By Alex Frazier
National Conference
Boys
Although Council Rock North won the league meet, edging Pennsbury by five points, the Indians didn’t have enough regular season points to wrest the title from the Falcons because they lost two league meets during the regular season.
“We had a great meet,” said Rock coach Brian Johnson. “The kids really swam well. Our relay times all improved a whole lot. Everything’s coming together for the end of the season. We had a lot of good individual swims.”
Ironically, North won just one event, with James Sturner touching first in the 100 breaststroke with a season best 1:03.15.
Johnson was particularly pleased with his backstrokers who scored a lot of points near the end of the meet. Among them was Chris Pitler who finished third in 59.04.
“We have a younger group,” said Johnson. “We only have four seniors. A lot of it came down to people jelling. The younger swimmers on the team have really come on as the season has progressed. We’re a little deeper in the league championship meet where we can have four swimmers in an individual event.”
Pennsbury’s Matt Chrzanowski won a pair of events, lowering his own pool record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.18. He also took the 100 free in 47.95. The Falcons also had a champion in the 500 freestyle with Alex Naglich winning by six seconds in 4:51.21 and in the 200 IM with Scott McHenry touching in 2:00.71.
Pennsbury also won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays.
William Tennent, which placed third, crowned three champions. After his teammates won the opening 200 medley relay, Connor Forlini captured the 200 freestyle in 1:47.66. Eric Schaffling touched first in the 100 butterfly (53.61) and Stephen Thomas took the 100 backstroke in 55.70.
Council Rock South’s T.J. Henkel won the diving with a score of 478.80.
Girls
Number two was number one for the Council Rock North girls.
After winning the National Conference last year, they wanted a repeat.
And they did that, soaring past Pennsbury 577-450.
After going undefeated during the regular season, it was almost a foregone conclusion that the Indians would also win the league meet.
“We don’t take anybody lightly,” said coach Ted Schueller. “I stress that with the girls. We still had to do what we do in the water. I was very pleased. We did exactly what I thought.”
Madison Meyer and Kate Dillione both won a pair of individual events. Meyer took care of the distance events, winning the 200 free in 1:58.15 and the 500 in 5:12.34. Dillione broke the school record in the 100 butterfly, touching in 58.07 and won the 200 IM in 2:10.95.
The Indians took two of three relays. Kate Dillione, Bizzy Millen, Meyer and Maggie Dillione set a school and pool record in winning the 200 free relay with a time of 1:39.59. Millen and Meyer combined with Tori Hall and Jessica Rauchut to win the 400 free in 3:45.43.
“The down part of the whole meet was we just missed winning the medley,” said Schueller.
Two new girls made district cuts for the Indians. Freshman Olivia Albion got hers in the 100 backstroke and sophomore Rae Claire Embree made it in the 50 free.
That brought to 15 the total of divers and swimmers going to districts with the possibility of another four or five if they make times at the Last Chance Meet Wednesday.
Melanie Busch lit up the lights for William Tennent. She led off the winning 200 medley relay and then sprinted to the wall to win the 50 free in 24.48. But her greatest accomplishment might have been setting a pool record time of 58.85 in the 100 backstroke.
Pennsbury also had a pair of winners in Catherine Reeves and Danielle Bukowski. Reeves touched first in the 100 freestyle (55.14), while Bukowski outswam the field in the 100 breaststroke (1:11.02).
The Falcons’ Emily Howard clobbered the field in diving, racking up an astounding 431.85 points.
Continental Conference
Boys
North Penn easily out-distanced league rival Souderton to capture yet another conference title.
Souderton and North Penn had a good head-to-head in diving with the Big Red’s Ozzie Moyer winning with a score of 478.80 over North Penn’s Frankie Murray (446).
Although the Knights captured all three relays, it was their depth that won them the meet because they only won two individual events. In the 200 free, Jack Else and Sean McDonald swam a dead heat in 1:45.98. Else won the other individual title, taking the 500 free in 4:49.17.
Souderton finished a distant second despite having only two top-three finishes. The Big Red took third in the 200 free relay and third in the 400 relay.
Central Bucks East’s Riley Weber and Kevin Magee dominated the individual events. Weber sprinted to a win in the 50 free in a time of 22.26 and won the 100 freestyle in 48.50. Magee captured the 100 butterfly in 55.03 and the 100 backstroke in 54.68.
The East boys also finished second in the 200 free relay.
Pennridge’s R.J. Phiambolis led the Rams by winning the 200 IM in 1:58.12 and the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.96.
Girls
Despite only one individual winner, North Penn toppled defending champion Souderton by 100 points, 444-344, last Saturday at Central Bucks South.
“The one big thing we had going into the meet was we had some big diving points, as opposed to Souderton,” said coach Matt Weiser. “It was certainly a goal of ours going into the season to win back the league title.”
