The 2016 swim season kicked off with the Central Bucks East Relay Carnival.
Central Bucks East always kicks off the swim season by hosting a relay carnival, an annual event that has become a tradition for the teams attending.
While some other relay carnivals have fallen by the wayside, this event is 44 years old and still going strong.
On Friday night CB East hosted Central Bucks South, Central Bucks West, William Tennent, Lower Moreland, Archbishop Wood, Hatboro-Horsham and Radnor.
Hatboro-Horsham came away with the most victories.
Luke Emig, Stu Sumner, John Scully and Tim McPoyle won the 200-yard freestyle relay in 1:30.88. Scully, Emig, Eric Thron and Pearce Stevens won the 200 backstroke relay (1:45.76). Chris McPoyle, Ben Nogowski, Andrew McPoyle and Coner Elmer won the 200 breaststroke relay (2:00.91). Sumner, Tim McPoyle, Zac Mignogna and Matt Hammer won the200 buttterfly relay (1:42.41).
“It’s really exciting to swim here because the whole team comes together here at this meet,” said Tim McPoyle, a senior. “Everyone cheers for everyone and it’s a great time.
“This is the only chance you have all year to swim some of these events so it’s important to enjoy this night and have fun with it.
“We swam really well and that gives me a good feeling about our season. Coming into the meet I definitely thought we had a lot of potential and I think we showed that here.”
The Hatters moved from the Suburban One League Continental Conference to the American Conference this year.
“Our coaches think we could do really well in this conference so we’re excited,” McPoyle said.
The Hatboro girls fared just as well. Colleen Claggett, Grace Fink, Arielle Hammer and Sophie Stasio won the 200 freestyle relay (1:44.35). Kayla Ji, Sheila Fisher, Grace Riemenschneider and Katie Moore won the 400 individual medley relay (4:27.81).
Hammer, Cameron Fisher, Mary Kate Scully and Stasio won the 200 backstroke relay (1:59.12). Cierra Joyce, Sheila Fisher, Jessica Gutekunst and Moore won the 200 breaststroke relay (2:15.53).
“Every single year this is the most exciting meet by far,” said Moore, a senior. “I just love it so much and I’m sad that it’s over and it was my last one.
“We swam really well and I’m excited about that.”
The CB East girls foursome of Sayde Shiroff, Vitalina Mikhalev, Caroline Cassidy and Erin Lengel won the 200 butterfly relay in 1:49.71, a meet record. The previous standard of 1:52.57 was set in 2002 by Souderton’s Callie Collins, Stacy Miller, Amy Mensch and Alex Tomlinson.
The CB East girls also won the 500 crescendo relay. Shiroff, Cassidy, Lengel, Stephanie Chell and Guilana Rusico finished in 4:48.25 for first place.
“This is a huge meet for us and it sets the tone for the season,” said Lengel, a senior captain. “Our enthusiasm this year has been incredible.
“I’m so excited. I think we have so much potential and so much energy and I can’t wait to show the world what we can do.
“I like the variety of teams that we have at this meet. It’s a good little taste of what districts will be like. I definitely think we proved ourselves against good competition.”
She was particularly excited to be part of the record-setting butterfly relay.
“My freshman year we went for it and didn’t get it so this year was so satisfying,” she said. “We worked so hard for that.”
The CB East boys won the 400 individual medley relay as Connor Lenehan, Erik Huuki, Jackson Green and Trevor Mislan touched in 4:00.88.
The Patriots also won the boys 500 crescendo relay. Green, Lenehan, Huuki, Mislan and Billy Griffith touched in 4:23.56.
CB West’s boys diving team of Connor Levant and Dylan Friedman had a combined score of 436.65 points to win that event.
CB South scored a win in girls diving, as Meghan Cunningham and Vita Shabalow teamed up to post a score of 471.30 points.
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