North Penn sweeps dual meet with Pennridge
TOWAMENCIN >> Aidan Daly needed one more final push. And it came in the form of teammate Harrison Friel.
“I could see him coming off the wall,” Daly said. “He was coming on pretty strong.”
The North Penn duo drove each other to an impressive performance in the 500 yard freestyle, as Daly touched first in 4 minutes, 53.50 seconds, Friel touched a split second later in 4:53.66, and the Knights would go on to place 1-2-3 in the event.
It was part of a dual meet sweep for North Penn Tuesday, as the Knights prevailed 105-73 over the Rams and the Maidens were 102-76 winners over Pennridge in a Suburban One League Continental Conference battle at the Rick Carroll Natatorium.
“I’m pretty happy about it. Pennridge is a pretty good team,” Daly said. “I was pretty satisfied, especially with that 500. Harrison had a pretty good one too — it was a nailbiter towards the end.”
The Knights placed first in all but one event, with Ryley Fein taking first in the 200 IM and then anchoring the Knights to a victory in the 200 free relay.
Adam Stumpf was a winner in the 100 butterfly for the Rams (2-6).
“From water polo season, we know Pennridge very well and they know us very well,” said Knights coach Jeff Faikish, whose team improved to 5-0 in the conference and 9-1 overall. “So it’s good competition, a good rivalry, but a friendly one.
“We’re certainly starting to feel the grind. The kids are looking forward to the end of the tunnel — we only have three dual meets left. And we have a big one on Friday against Souderton.”
Propelled by Kailyn Evans’ two wins in the 50 free and 100 free, the Maidens looked solid all around and ran their unbeaten mark to 8-0, with a 5-0 mark in the conference.
“I’m pretty happy with where we are at this point in the season — definitely,” NP girls coach Matt Weiser said. “The girls this year have been awesome. And it’s one of those things where the leaders at the top are awesome and it’s just been filtering down.”
Morgan Scott kept motoring along for the Pennridge girls (6-2), winning both the 500 free and 100 back. Hannah Zurmuhl, battling her way back from Mono, placed third in the 50 free.
“It’s (Hannah’s) first meet back — on Monday, she was at practice for the first time in a couple weeks,” Rams coach Jacob Grant said. “So we’re just trying to get her back into shape, get her ready for leagues.
“Morgan had some great races today. She was going for her own pool record in the 500 free (5:00.01). She wanted to go 4:59 tonight, and unfortunately it didn’t happen (as she got a 5:03.72), but she’s an incredible swimmer, and I can’t wait to see what the end of the season holds for her.”
