Radnor’s Cullen speeds to a medal
LEWISBURG >> The grin on Patrick Cullen’s face widened noticeably as he got deeper into describing his 50 freestyle swim Wednesday.
Finishing fifth in 20.83 seconds at the PIAA Class 3A Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium was worth celebrating. So was the step-wise drop of tenths of seconds — from 21.06 at districts to 20.93 in morning prelims — an improvement that’s no given in the hectic splash and dash.
But that little curl on the smile came courtesy of the opposition. Cullen finished third at the District 1 Championships a week and a half ago, .03 behind Hatboro-Horsham’s John Scully and a single hundredth in arears of Henderson’s Liam Pitt.
Wednesday, though, Cullen was on the highest step of the three.
“It definitely feels good getting the last laugh here at states,” the Radnor junior said.
Patrick Cullen of @RHSwimDive (Lane 6) goes 20.83 in the 50 free. Good for 5th place. pic.twitter.com/Zr9KjcqdJq
— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) March 14, 2018
Cullen took care of business in the morning, earning a middle lane for the evening’s finals. He shook off a slow start from the blocks, illustrating how much he’d polished the finer points in the last week, like his turn and precise breathing pattern, to gain speed as the race went on.
He never challenged the top two — North Allegheny’s Mason Gonzalez winning in 19.99, with State College’s Matt Brownstead second at 20.08. But Cullen was second to Hempfield Area’s Patrick Mayo (20.83) in a pack of five swimmers clustered within .15 seconds.
“It might have been a little nerves getting to me,” Cullen said of the start. “But when I got into the pool, I kind of got my rhythm down and I was able to get into the race and hit my sixth gear and take it to the finish.”
Teammate James El-Deiry finished ninth in the 200 individual medley, pumping out a finals time of 1:53.61 that was nearly three seconds quicker than districts. He leapt from the 20th seed to second in the B final.
The duo combined on the 200 free relay, which sprang from 15th to the A final. The margins in the morning were crucial: Even a half-second drop off their seed of 1:26.95 from districts would’ve landed them in the B final. Instead, the squad that included Nick Mlodzienski and Andrew Davis went 1:25.59 in the morning and 1:25.46 at night, benefitting from a La Salle disqualification to take home fifth.
“It just gives us a ton of confidence going into the relay,” said Cullen, who led off in 20.84. “We were .1 off of three other relays, and that confidence is a huge key getting the relay starts down and in the 50 especially.”
