PAC preview: OJR swimmers excited to test themselves on district stage

It’s been quite a ride for this year’s crop of seniors on the Owen J. Roberts boys swimming team.

The current Wildcats, four-time defending Pioneer Athletic Conference champions, never lost a meet in their scholastic careers. Collectively, they boasted a 36-0-1 record in their four years, their lone slip a 93-93 tie against Methacton in February of 2015, their freshman seasons.

Now, they’re looking to end their careers in the most special way imaginable.

Owen J. Roberts will be sending seven individuals – five seniors – along with three relays to this weekend’s District 1 Swimming Championships at La Salle University.

Boys action gets underway Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. and will wrap up after Saturday’s 10:30 a.m. start. Girls will follow after the boys both days, slated for a 3:30 p.m. start Friday and a 4 p.m. start on Saturday.

“I’m super pumped and excited to get in the pool and do my best for this last year,” said senior Logan Baker, who is seeded 24th in the 50-yard freestyle and 29th in the 100 free. “States is the goal for our relays and maybe even for some of (our) individual swims.”

“We’ve put our work in and we’re confident that we can go best times at districts,” added senior Matt Snyder, seeded No. 37 in the 200 IM 30th in the 100 breast. “We’ll have to see if those times can get us to states this year.”

OJR will be searching for its first individual PIAA state qualifiers since Colin Bauer earned the trip during his senior season in 2016. This year’s state championship meet will be held March 14-17 at Bucknell University.

Seniors Simon Crew and Baker are the only returning members of the boys squad who have any experience swimming at states. Both were part of the Wildcats’ 200 freestyle relay during the 2016 season while Crew anchored the 200 medley relay as a freshman in 2015.

That experience, explains Baker, has helped he and Crew step into a leadership role the past few seasons.

“Simon and I know what we need to do as a team to get us to the next level,” he said. “The team knows what we need to do too and we plan on hopefully making it happen.”

Crew is seeded 24th in the 200 free and 25th in the 100 free. Freshman Dalton Fink is seeded 23rd in the 100 fly and 18th in the 100 back.

The Wildcats are seeded No. 15 in both the 200 medley and 200 free relays to go along with a No. 12-seeding in the 400 free relay.

In Class AAA action, the top eight individuals are awarded medals and automatically qualify for states while the top five-finishing relays also move on. There will also be 16 state-wide qualifiers based on time-trial qualifications in each event.

In Class AA action, the gold-medal finishers automatically advance to states while the rest fall to time qualifications.

The rest of the PAC at a glance:

Boys Class AAA
Spring-Ford >> Senior Carson Huff has the PAC’s best individual seeding in his classification, seeded at No. 4 in the 100 back to go along with a No. 17 seeding in the 200 IM. Classmate Carson Hilliard is seeded at No. 9 in the 200 free and No. 24 in the 100 free.
Both coming off solid showings at the PAC Individual Championships earlier this month, the Carsons will look to earn their first trip to states together. The Rams will also have three relays swimming at La Salle University this weekend, most notably in the 400 free where they’re seeded No. 10.

Perkiomen Valley >> Senior Matt Marsh will be looking to make a push in becoming the Vikings’ first individual state qualifier since 2015. He is seeded at No. 6 in the always-up-for-grabs 50 free as well as the 100 back right behind Huff. Junior Ryan Keenan is seeded at No. 14 in the 500 free and No. 16 in the 200 free.

Phoenixville >> The Phantoms already made history this winter, sending their first qualifiers to districts since making the jump to the highest classification in 2015. Now, they’re looking to take it a step even further. Freshman George Pappas is seeded at No. 12 in the 100 back while the Phantoms’ 200 medley relay is the No. 28 seed.

Boyertown >> Owen Miller leads the Bears into districts with a No. 21-seeding in the 100 fly and sits at No. 23 in the 100 free. Oliver Tye follows close behind at No. 24 in the 100 fly. Boyertown is seeded No. 10 in the 200 medley relay.

Boys Class AA

Pottsgrove >> Falcon senior Patrick Agnew will look to add another pair of medals to his collection after claiming a pair of golds at districts last season. The senior is seeded No. 1 in the 50 free (22.08) with Bishop Shanahan’s Trevor Kern right behind at 22.42. Agnew is also seeded second in the 100 free with a seed time of 50.45, behind only Lower Moreland’s Colin Shipp.

Upper Perkiomen >> After sending just one representative to states last season — Kyle Kovalenko — the Tribe could be poised to send an entire fleet this time around.
Now a senior, Kovalenko is seeded at No. 2 in the 100 breast and No. 5 in the 200 IM. Cameron Junk is seeded No. 3 in the 500 free and No. 6 in the 200 IM while Joel Williams sits third in the 100 fly and No. 5 in the 100 back.

Girls Class AAA

Owen J. Roberts >> Much like their boys team, the Wildcat girls have had similar dominance in the PAC the past few seasons. The two-time defending conference champs head into districts with this current crop looking for its first individual state qualifier.
Madison Gadzicki, who swam as part of a relay her junior season in 2016, returns to districts seeded No. 24 in the 100 fly. Sophomore Mikayla Niness is seeded at No. 4 in the 50 free and No. 13 in the 100 free. Meredith Mutter is sitting at No. 11 in the 100 breast and No. 22 in the 200 IM.
The Wildcats will also send three relays, most notably their No. 11-seeded 200 medley relay.

Phoenixville >> Freshman Erini Pappas will look to make the most of her first trip to districts. She enters No. 5 in the 100 fly and No. 8 in the 200 IM for a Phantom squad that hasn’t had an individual state qualifier not named Maddie Cooke (Penn State University) since making the transition to the highest classification in 2015. Phoenixville is also seeded at No. 10 in the 200 medley relay.

Boyertown >> The Bears haven’t had a state qualifier since Cara Megill in 2016. The McKee sisters will look to put an end to that trend this weekend. Junior Grace McKee is seeded at No. 15 in the 200 free and No. 21 in the 100 back while freshman Gabrielle McKee is seeded at No. 12 in the 200 IM and No. 17 in the 500 free.

Spring-Ford >> Katherine Parker will look to become the Rams’ first state qualifier since Rebecca Cubbler made it in 2016. The junior is seeded No. 8 in the 500 free and No. 16 in the 200 free.

Girls Class AA

Upper Perkiomen >> Noel Fresa will be the swimmer to watch this weekend for the Tribe. The sophomore is the top seed in both the 50 free (24.77) and the 100 free (53.49). Junior Bailey McCausland enters the weekend as the No. 4 seed in the 100 breast and No. 9 in the 200 free.

Pottsgrove >> The Falcons haven’t had a state qualifier since Emily Glinecke was a dual silver medalist during the 2016 state meet. Freshman Alaina Christ will look to burst onto the scene, seeded at No. 10 in the 500 free and No. 11 in the 100 fly.