Owen J. Roberts girls hand Phoenixville first PAC loss; boys sweep

SCHUYLKILL >> Tuesday afternoon marked showdown time in Pioneer Athletic Conference girls swimming circles for the 2016-17 campaign. Owen J. Roberts and host Phoenixville entered the day with perfect 5-0 records in circuit competition prior to the meet held at the Phoenixville Area YMCA.

The visiting Wildcats wound up utilizing their depth advantage to produce a 97-73 victory over the Phantoms in front of a packed house of vocal, energetic fans representing all age groups.

While there are some league meets remaining on both teams’ schedule, this meet provided the two top teams in a head-to-head confrontation midway through the season with a perfect atmosphere.

Owen J. Roberts came away with a sweep as the Wildcat boys recorded a 98-70 victory over Phoenixville.

Senior Morgan Hansen, who regularly swims at the Phoenixville YMCA metric pool as part of her routine with a club team and knows all the Phoenixville girls, led the way for the Wildcats. Hansen earned a pair of first-place finishes in the 100 butterfly (1:06.08) and 100 backstroke (1:09.46) and was also a member of two second-place relay teams.

“It was a really competitive meet,” she said. “It was a great atmosphere to be a part of. It was awesome.”

Hansen said she figured the final tally would be close with the way two squads matched up.

“I knew it was going to be close,” said Hansen.

Despite being on opposite sides in the fall as opposed to the same side during the summer months, Hansen said it was still a great setting for athletic competition, the way championship-type encounters are supposed to be

“It’s fun, though,” she said. “We just know that every place matters, sixth place, every lane. We cheer for every girl. Every girl is important.”

Besides Hansen, Owen J. Roberts freshman Mikayla Niness is another Wildcat swimmer who is quite familiar with Tuesday’s venue. Niness also had a productive afternoon by winning the 200 freestyle in 2:15.06. Nines also swam the second leg on the victorious 400 free relay team that won in 4:17.99. She was joined by sophomore Jennifer Dinnocenti, sophomore Lilia Crew and freshman Meredith Mutter on the anchor.

“The meet was here, which was a home-field advantage for them with their pool,” said Hansen. “But we had some girls who are used to this, which is nice with the meter pool. Some girls get scared of the change, but it’s not that bad. They stepped up to it. I am really proud of everyone.”

Owen J. Roberts coaches Kevin Bott and Lindsay Staufenberg were also proud of how the Wildcats responded to a pressurized situation.

“The kids were very excited,” said Bott. “We knew the girls’ meet was going to be a competitive meet, and it was. Both teams swam well. Both teams should be proud of their performance.”

Phoenixville senior and Penn State University-commit Maddie Cooke came through with yet another brilliant showing as the Phantoms maintained pressure on the Wildcats throughout the day. The Phantoms exhibited that type of superb team effort that also made Phoenixville coaches Dan Weinstein, Julie Cordingley and Beth Cabot thrilled with the great strides the team has taken during the last four years.

Cooke finished first in the 50 free (27.12) and 100 free (59.91) and also played a significant role on two Phoenixville relay teams. Cooke swam the second leg on the winning 200 medley relay (2:04.27) to start the day’s action. Cooke then anchored the winning 200 free relay team, which posted a time of 1:51.67.

Senior Kathryn Bland, senior Emily Fabius and sophomore Katya Hayward joined Cooke on the 200 medley relay. The order was Bland, Hayward, Fabius and Cooke for the 200 freestyle relay.

“Honestly, we couldn’t have asked for anything more,” said Cooke. “It was everything we hoped for. In each event, we had two or three best times. We gave it our best. This was our goal. I have never seen our team so electric.”

A 14-girl senior contingent provided the leadership in and out of the pool this year as the Phantoms made a strong run at the league title after working together and developing as a group during the past four years.

“We can look back on it one day and know that we gave it our all,” said Cooke. “We never thought when we came in three years ago that we would be competing for a league title. That alone is a win in itself.”

Weinstein applauded the large, loud crowd for its support. That included parents and grandparents as well as other school teachers and fellow students, many representing other teams at the school, came out to witness the battle for number one in the PAC.

Weinstein used an illustration to show how far the Phoenixville swimming program has grown since its inception back in 2003.

“We looked at a picture of the yearbook in 2003, which was the first year of swimming,” said Weinstein. “We had eight kids, two boys and six girls. Those kids from our first team still hold some of our best times, but they were different. They didn’t have a fifth person on the team. Our whole team has value. Everybody is valuable.

“I couldn’t be prouder, happier or more fond of this group of kids. They were fantastic.”

The Owen J. Roberts boys got multiple victories form Ryan Bowker, Jordan Roach, Logan Baker and Matt Rantz in their win over the Phantoms.

Phoenixville’s Mitchell Schwartz won the 400 free.