North Penn swims, dives to victory over Pennridge in SOL Continental opener
EAST ROCKHILL >> North Penn started fast and finished faster.
“It was an awesome meet all the way around,” Knights coach Jeff Faikish said after his squad’s clash with rival Pennridge on Tuesday. “We had kids kind of spread out a little bit and peppered into the lineup. And we started off the meet 18-for-18 with best times on the season. So it was a huge morale boost for the entire team.”
The Knights sped to a 103-73 victory on the boys side and a 95-79 win in the girls meet to begin their Suburban One League Continental Conference schedule in style.
“We just got through our big training week through the holiday break and the heats beat us down but we stayed positive,” said the Knights’ Sean Faikish, winner of the 100-yard freestyle. “And we’re ready to compete for the rest of the season.”
Sean Faikish also helped the Knights cap things off in record-breaking fashion, as the 400 freestyle relay set a pool record with a time of 3:11.49.
“Just putting everything together in that relay was great. So far this year, we’re throwing out some awesome times for midseason meets,” he said. “The positive energy we have so far on the team is just great. And I hope it continues throughout the rest of the year.”
North Penn swept the relays and got individual victories from Nick Clark (200 free), Matt Harkrader (50 free), Luke Schwar (100 fly) and Tyler Hall (500 free), as well as a pool-record split from Ryley Fein in the 400 free relay.
Maureen Boland Bintner tucked away a victory in the 200 free for the North Penn girls, who also got first-place points from Madeleine Voss (200 IM), Meghan Wenzel (diving) and Maddie Fritz (500 free) along with the 200 medley and 200 free relays.
“We’re very friendly with Pennridge. It’s a great group of kids. It’s right up 309 and we love their coach and we love their program here,” coach Jeff Faikish said. “So it’s a fun meet because you know exactly who you’re swimming. It makes for some fun races. And I was very proud of how all our kids swam today.”
The Rams, a nice mix of seasoned senior swimmers along with rapidly-improving newcomers, went after it hard.
“They’re a powerhouse,” Rams coach Jacob Grant said of the Knights. “(I told the team), use this as an opportunity to see somebody in front of you and ‘go catch ‘em.’”
Freshman Lauren Scott won the 100 free for the Rams, dropping more than a second, and she cut four seconds off her previous season-best with a 2:04.41 in the 200 free, good for second.
“She is dropping time every meet,” Grant said. “Winter break really helped her. She’s really building some confidence. She’s moving up lanes in our practices to go on faster times to really push herself.”
Senior Reese Trauger, who also won the 50 free, is quickly closing in on a district cut in the 100 fly — she won the event Tuesday with a 1:04.52.
“That’s a new event for her this year,” Grant said. “She’s done the 100 free the past three years. At the end of last year, she was like ‘I just don’t think I have it in me anymore in the 100 free,’ so at the (SOL Continental Championships), we put her in the 100 fly and she popped a 1:03-mid, having never trained before in that event.”
