Chester County swimmers ready to make splash during 2016-17 campaign

The Chester County high school swimming scene this winter features a number of teams that are coming off fine campaigns last winter, such as Avon Grove, Coatesville (boys), Conestoga (girls), Downingtown West (girls), Great Valley (girls), Malvern Prep and West Chester Henderson. Chester County has some fine returning swimmers, too, as West Chester East and Oxford feature swimmers who placed in two events last March at the PIAA state championships.
Here is an early-season look at how the Chester County high school swimming teams shape up this winter:

Avon Grove (boys)
Head coach: Kelly Burk, ninth year.
Last year’s record: 8-1 overall, 6-1 league.
Key returnees: senior Corey Hausler (100 fly, 100 breast); senior Matthew Magorry (50 free, 100 free, 100 back); sophomore Collin Slupe (200 free, 500 free); senior Kyle Holman (200 IM, 100 fly).
Others to watch: freshman Justin Hausler, sophomore Dino Arhontakis (diving).
Lost to graduation: Justin Carey (100 back, 100 fly, now at Rider University.)
Outlook: Burk said, “We have some strong seniors this season that we hope to have lead the team after the departure of Justin Carey. We are hoping that Justin Hausler steps up to help fill in the gaps.”

Avon Grove (girls)
Head coach: Kelly Burk, ninth year.
Last year’s record: 9-0 overall, 7-0 league.
Key returnees: junior Olivia Paoletti (200 IM, 100 breast); senior Emma Brinton (200 IM, 100 back); junior Clare McGovern (200 free, 500 free); junior Serena Derderian (50 free, 100 free, 200 free); sophomore Rabea Pfaff (200 IM, 100 breast).
Others to watch: senior Natalie Slupe (200 free, 500 free); senior Sophie May (50 free, 100 free, 200 free); junior Samantha Paglia (200 IM, 100 back, 100 breast); freshman Sydney Paglia; freshman Isabella Paoletti.
Lost to graduation: Bonita Trinter (diving, now at University of Florida).
Outlook: Burk said, “This season we are looking to build on our success over the last two seasons. We are hoping that our two freshmen make our team well-rounded and make up for the loss of our divers.”

Bishop Shanahan
Head coach: Ray Lease Sr.
Last year’s record: 5-4 (boys), 3-7 (girls).
Key returnees: For the boys’ team, Tom Powell, Trevor Kern and Ryan Wilson. For the girls’ team, Mia Ceribelli, Mary Kate Wilson, Victoria Fidanza and Katherine Zwann.
Others to watch: Divers Micheal Robinson and Angela King.
Lost to graduation: Olivier Nguyen (100 fly, 200 IM); Peyton Griffin (100 fly, 200 fly, now at LaSalle University); Julia Trudel (500 free, 200 free).
Outlook: According to Lease, Shanahan has a couple of strong divers and a good crop of returning boys’ swimmers. He added, “We have 20 freshmen and trying to build for the future.”

Coatesville (boys)
Head coach: Dave Morris, 23rd year.
Last year’s record: 9-2 overall, 5-2 league.
Key returnees: senior Bryce Nika (sprints, breaststroke), junior Cam Boldaz (sprints, breaststroke).
Others to watch: senior Matt Oleykowski, senior Macen Meanix, junior Charlie Mehl, sophomore Sean Wolstenholme, sophomore Ethan Vannoy, freshman Ethan Moore.
Lost to graduation: Drew Furcon (swimming at York College), Liam Schroeder (swimming at Bloomsburg).
Outlook: Morris said, “We are small in numbers and will have to overcome depth issues. However, we are experienced and look to be competitive in spite of our small numbers.”

Coatesville (girls)
Head coach: Dave Morris, 23rd year.
Last year’s record:, 2-9 overall, 0-7 league.
Key returnees: junior Kristin Bria (sprints, breaststroke), sophomore Lauren DiCamillo (free, fly), sophomore Peyton Wolf (free, IM).
Others to watch: senior Cora Glass, junior Taylor Morgan, freshman Kayla Bock, freshman Steph Oleykowski.
Outlook: Morris said, “We are small in numbers and will have to overcome depth issues. However, we are experienced and look to be competitive in spite of our small numbers.”

Conestoga (girls)
Head coach: Rob Kirkby, 28th year.
Last year’s record: 11-1 overall, 11-0 Central League.
Key returnees: senior Caroline Apathy (100 fly), junior Madison Ledwith (100 fly, 100 free), sophomore Sophia Poeta (100 backstroke), senior Janashree Jonnalagadda (100 backstroke), senior Leah Bernstein (diving).
Others to watch: freshman Caroline Famous (50 free, 100 free), sophomore Julie McFadden (100 back).
Lost to graduation: Linda Ashmead.
Outlook: The Pioneers two biggest strengths, according to Kirkby, are an outstanding group of talented and enthusiastic ninth graders, and team depth. Kirky adds, “The breaststroke event will continue to be our Achilles heel, but with our overall team depth we should be able to overcome this challenge in most meets.”

