Souderton boys, Hatboro-Horsham girls race to dual-meet wins

FRANCONIA >> Having dug their way out of the snow, both Souderton Area and Hatboro-Horsham found their way back to the water on Tuesday afternoon, wrapping up their Suburban One League Continental Conference schedule.

Several strong swims would decorate Souderton’s Senior Day.

“I know there were a lot of things I could have improved on. During the race, I didn’t think I was gonna do to well but then I finished off strong,” said Big Red junior Cristian Musterait, winner of the 50 and 100-yard freestyle, as well as anchor of the first-place 200 freestyle relay. “And I think that’s one of the best feelings. When you dive in the water and you know how many things you’ve done wrong, and you still go a fast time. That just shows how much more improvement you can get out of the race.

“Last home meet, and it’s mainly for the seniors. I think a lot of the seniors are gonna remember this for the rest of their life.”

Musterait helped power Big Red to a 97-89 victory on the boys side while the Hatter girls gained steam in the second half of the meet, winning 105-80 in front of a packed house at the Souderton Natatorium.

“You never know what’s gonna happen when you have Saturday off and basically Monday off,” Indians coach Caitlin Warren said. “Our meets with Hatboro are always close. I always get excited for this meet — always a lot of fun.”

Senior Ryan Witoslawski raced to a victory in the 100 breaststroke for Big Red (6-1 conference), pushing their point total to 93 points to lock up the victory.

Souderton also benefitted from Wesley Ahart’s performance up on the board, as he scored a 301.45 to take top honors, and Big Red also captured the 200 medley and 200 free relays, with the 200 free team of Michael Dechert, Storm Krader, Spencer Nice and Musterait — in one of the best races of the day — squeezing out a win by less than a second.

Said Musterait: “We did pretty well overall as a team. The 200 free is one of those races where you can tell by the atmosphere that everyone’s excited to swim. That’s the best feeling, swimming fast as a team, and you can tell you’re gonna do well at the end of the year.”

Taking both freestyle relays and getting individual wins from Barbara Schmele (200 IM), Colleen Claggett (50 free), Grace Riemenschneider (100 fly) and Elyse Bedics (tie for first in 500 free), the Hatters pulled together down the stretch to push past the Big Red girls.

“We started off a little flat — that snow really killed us I think,” Hatters coach Kip Emig said. “I think they just needed to get racing again. Being out of the water for a couple days really does make a difference.

“They came back strong at the end.”

Souderton has now completed its regular season while Hatboro gets ready to travel to Upper Dublin Friday for a non-conference contest.