‘Stoga’s Burns wins again; silver for Kennett’s Jurcik; Chesco nets seven top 10 finishes
LEWISBURG >> To the surprise of absolutely nobody at Bucknell’s Kenney Natatorium, Conestoga’s standout swimmer Brendan Burns says he is the most comfortable in the pool.
“I would say I’m a pretty awkward, klutzy kind of guy on land, so I do feel at home in the water,” he quipped.
The junior had a banner opening day at the PIAA Class 3A Boys Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday, successfully defending his state championship in the 100-yard butterfly, and helping the Pioneers grab a bronze medal in the 200 medley relay with a blazing opening leg.
Through seven events, Conestoga is in eighth place overall in the team competition with 54.5 points. The final six events will take place on Thursday.
“This was a great first day for us,” said Pioneers’ head coach Mark Tione.
“Brendan just gets into that mindset and he is doing it. He took it a bit easier (Wednesday) morning in the prelims, but he came back ready to go.”
It was also a big day for Kennett’s Emils Jurcik, who came from behind to grab a runner-up finish in the 200 individual medley, and in the process cut four seconds from his personal best time, set earlier in the day during prelims. In all, seven Chester County swimmers grabbed top-10 finishes, including a surprise fourth in the 200 freestyle from Oxford junior Michael Fazio.
Burns’ time of 47.04 in the 100 fly was about a half-second better than Penn Hills’ Kimani Gregory, and was an All-American qualifying effort. It was also nearly a full second better than his state title time from a year ago.
Not bad for a guy who hasn’t begun tapering yet.
“I’m not rested or shaved for this meet, but I will be in about two weeks for the YMCA Nationals,” Burns said. “This is a great confidence booster for me.
“I just consider myself a very competitive person. I just want to get in there and race whenever I can.”
Burns said the first three laps of his event were solid, but the final 25 yards were a bit problematic. His finishing time was a couple hundredths off his personal best.
“He was a little short on the finish, but it was a great swim,” Tione said.
“I nailed my first three turns,” he explained. “Then the last 25 hurt a bit. That’s the second year in a row with a bad finish, but I will straighten those things out when I taper.”
As the defending champ, Burns is now the hunted rather than the hunter. But he relished the opportunity to rise to the occasion when the pressure was at its greatest.
“It’s a testament to the work I’ve put forth in and out of the pool,” he said. “This is special to me. It was an intense atmosphere, which is what I like.
“I will probably feel more pressure next year when I’m a senior. This year I kind of felt like a bit of an underdog. I’ve known Kimani since I was about 12, and he is a great competitor. I knew he would be chasing after me.”
In the relay, Burns teamed with Evan Zhou, Oliver Brown and Owen Neuman to finish third in 1:33.9. That time shattered the school record and was an All-American time, but a year ago the Pioneers placed second in the event.
“We all went our best times, so it was fun. We wanted to medal, which we did,” said Neuman, who swam the anchor leg.
“It was a disappointment getting bronze instead of silver like we did last year,” Burns acknowledged. “But we went a lot faster this year, so that’s all you can ask for.”
Jurcik, a senior, finished 10th in the 200 IM a year ago. But for his final attempt, he raced past two swimmers in the freestyle leg to finish second in a time of 1:51.33.
“I know Sean (Faikish from North Penn) and Rick (Mihm from North Allegheny) are fastest in the backstroke and butterfly, so I was just trying to stay with them, and then bring it home on freestyle,” Jurcik pointed out.
“It felt like a normal race. My coach (Steve Finegan) said I’ve looked amazing in practice and I could get into 1:47 — I didn’t believe him. But I think he knows more about me than I know about myself.”
Despite swimming in an outside lane, Fazio registered his personal best in the 200 freestyle with a 1:39.64. He placed 13th in the event a year ago.
“I couldn’t ask for any more from him,” said Oxford head coach Chrissy Reinard.
“I dropped 1.3 seconds from my best time, so I’m stoked,” Fazio added. “I was seeded eighth, so to be fourth is nice. Top three would have been nice, but I missed that by .03.”
In earlier action, West Chester Rustin sophomore Alec Pirone placed ninth overall in Class 3A 1-meter diving with a point total of 415.35.