Downingtown West (boys)
Head co-coaches: Eric Snook, Brian Brucker.
Last year’s record: 0-8.
Key returnees: junior Connor Myers (fly, free); senior Tim Jung (free, breast); senior Aidan Peat (sprints); senior Shea McKenna (diving).
Others to watch: freshman Daniel Borda (free, IM); freshman Will Schweikert (free. fly); sophomore Chris Hellgoth (distance, IM); junior Eric Damiano (free, back); freshman Cason Duncan (sprints).
Lost to graduation: John Bright (diving); Mike Renzulli (free, back).
Outlook: The team struggled last year, with only 11 swimmers and divers combined. Snook said, “We are looking forward to a much improved season with double the numbers. We are solid throughout all the events with a great mix of experience in the upperclassmen and new talent with the freshman coming in. The team is looking forward to being competitive in every meet and showing the sportsmanship and fight the team is known for.”

Downingtown West (girls)
Head co-coaches: Brian Brucker, Eric Snook.
Last season’s record: 7-1.
Key returnees: senior Katherine Sears (distance); senior Riley Rochon (sprints, fly); junior Siobhan McCarthy (IM, back, fly); junior Madi Grenoble (IM, breast, sprints); senior Carly Marsden (diving); senior Elizabeth Herlihey (fly, free); junior Marlies Duncan (free).
Others to watch: junior Diana Sears (sprints), freshman Sara Haggerty (diving); freshman Melissa Petertonjes; freshman Sarah Manthorp (sprints).
Lost to graduation: Meghan Keithly (sprints, fly, swimming at West Chester University); Lexi Rauth (distance, IM, swimming at Conn. College); Amanda Caruso (diving, now diving at Old Dominion University).
Outlook: After a one loss season last year, West is looking to another great season. Snook said, “We have a great mix of experience and talent throughout each grade and we will rely on every team member for our success this year. The team is looking to maintain or improve upon the second place league finish from last year and qualify even more [swimmers] for Districts and States.”

Great Valley
Head coach: Joe Bradley, third year.
Last year’s record: Boys – 4-5 overall, 3-2 league; Girls – 6-3 overall, 4-1 league.
Key returnees: For the boys’ team, senior Randall Patton and junior Nick Cave. For the girls team, seniors Kelsey Bartlett, Erica Dougherty, Carolyn Duran and Cassie Tiburcio, juniors Rebecca Choi and Abbie Etzweiler.
Others to watch: For the boys team, freshman Thomas Boerger (distance free). For the girls team, freshmen Alyssa Utecht (sprints) and Peyton Turner (sprints).
Outlook: Bradley said, “The boys’ team has a senior-laden line-up, but we have talented newcomers that should help us improve on the season. The girls’ team has an experienced, well-balanced line-up which should be able to have an elite competitor in nearly every event.”

Kennett (boys)
Head coach: AJ Shepherd, fifth year.
Last year’s record: 3-7.
Key returnees: junior Emils Jurcik: (200 IM, 500 free), sophomore Matt Hauptschein (500 free, 100 fly), sophomore Michael Frankosky (100 back, 100 free)
Others to watch: freshman Nathan Ober (100 back, 100 breast, 200 IM), freshman Ronan Gorman (100 breast, 100 back), freshman Ryan Barish (100 fly, 100 free) freshman diver Sean Perrone.
Lost to graduation: John Libert (fly, back, free, now at Case Western Reserve), Aodhan Gorman (100 breast, 200 IM, now at Illinois Institute of Technology).
Outlook: Shepherd said, “The Blue Demon boys have the individual athletes that can win events regularly. Our battle on the boys side will be fielding enough athletes to scoop up the points in for second to fifth place.”

