CB South swims to wins over Pennridge; Rams pushing the tempo

EAST ROCKHILL >> Central Bucks South presented a nice challenge for Pennridge midway through the dark days of January, and the Rams were up for it.

“It was a great meet. We’re at the tail end of the season and the guys are training hard,” Pennridge boys coach Jenna Anselmo said. “I put them in random events just to get times for some things.

“These guys are really amazing this season. I’m very proud of what they’ve been able to do. They’ve come together as a team. So they’re always there for each other, train really hard together, push one another in practice. And they’re up cheering for each other in the meets. It’s really been fun to work with them this year.”

Pennridge’s 200 medley relay team of Greg Bashaar, Cameron Schaubel, Brett Musselman and Julian Arteaga raced to a victory in 1 minute, 48.71 seconds and the 200 free relay team of Julian Arteaga, Sean Whitehurst, Greg Bashaar and Brett Musselman also came in first, with a 1:37.71.

Also for the Rams, Darien Rajan took the victory in the 100 fly with a 59.95.

The Titans earned a 99-81 win on the boys side and were 108-70 winners on the girls side, but the Rams had plenty of things to build around moving forward.

“We have a lot of guys who dropped a lot of time,” Anselmo said. “And they’re starting to level out a little bit so they’re frustrated. But I keep telling them if they keep training as hard as they’re training, it’s gonna happen for championships, when we’re rested and we go for it — all in. They’ve got it. They are competitors. They’re in for the chase.”

Coming Together

The Rams also continued their surge on the girls side.

“That was fun. I love swimming CB South. They have a nice group of kids, nice coach (Kevin Whelan),” Rams coach Jacob Grant said. “It’s fun competition. It’s nice because they have fast kids that will push our kids even though they’re a little faster than us. And they also have kids where, my kids can really get up and race.”

Pennridge’s 400 free relay finished things off in style, as a foursome of Hannah Sayre, Abby Nuneviller, Olivia Embert and Lea Preston came away with the win.

“This is our fourth meet in 10 days,” Grant said. “These kids are tired. They’re racing hard, training hard. And for them to come out and still swim hard, I’m proud of them.”

Great Scott

Lauren Scott got after it, besting all in the 200 freestyle with a time of 2:00.15.

“Her 200 free (Thursday) was her fastest in-season time. So that was really cool,” Grant said. “She did the Upper Dublin Invite in a suit and on a couple days rest. So that was a nice time for her there. But the fact that she was just off of that in a dual meet and a regular suit was really exciting.

“She got out of that pool and looked at me and was like ‘I’m dead.’ She said ‘don’t expect anything from me in that 100 fly.’ But she came out and was within a second of her best in the 100 fly. So she’s a racer. She’s a racer.”

And she’s having fun in the process.

“I’m just trying to keep training, do times I can do. I’m having a lot of fun at the meets and doing great and dropping time,” Scott said. “I dropped time at the Cardinal Classic in the fly, which I haven’t really swam very often so it’s been a good season.”

The Rams are pushing through it together.

“Midway through January, I would say the kids probably hate us,” Grant kidded. “They’re tired, their bodies hurt. But they’re progressing, and the fact that they’re hanging tough and they’re racing really hard every time they get in the pool, I really like where they’re at.”