Four North Penn divers placed in the top 10 at the league championship. Shauna Hannings was second; Ashley Liss, fourth; Erica Elias, fifth; and Heather Paolone, seventh.
Jan Ikeda won the 100 butterfly in 1:00.47.
“She had a nice swim to pull that one out,” said Weiser. “We had a lot of people that stepped up.”
Among them were the four members of the 200 medley relay—Colleen Stiles, Sarah Hannings, Ikeda and Mary Morris—that started off the meet with a win.
The Maidens also won the 200 free relay. The race ended in a tie, but won by virtue of a Souderton disqualification.
Clearly the Maidens’ depth was a key factor.
“That’s been a strong part of our team all year,” said Weiser. “You don’t necessarily have to win every event. Of your four entries if you have three or four scoring in every event, that proves to be big in the long run.”
Weiser also complimented the performances of Casey O’Neill (third, 50 free and third, 100 free) and Sam Deana (second, 50 free and third 10-0 backstroke).
The Indians crowned four individual winners. Missy Doll owned two of them, winning the 200 freestyle in 1:56.76 and the 100 free in 53.39. Chloe Thomas took the 50 free in 25.12 and Mariel Kush captured the 500 free in 5:12.62.
Souderton also prevented a North Penn sweep of the relays in the final event. Erica Witoslawski, Kush, Laureanna Zrada and Doll hit the wall in 3:40.80, just under a second ahead of the Maidens.
The Titans’ Lauren Ahrens climbed to the top of the podium twice for winning the 200 individual medley in 2:10.92 and the 100 backstroke in 1:01.15.
Two days earlier, C.B. South also crowned the league’s diving champ Lindsay Schmidt, who racked up 393.35 points.
Central Bucks East’s Katie Dempster took the remaining event, the 100 breaststroke, in 1:09.05.
American Conference
Boys
Upper Dublin swept all three relays en route to winning the meet.
In addition, the Cardinals had three individual champs. Dave Derr won the 100 butterfly (53.55), Ashton Leyens won the 500 freestyle (5:03.75) and Alex Stine took the 100 breaststroke in 1:03.72.
“We had a great meet,” said coach Lisa Fantini. “I’m proud of the guys. They worked hard all year.”
Seven new swimmers made district qualifying times for the Cardinals, bringing the total to 17. Sixty-three of a possible 76 times showed improvement, according to Fantini.
“We dropped almost two and a half minutes total as a team,” said Fantini. “It was pretty awesome. There was great leadership by the seniors and juniors. Our freshman class has really made an impact as well.”
Plymouth Whitemarsh also won three individual events with Alex Chilastri taking the 200 individual medley (1:59.72) and the 100 backstroke (52.94), while teammate Kyle Lukens won the 200 free (1:49.43).
PW’s Mike Hufnagel scored 367.35 to win the league diving title.
Springfield also had a double champ in Jake Oeschger, who won the 50 free (49.24) and the 100 free (49.240.
Girls
Twenty-one.
It’s a landmark year in any person’s life.
For the Upper Dublin girls swimming team, it was just another championship, except that it came in their brand new pool.
“It was pretty solid,” said coach Brian Palme. “We can’t complain. Out of the 43 shaved and tapered swims that we had, we dropped close to 80 seconds. I was pretty happy with that. And we got three more kids into districts. A lot of kids walked out smiling.”
The girls not only won two relays (the 200 medley relay and the 200 free), but they also took six individual titles.
Carolyn Meier and Erin Regan accounted for four individual wins. Meier took the 200 free (2:01.72) and the 100 free (54.86), while Regan captured the 200 IM (2:18.01) and the 100 butterfly (1:01.20).
Lindsey Schmidt and freshman Emeline Leyens rounded out the Cardinal winners. Schmidt, who has yet to taper, touched first in the 50 free in 25.47 and made districts for the first time in the 100 free, while Leyens, who is also not yet rested, dropped time to win the 100 breaststroke (1:09.15).
Other Upper Dublin girls that qualified for districts were Mieke Scherpbier (third, 50 free), Jess Nealis (third, 500 free), Anna Laur (third, 100 breaststroke) and Alanna Platt (sixth, 100 breaststroke).
Upper Merion’s Courtenay Willcox was victorious in the 500 free (5:32.81) and Wissahickon’s Liz McKenna took the 100 backstroke in 1:02.57.
The Trojans dropped time in a lot of events and concluded the meet by taking the 400 freestyle relay. Lori Jefferson, Ali McClure, Rose Seabrook and Liz McKenna touched in 3:49.19.
Last Thursday, Plymouth Whitemarsh’s Lize Keefer won the diving title with 377.10 points.
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