Kennett (girls)
Head coach: AJ Shepherd, fifth year.
Last year’s record: 3-7.
Key returnees: junior Abby Houthchens (200 IM, back, 100 fly), senior Maggie O’Sullivan (200 IM, 100 breast), senior Michaela Clarkson (100 breast, 100 free), senior Julia Beldyk (200 IM, 100 fly, 100 breast), senior Emily Becker (sprinter), sophomore Mary Holguin (100 back, 200 IM, free), junior Leah Nolan (diver/swimmer).
Others to watch: The Blue Demons are looking for junior Natalie McDonough Fisher, to continue to improve in distance free and fly; junior Sam Sullivan is adding backstroke to her range of free events, and Kennett is looking forward to freshmen Olivia Beldyk, Emily Kaplan and Katherine Holguin to be plugged into the program.
Lost to graduation: Lauren Hauptschein (200 free, 500 free, fly, now at Penn State), Savannah Bolten (100 breast, 200 IM, now at University Of Pittsburgh), Amanda Haid (100 back, free, now at University Of Pittsburgh).
Outlook: Shepherd said, “The Blue Demons are a close knit group of athletes, they are fantastic at listening at absorbing new drills and asserting themselves at practice. The largest obstacles in our path is going to be meet lineup design and matching up against the teams that have a large population of club swimmers.”

Malvern Prep
Head coach: Jay Schiller, fifth year (37 years as a head coach, including Cardinal O’Hara, Penn Charter, Archbishop Carroll).
Last year’s record: 9-1 overall, 6-0 Inter-Ac (league champions).
Key returnees: senior Zach Maher (fly, sprint free); senior Cullen Robinson (middle distance free); senior Brett Mastrangelo (free, fly, IM); junior Daniel Waterland (IM, fly, back); junior John Connors (middle distance free); sophomore Lou Franzone (middle distance free), sophomore Ryan Maher (fly, free); sophomore Connor Cary (fly, back).
Others to watch: sophomore Matt Magness (middle distance free, IM); junior Chris Hincks (fly, sprint free); junior Isaac Salinas (breast, free); junior Patrick Heinemann (breast, IM); freshman Jack Cassidy (fly, back); freshman Frank McGann (breast, IM).
Lost to graduation: Billy Beard (free, fly, now at Penn State); Harrison Grant (back, free, now at Cal Poly); Aaron Salinas (breast, free, now at West Point); William Schaffer (IM, back, breast, now at University of Pennsylvania).
Outlook: Team depth continues to be a strength for the Friars in most swimming events, including diving. Transfer student – athletes, Matt Magness (Unionville High School) and Chris Hincks (Downingtown East) are big additions after the graduation of All-American swimmers Beard, Schaffer and Salinas to Division I swim programs. Malvern Prep swims in the Inter-Ac league, one of the strongest high school swimming and diving leagues in the country and every team in the league has multiple All-American athletes, so each league meet will be a test for the Friars, as will a tough non-league meet schedule that includes Conestoga, Salesiamum (Del.) and defending PIAA state champion LaSalle.

Oxford
Head coach: Chrissy Reinard, first year (also coached high school swimming from 1995-2003 in Baltimore, Md. and was US Coach for DESC from 1995-2003)
Key returnees: senior Morgan Curl (girls’ 500 free, finished third at PIAA state final last winter; girls’ 200 free, finished fifth at PIAA state final last winter); senior Mike Axelsson (boys’ 100 fly, on District medley relay team last winter); junior Jeb Darhower (boys’ 100 free, was District qualifer last winter; boys’ 200 free, was PIAA State qualifier last winter; was on District boys’ medley relay team last winter; is looking to add 500 free this year); sophomore Michael Fazio (boys’ 100 free and 200 free, was District qualifier in both last winter; was on boys’ District medley relay team last winter).
Others to watch: junior Maddie Distenfeld (100 back), sophomore Abigail Darragh, diver Amanda Quesenberry.
Lost to graduation: None.
Outlook: The Hornets return some excellent swimmers this winter, including state finalist Morgan Curl for the girls’ team. Reinard said, “I’m impressed by the willingness of our newer swimmers to take on challenges, their eagerness to learn and their perseverance to strive for improvement every day. This is a building year and will continue to be for the next few seasons. We are a team of non-club, brand new swimmers with little to no competitive experience. We are a very small team with only 12 girl swimmers (three club) and seven boy swimmers (three club). We have three divers (girls only), one of which swims.”

Villa Maria Academy

Head coach: Cathy Hay.

Last year’s record: undefeated, won sixth straight PIAA Class AA state title, won 13th straight District 1 AA title, won AACA league title.

Key returnees: All of these returning swimmers were All-State last winter: seniors Katelyn Chick (relays, 100 breast), Mary Katherine Clark (100 fly), Olivia Giampietro (freestyle sprints, 100 fly, relays), Maura McManus (freestyle, relays) and Hope Reynolds (IM, backstroke, relays); juniors Kaitlyn Agger (500 free, 100 fly, relays); Kira Buchler (100 backstroke, relays); Nina Smith (sprint freestyles, relays); sophomore Alexa Turco (500 free, 200 free, relays).

