PIAA Swimming: North Penn boys surge to second in Class 3A
LEWISBURG >> It was a battle of champions.
“It was one of the best races of the meet,” North Penn coach Jeff Faikish said of the 200-yard Individual Medley, a heart pounder this past weekend at the PIAA-3A Championships. “And my favorite part was that (NP’s Sean Faikish) and (North Allegheny’s) Richard Mihm swam against each other and they trained to prepare each other for that race all season long.
“And when the race was done, regardless of who won, they got up on the bulkhead and hugged each other and then walked off the bulkhead together, and that is the true testament to sportsmanship.”
Sean Faikish’s gold-medal performance led the Knights to the state runner-up spot with 196 points, with fellow rivals La Salle (191) and Upper Dublin (147.5) packing the top four.
Faikish won gold on Friday night, outracing Mihm, the defending champ, and then came back on Saturday and powered to the bronze in the 100 back (48.10). He was also integral to the fourth-place 200 medley relay on Friday and the runner-up 400 freestyle on Saturday (Luke Schwar, Ryley Fein, Nick Clark, Faikish).
Team Champion North Allegheny won in 2:59.80, North Penn was second in 3:02.69, Upper Dublin third (3:02.70) and La Salle fifth (3:05.62).
“Sean had a fantastic weekend. I’m super proud of that kid,” Jeff Faikish said. “He had the leadoff leg in the medley relay, getting the guys out and going with some of the fastest splits North Penn has ever seen.
“I’m very proud of this boys team. They came in this year with a set of goals. They came in here and they worked very hard. An interesting dynamic for this year was that they motivated each other at times. It was such a cool thing to be a part of. Our guys rose to the occasion and finished the meet on a really positive note.”
Sean Faikish had one of the finest meets of the weekend, and he’s not done — he’ll return next year as a senior.
“To end the meet on a good note and get second by a hundredth of a second over our rivals is awesome,” he said. “It was an exciting race and a great way to end the meet.
“We’ll come back next year motivated and ready to go.”
BONNELL SHINES >> Abington’s Matt Bonnell seemed to know his way around at the PIAA Championships.
“Last year, I was pretty uncertain,” he said of competing in the state’s premier event for the first time. “I had never been to a meet like this before. But now, I knew what to expect going in and I think that helped me a lot.”
Bonnell had his finest race of the season Saturday night, powering to a silver medal in the Class 3A 500-yard freestyle.
“It was a bit better than I expected to do so I’m pretty hyped up right now,” he said happily.
Bonnell touched in 4 minutes, 23.81 seconds, second only to North Allegheny’s Richard Mihm (4:23.48). Fellow local Liam Smith of La Salle placed fourth (4:30.58), Matt Szekely of La Salle took sixth (4:33.54), and North Penn’s Max Bachman grabbed third in the consolation heat and 11th overall (4:36.40).
Bonnell clocked a 4:30.23 in prelims, second fastest, to advance.
“It got me where I needed to be,” said Bonnell, bound for Penn next year. “Just went long and strong and made it back to the finals…I don’t think I could be happier.”
Bonnell knows what it takes to perform at PIAA’s — he enjoys the surroundings as well.
“The pool is awesome,” he said. “It’s probably one of the nicer pools I’ve been to so it was a really good experience.”
With Bonnell’s production, along with divers Conor Gesing (third, 484.35) and Sam Henninger (fourth, 483.25), Abington finished tied for 11th in the team scoring with Souderton Area, with 61 points.
OTHER FAST SWIMS >> Also from the area, Upper Dublin’s Matt Jensen raced to a bronze in the 100 free (43.89).
In that same event, North Penn’s Ryley Fein won the consolation heat and got ninth overall (45.20), followed by Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Caleb Kelly in 10th (45.41) and Upper Dublin’s Kyle Pro in 13th (46.02).
Upper Dublin’s Jake DiMartile earned a fourth-place medal in the 100 back (49.50) and Souderton Area’s T.J. Yaglenski was eighth (50.80).
La Salle’s Kevin O’Dare was fourth in the 100 breast (56.37), with teammate Evan Parkhill in sixth (56.90).
In the consolation heat, North Penn’s Nick Clark finished third and 11th overall (57.43), followed by La Salle’s Patrick Cunningham in 12th (57.47) and Pennridge’s Joseph Hong in 16th (58.02).
In the 400 free relay, Upper Dublin (Kyle Pro, Kornel Pesti, Jake DiMartile, Matt Jensen) was third (3:02.70) and La Salle (Andrew Pave, Matt Szekely, Quinn Buck, Liam Smith) was fifth.
Souderton Area took fifth in the consolation race and 13th overall (Jake Kramer, Matt Masciulli, Reid Sinkinson, T.J. Yaglenski) in 3:10.36, and Hatboro-Horsham was eighth in the consolation race and 16th overall (Seth Spector, Stuart Sumner, Luke Emig, Tyler Warren) in 3:14.14.
La Salle diver Will Seely finished eighth (423.50), Upper Dublin’s Michael Burke was 10th (420.30), and North Penn’s Evan Meiers was 12th (405.15).
