Puskovitch steers Episcopal to Inter-Ac Championships win

MALVERN – Ivan Puskovitch is quick, almost eager, to share unprompted where Episcopal Academy finished at least year’s Eastern Interscholastic Swimming and Diving Championships. It was fifth, the EA senior pointed out Wednesday.

Perhaps he’s so quick to look to the past because so many things around the EA program have improved in the last year. In due time, their Easterns placement might be one of them.

Puskovitch led Episcopal’s efforts at Wednesday’s Inter-Ac League championship meet, the senior capturing a pair of events to help EA claim the team title at Malvern Prep.

Puskovitch won the 200 individual medley in a time of 1 minute, 52.85 seconds, a 1-2 finish with teammate Sam Wesley, with Schuyler Sices fourth. In the 500 free, Puskovitch coasted away from the field, winning by 19 seconds. While he didn’t match the Delco record he set this season – at 4:24.75 against Germantown Academy, after lowering his record from Easterns last year to 4:26.30 in the Malvern dual meet – he easily bested the field at 4:28.16.

Twice lowering a county record in the regular season is a rare feat. Those quick times are a payoff for the work Puskovitch has put in under the guidance of EA assistant coach/distance specialist Chris Lear.

“We know that all the pieces are there to have an incredible season,” the USC commit said. “To be going best times is just a cherry on top. We weren’t shooting for things like that, because in some cases that can be unrealistic, but especially to pop a 4:24 in the 500 in season, to be going some relay splits faster than I did at Easterns last year, we’re really pleased with it and I think we’re really set up for a great final Easterns.”

But Puskovitch isn’t the only one seeing massive time drops among the Churchmen, who under the leadership of coach Brian Kline claimed a share of their first Inter-Ac title in 49 years. Wednesday’s result, tallying 284 team points to comfortably outdistance Haverford School (266), Malvern (225) and Germantown Academy (222) speaks to the talent that has grown together.

Cole Whitsett won the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, both times edging Haverford’s Antonio Octaviano by less than a second. Wesley won the 100 backstroke ahead of Jack Christian, who was also second in the 200 free. EA finished second in the 200 medley and 200 free relays before punctuating the meet with a pool record in the 400 free. The squad of Whitsett, Puskovitch, Sam Wesley and Ben Wesley (second in the 50 free) clocked in at 3:06.71.

“Seeing how hard they work during practice, seeing how good the team chemistry is on the Episcopal Academy swim and dive team, it’s really something that I think pushes all of us to succeed,” Puskovitch said. “I know all of us are going times way faster than we were going in season last year, and we’re all putting in some of the best work that we ever had.”

The field at Easterns seems wide open. EA opened up a gap on Malvern Wednesday after tying in their dual meet. Haverford School, which lost to GA and Malvern in dual meets, bested both at the invitational, and GA has gotten the better of perennial Easterns contender Peddie School.

EA has a right to feel bullish in that mix, not just for the extrinsic factors but for the work they know they’ve put in all season.

“This year, we’re really gunning for a big bowl, top two, at minimum top 3. I think we can do it,” Puskovitch said. “I think this is the best team Episcopal has ever had in history. We have the diving piece there. We have a really diverse group of swimmers on the team – some IMers, sprinters, stroke swimmers. I think if we all keep the hard work flowing, don’t get complacent and go into Easterns with the right mentality, we can definitely finish higher than I think we ever have in school history.”

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Save for Malvern Prep’s win in the 200 free relay, Haverford School and EA swept the other 10 events. Sprinter Brian Brennan led the way for Haverford School by pulling off the sprint double. He won the 50 free in a pool-record time of 20.63, then dominated the field in the 100 free in 45.87.

“I didn’t really know what to expect coming into today, but I’m definitely really happy with it,” the University of Virginia commit said. “It’s some of the best times I’ve ever swam in-season.”

Brennan also brought home the winning 200 medley relay that included Jack Deppen, Octaviano and JR Leitz. Deppen won the 200 free and was third in the 100 back, Leitz was third in the 100 fly and Anton Crescente was third in the 200 IM to complement Octaviano’s two silvers.

The 400 free relay of Deppen, Leitz, Brennan and Pierre Koenig glided home in 3:09.76, the fastest time of the season by more than three seconds, to beat Malvern easily and solidify second place.

After losing three dual meets this season, the Fords’ prospects to follow up last year’s Easterns win with another top-six performance might not have looked great. But Wednesday’s outing shows that they have strengths that play well in the scoring system of bigger meets.

“I think we definitely have a really good core of top guys on our team, so Easterns is always going to be the better meet for us than any dual meet or Inter-Acs,” Brennan said. “I think we’re going to have some fast swims at Easterns.”

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Malvern Prep’s banner as 2019 National Catholic Meet champions has been on the wall for less than two weeks. After claiming their second straight title at that meet, Inter-Acs isn’t the biggest priority for a team ramping its yardage back up.

That informed some of Wednesday’s one-win showing, the 200 free relay team of Connor Cary, Matt Magness, Ryan Maher and Louis Franzone winning in 128.37.

“This is kind of one of those meets where it’s just, get through it, train through it and then see how you can do, for me personally,” Magness said. “We just tried to carry the same energy we had at National Catholics to here.

The Friars were third in the other two relays. Kevin Cary took third in the 200 free. Connor Cary, Maher and Matt Hopkins took spots three through five in the 50 free. Maher and Magness were fourth and fifth in the 100 fly, Franzone was fourth in the 100 free and Kevin Cary was fourth in the 500.

The Friars’ performance at one big meet informs their confidence entering the last big event on the calendar.

“Our end goal as a team is to see how high we can place at Easterns,” Magness said. “Other teams might be looking at this meet as one of their bigger meets of the year, so they might be more rested and stuff like that. As a team, we’re looking forward to Easterns because we know we can do much better there.”