Conestoga’s Burns wins state consolation final in 100 back
LEWISBURG >> Conestoga freshman Brendan Burns was disappointed with his preliminary swim in the 100 backstroke Thursday at the PIAA Class AAA Championships.
While he struck a mild-mannered tone in the evening, he swam his consolation final with the aggression of someone with a point to prove.
Burns trounced the field to take ninth overall in 50.26 seconds, 1.48 ticks faster than his morning swim at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, a pointed dose of evening redemption.
“This morning, I don’t know really what happened,” Burns said. “I didn’t have that great of a swim, so that motivated me to do better tonight. My coach told me a few things to work on – better at breakouts, a couple more kicks off each wall, a little better start – and that’s what I did tonight, and I think it worked out for me well.”
Burns entered with a seed time of 50.40 from the District One championships but was nowhere near that in the morning. Had he swum his finals time in prelims, he would’ve qualified fifth for prelims.
Burns recovered to score major points for the Pioneers in an event where Brian McKenrick doubled up on medals, getting third in 49.51 seconds. McKenrick and Burns took home third-place finishes Wednesday in the 200 individual medley and 100 butterfly, respectively.
The duo also contributed the two quickest splits to Conestoga’s 400 freestyle relay – McKenrick in 46.32, Burns anchoring in 46.01 – as the Pioneers finished eighth in 3:09.91.
Conestoga tied with District 1 rival Souderton for eighth in the team competition, a sparkling yield for just a six-man contingent.
“It’s been pretty surreal,” Burns said of his first states trip. “… It was really a team effort. It’s not just me and Brian. Our relays really contributed to the score, so that’s been a key to our success all year long.”
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Wednesday, Unionville freshman Matt Magness was content with the experience of finaling in the 200 free, more worried about gaining seasoning as opposed to pushing for the podium.
Thursday, he discovered that life as a states medalists suited him fine, too.
Magness qualified for the A final in sixth, then leapt another spot in a personal-best 4:32.99 in finals.
“For me, usually my first day of the meet is a little worse than the other two or one, usually because of nerves and stuff,” Magness said. “Today, I thought I did a pretty good job of overcoming that and being able to focus on my swim a little more.’
The freshman clocked in at 4:34.64 in the morning. He was more than a second and a half quicker in the evening, capping his first high school campaign with the sweet reward of a best time.
“Whenever you swim, you’re hoping for best times because you put in all the work from August,” he said. “All year, you’re training for this. And it’s really good to see all that work come through.”
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Praise for Avon Grove’s girls team has abounded at Bucknell this week. But the Red Devils’ only male swimmer at the meet didn’t exactly ghost through his swims.
Justin Carey finished fourth in the 100 back Thursday, clocking in at 49.71 seconds.
“My coach told me I had to go out 23.9, and that’s what I was trying to do,” Carey said. “I was trying to go out as fast as I could and hold on for the second 50 because I knew I could rely on my training to get me through the last 50.”
Carey finished fifth in the 100 fly Wednesday. Though the boys and girls meets are separate at Bucknell, he benefits from the energy that flows through the girls’ performances, which included fifth place overall and the swimmer of the meet, Olivia Paoletti.
“We train in the same group, so I figured that if (Paoletti) can drop a lot of time, that gives me confidence that I can drop a lot of time,” Carey said.
