Early Admission: Owen J. Roberts boys, girls open season with wins over Boyertown

BUCKTOWN >> Entering his junior year, Matt Snyder’s goal for swimming was simple — make the district cut before the season comes to an end.

After Tuesday afternoon, he’s got a whole new bag of issues.

“It’s a couple months away, but now I’ve got to start thinking about shaving my head again,” he said with a laugh, thinking ahead to March’s District 1 Championship meet. “I have a weirdly-shaped head, but hey, hair grows back, and it’s so worth it.”

Snyder posted personal-best and automatic-qualifying times in the 200-yard individual medley as well as the 100 breast during the Wildcats’ Pioneer Athletic Conference season-opening 99-87 win over Boyertown at OJR Middle School. Simultaneously, the Owen J. Roberts’ girls team also posted a 103-81 win over the Bears behind seniors Laurel Fink and Morgan Hansen.

Snyder posted a 2:05.50, good enough for second behind classmate Simon Crew in the IM, then followed that up with a 1:02.59 in the 100 breast for the event’s top time.

“I’ve been trying to hit those times for a while,” he said, “so to hit them both in the first meet of the season is really special.

“Hopefully this is a sign of things to come this year — not just for me, but for our entire team.”

Snyder was just one of five of Tuesday’s swimmers to earn an individual automatic bid to swim at La Salle College in a few months. Teammate Simon Crew punched his ticket with in the 200 IM (2:04.62) and the 100 free (49.88).

Ryan Bowker posted three first-place finishes. He touched first in the 200 free (1:46.61), captured the 500 free (5:01.01) then anchored the 200 free relay (1:30.66) right after.

For Boyertown, the senior duo of Patrick Lance and Ivan Escott were on full display throughout.

Lance — a Cleveland State University commit — was part of three top times, including the 50 free (22.46), the 100 free (48.50), and swam the anchor leg of the Bears’ 400 free relay, which finished up at 3:21.17. Escott — an Eastern Illinois commit — was also part of the 400 free relay and posted an individual first in the 100 breast (1:02.59).

“Those two bring so much to our boys team,” said second-year Boyertown head coach Bill Draves. “That’s why they’re our captains along with Cara Megill on the girls team. They’re great swimmers, and I hope our younger swimmers look up to them.”

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On the girls side, anything Fink touched seemed to turn into gold.

Along with Hansen, the Owen J. Roberts senior finished with a clean slate — posting the top time in all four of her events. Fink even held the lap-counter for Ryan Bowker’s top finish in the boys’ 500 free.

Coincidence?

“I didn’t even realize that,” she said with a laugh. “As a team, we were just aiming to swim fast and race the person next to us and see where that takes us.”

Fink took first in the 50 free with a time of 25.18 before she claimed the 100 fly at 1:00.36. She also anchored the 200 medley relay (1:54.17) and swam the first leg of the 400 free relay (3:48.25). Classmate Hansen was also part of four top times, swimming a leg in the 200 medley relay and the 400 free. Individually, she captured the 200 IM (2:16.56) and the 100 back (1:02.01).

Noting the amount of new and incoming freshman starting to make waves with OJR, Fink was quick to recall her first season with the Wildcats.

“I remember I was so nervous for my first meet,” she said, “so we just tried to keep the younger girls loose.

“I love where the team is at. We’ve got a great mix of freshmen and upperclassmen. It feels like we’re all one big family right now.”

In her first career high school meet, Meredith Mutter looked plenty at ease. The freshman took first in the 100 breast (1:11.47) and was part of the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Cara Megill took top honors for Boyertown in the 200 free (1:59.64) as well as the 500 free (5:24.57), both of which earned her automatic district bids. Madison Tyson also posted a first, finishing atop the 100 free at 58.79.

“This is the best our girls have done against OJR in years,” said Draves. “So things are looking good. I think we have the potential to finish well in the PAC. We’ll see how we continue to develop.”

Stat This

The Owen J. Roberts boys team hasn’t lost a league dual meet since December of the 2013-2014 season — a 100-85 loss against Perkiomen Valley. Since then, the Wildcats are 13-0-1 in PAC meets, their only mark a 93-93 tie against Methacton to end the 2014-2015 season.