Others to watch: senior AmyMcHale (100 fly), freshmen Katherine Fronczak (500 free, IM, 100 back); Brenna Magness (100 back, 100 fly); sophomore diver Riley Miller (“good chance to advance thru districts,” per Villa Maria).

Lost to graduation: Emily Cornell (2016 state champion in 200 free, now at University of South Carolina), Ashlyn Chermol, Sammy Murphy (now at Albright), Nicole Saladino (now at University  of San Diego).

Outlook: Hay said, “We are a veteran team with a very strong senior class.  Our relays will again be challenging for gold at States. I’m looking forward to seeing our freshman class, and our divers, there is plenty of upside and we are excited to watch the underclassmen develop and keep our streaks alive!”

West Chester East (boys)
Head coach: Beth Ann Carozza, third year.
Last year’s record: 2-6 overall, 2-4 Ches-Mont National.
Key returnees: senior James Kirkby (100 free, 200 free, 100 fly); senior PJ Jackson (diver), junior Michael Henry (diver).
Others to watch: senior Mike Matje (50 free, 100 free); sophomore Phil Leander (50 free, 100 free, 100 back); freshman JP Perucki (freestyle, breaststroke); freshman Matt Sivo (backstroke, butterfly); freshman AJ Avagliano (breaststroke, backstroke, freestyle).
Lost to graduation: Mike Jampo.
Outlook: Carozza said, “With the addition of a talented freshman class, we are looking to improve on last year’s dual meet record. We have some experienced divers that will help us compete at that event. We will look for our seniors to provide leadership.”

West Chester East (girls)
Head coach: Beth Ann Carozza, third year.
Last year’s record: 4-4 overall, 3-3 Ches-Mont National.
Key returnees: junior Ann Carozza (100 fly, 50 free, 100 free – fourth in the state in the 100 fly, and seventh in the state in the 100 free); sophomore Emily Xu (100 free, 200 free, 500 free).
Others to watch: freshman Valerie Galitski (50 free, 100 free); sophomore Emily Hahn (200 IM, 500 free, 100 back); junior Carley Castura (200 free, 500 free); senior Sarah Reilly (100 breaststroke, 100 fly).
Lost to graduation: Amy Barrett (50 free, 100 back).
Outlook: Carozza said, “We are looking to improve on our dual meet record this year. Ann Carozza and Emily Xu will provide a solid base. We have added some young talent to our team and are looking forward to watching them swim.”

West Chester Henderson (boys)
Head coach: Jeff Bott, 23rd year.
Last year’s record: 8-1 overall, 6-1 league.
Key returnees: senior Jared Fruhwirth (IM, breaststroke, fly); senior Brennan Smith (freestyle, fly); senior Bryce McElhiney (diving); junior Jared Bergan (fly, IM); junior Fernando Gomez-Fischer (freestyle, fly); junior Liam Pitt (backstroke, freestyle).
Lost to graduation: Aidan Bergan (backstroke, freestyle, now at Misericordia).
Outlook: Bott said, “We have a good number of participants this year, a hard-working group of athletes, and some returning District qualifiers. Our biggest challenge is depth in certain events.”

West Chester Henderson (girls)
Head coach: Jeff Bott, 23rd year.
Last year’s record: 7-2 overall, 6-2 league.
Key returnees: junior Grace Campbell (back, free); senior Olivia Cotellesse (free, breaststroke); senior Rachel Hazard (free, fly); sophomore Courtney Marlin (free, fly); senior Erika Marlin (free, breaststroke, IM); junior Alaina Ricci (free, back).
Others to watch: sophomore Meghan Gamble (free, backstroke); sophomore Kira Mulhern (breaststroke, IM).
Lost to graduation: Abby Kosic (freestyle, backstroke, now at Wingate); Caitlin Kelly (Susquehanna).
Outlook: Bott said, “We have a good number of participants this year, a hard-working group of athletes, and some returning District qualifiers. Our biggest challenge is depth in certain events.”

West Chester Rustin
Head coach: JJ Rudisill, first year.
Last year’s record: 4-4 overall, 3-2 league (both boys and girls).
Key returnees: serior Megan Koczur (100 back, 50 free); junior Dan Gress (100 back, 50 free).
Others to watch: senior Caitlin Service (100 breast, 50 free), junior Madison Breiner (200 free, 500 free); senior Dan Brown (50 free, 100 free); sophomore Andrew Brown (50 free, 100 fly).
Outlook: Rudisill said, “We have top-end talent and depth in backstroke and sprint freestyle. Our biggest challenge is rebuilding and recommitting to a program and continuing to develop competitive swimmers.”

Note: Downingtown East, Unionville, Conestoga (boys) and Westtown did not submit preview information in response to our requests.