Avon Grove’s Paoletti set for stardom at state swimming

The best swimmers and divers in Pennsylvania gather at the Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell Univeristy for the PIAA Girls Swimming and Diving Championships, beginning Wednesday.

One of the athletes expected to shine under the lights at Bucknell is Avon Grove junior Olivia Paoletti, who comes into the 200-yard IM as the top seeded swimmer, having won the title at the District 1 meet at La Salle University. Paoeltti’s winning time of 2:01.74 is nearly a full second better than the second-best time of 2:02.74, belonging to Downingtown East freshman Heather MacCausland, who finished second in the districts. Sitting in third is another Red Devil: Avon Grove junior Emma Brinton.

“Olivia is a fantastic young woman,” said Avon Grove coach Kelly Burk via e-mail. “She is very humble and never takes things for granted. Swimming is very mental and sometimes when you over focus on time and place, things can go wrong. I would like to have her just going into the meet concentrating on swimming her best and racing whomever is next to her.”

Other area swimminers in the 200 IM are freshman Rabea Pfaff of Avon Grove (11th, 2:06.40) and Enka Marlin of West Chester Henderson (19th, 2:08.20).

Pfaff is one of many area freshmen and sophomores who will swim in the tournament, trying to signal their arrival as the next medal-winning swimmers from the area.

“Our District 1 championship meet can be overwhelming for even our veteran swimmers,” said Burk. “I am hoping since Rabea was able to get into that meet and qualify in two individuals, that she can go up to the state championships and relax and have fun, just as if it were a regular swimming invitational.”

Paoletti, who was named the Most Oustanding Swimmer at districts, is also the top seed in the 100 breaststroke after winning the district with a time of 1:03.03. MacCausland is fifth at 1:03.78, Pfaff is sixth at 1:04.13. Downingtown West sophomore Madi Grenoble is ninth at 1:04.69 and Marlin is 16th with a time of 1:05.5.

The event with the next highest seed is the 500 freestyle, where Oxford junior Morgan Curl is listed second after finishing the same in the district with a time of 4:58.32. Avon Grove sophomore Clare McGovern is seeded 14th, right behind her in 16th is Henderson freshman Courtney Marlin. Curl is ranked seventh in the 200 free. Abby Kosic of Henderson is fifth (1:51.88), Camryn Carter of Unionville is 16th, Rachel Hazard of Henderson is 22nd, and McGovern is 29th.

In the 50 free, Downingtown West senior Meghan Keithly is the top-ranked area performer, in 13th at 24.02. Rustin’s Megan Koczur is 22nd and Unionville freshman Olivia Miller is 25th.

West Chester East sophomore Ann Carozza leads five area girls in the 100 butterfly. Her time of 56.26 was sixth-best in the district, and 10th-best at states. Following her is Madison Ledwith of Conestoga (eighth), Maura Grimes of Unionville (17th), Caroline Apathy of Conestoga (22nd) and Lindsay Henton of Unionville (24th).

Ledwith comes in as No. 6 in the 100 free (51.19), followed by Cardozza (11th), Kosic (15th) and Carter (20th). Brinton is fifth in the 100 backstroke (56.98) with Koczur 13th, Grimes 18th and Conestoga freshman Sophia Poeta at 27th.

Boni Trinter of Avon Grove is the area’s lone representative in diving. She comes in ranked 18th.

In the relay events, after finishing third in the 200 medley relay, Unionville has the 10th-best time in the state at 1:47.10. Downingtown West is 12th and Downingtown East is 16th. In the 200 free relay, Unionville is fifth (1:36.44), followed by Avon Grove (eighth), Henderson (ninth), Conestoga (15th) and Downingtown West (17th). Avon Grove is fifth in the 400 free relay (3:30.30), with Henderson (ninth), Unionville (13th) and Downingtown West (17th) also taking part.

Over in Class AA, Villa Maria will send a strong contingent to Bucknell on Friday and Saturday looking to defend a title they won by a comfortable 136-point margin over York Suburban. Two of the three relay teams come in with the best time: the 200 medley relay (1:45.75) and the 200 free relay squad (1:37.02), which set a record in winning districts. The 400 free relay squad is fourth.

The 200 free will feature four Hurricanes: senior Emily Cornell (third, 1:51.69), senior Grace Carey (11th), freshman Alexa Jurco (14th) and senior Ashyln Chermol (1:58.84).

In the 200 IM, junior Hope Reynolds is eighth at 2:09.54, followed by senior Elizabeth Law (23rd) and senior Nicole Saladino (28th). Sophomore Nina Smith is 12th in the 50 free (24.44). Junior Maura McManus is 13th and junior Olivia Giampietro is 20th. The three of them are also in the 100 free with McManus ninth, Smith 14th and Giampietro 17th.

Kaitlyn Agger shows up for the first of two races, placing fourth in the 100 butterfly in 58.06. The sophomore has the ninth-best time in the 500 free. Joining her in the butterfly is Chermol (13th) and Mary Katherine Clark (18th). Carey (sixth) and Turco (11th) will also be the Villa representatives in the 500 free.

The Hurrianes’ lone individual district winner, Cornell, tops the 100 backstroke qualifiers with a time of 55.42. Sophomore Kira Buchler is sixth and Reynolds is 10th. Junior Katelyn Chick comes in ninth in the 100 breaststroke in 1:05.95 and Saladino is 14th.