione, Maggie Dillione) 1:53.89; Upper Dublin, 1:54.91; Council Rock North, 2:01.1
200 freestyle—Madison Meyer (CRN) 1:57.38; Kate Dillione (CRN) 2:05.64; Ellie Houser (UD) N/A
200 IM—Karen Regan (UD) 2:14.05; Bizzy Millen (CRN) 2:17.89; Burschlag (CRN) 2:22.58
50 freestyle—Carolyn Meir (UD) 25.54; M. Dillione (CRN) 25.75; Hall (CRN) 26.21
Diving—Mikaela Gribbin (UD) 151.25; Laura Bonanno (UD) 147.45; Kat Craig (CRN) 132.15
100 butterfly—K. Dillione (CRN) 59.34; Regan (UD) 1:00.82; Mullen (CRN) 1:01.20
100 freestyle—Carolyn Meyer (UD) 55.29; M. Dillione (CRN) 55.33; Jessica Rauchut (CRN) 57.15
500 freestyle—Meyer (CRN) 5:19.54; Jessica Teresky (CRN) 5:27.86; Caitlin Wilson (CRN) 5:35.69
200 freestyle relay—Council Rock North (Hall, Meyer, Rauchut, Millen) 1:42.46; Upper Dublin, 1:45.92; Council Rock North, 1:49.36
100 backstroke—Hall (CRN) 1:02.24; Houser (UD) 1:06.64; Kirsten Winkler (CRN) 1:07.91
100 breaststroke—Emily Lehens (UD) 1:10.73; Anna Lauer (UD) 1:14.58; Burschlag (CRN) 1:14.83
400 freestyle relay—Council Rock North (K. Dillione, Millen, M. Dillione, Meyer) 3:42.47; Upper Dublin, 3:55; Council Rock North, 4:00.90
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