Locals brace for postseason

The light at the end of the tunnel has finally presented itself, following a long, dark January.
Local swimmers, divers and coaches are gearing up for what they hope is a promising postseason, and getting ready for all of the work and determination it demands.
“January’s coming to an end and the illnesses are blowing their way through the team,” said Jeff Faikish, coach of the NP boys and the defending state champion North Penn girls. “Every day, it’s like ‘oh, no, somebody’s out again.’ We just gotta stay the course.
“This is that time where kids get nervous and start to get a little anxious if they haven’t made their district cuts yet. It’s a very delicate time for coaches too because you’re dealing with high emotions, coming out of a heavy training period.”
North Penn looked sharp in its Suburban One League Continental Conference finale, besting local rival Souderton Area. The meet held special meaning for North Penn’s 23 seniors.
Looking back and ahead >> One of the NP seniors honored was Micah Detweiler, who contributed to the victory with a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard IM.
Like many of the NP seniors, he was dealing with the mixed emotions involved with swimming his last regular-season meet at the Rick Carroll Natatorium.
“It’s nice to see the hardest training month of the year end,” he said with a grin, “but it’s sad at the same time because this is the end for me unless I swim in college.”
Detweiler and the seniors made it a day to remember. And it didn’t hurt that they were extra juiced considering rival Souderton was paying a visit.
Said Faikish: “It’s a crosstown rivalry but we genuinely like Souderton. Their coaching staff is fantastic, their kids are wonderful. It’s a really fantastic way for these seniors to celebrate their last night, their last home meet here.”
Detweiler and the senior Knights took it all in.
“It’s just really fun to see your team, have your friends come and visit you,” he said. “It’s just nice to be able to choose your own races, get your pictures with your parents and just get to be with the team. It’s a really hyped environment – everybody’s cheering you on.”
Now, the seniors and everyone else get ready for the stretch run.
“Our focus is now starting to wind itself down to the end but we can’t lose our focus on what we have ahead of us here,” Faikish said. “Certain individuals, we start to rest and then we can help them find their way. And the kids who have their cuts already, we can try and figure out what the next few weeks are gonna look like because now we gotta start focusing on leagues and districts and hopefully states.”
Young and upcoming >> Wissahickon, with a lot of freshmen, sophomores and juniors on its roster, as well as some standout seniors, is peaking at the right time.
But the Trojans expect their best to be ahead of them.
“I like where they’re at but as a greedy coach,” smiled Jonathan Faikish, “I always want a little bit more. So we’re excited for Suburbans and then moving on from there.”
Souderton Area, always a force in Class 6A, looks to ride the momentum from a tremendous regular season.
“No more dual meets to worry about now so we can kind of break our group into those kids who are gonna end their seasons at districts, states and leagues,” coach Lou Williams said. “And really kind of bringing down the yardage and tapering the kids for Champs.”
Ones to watch >> According to paswimming.com, several locals are boasting top times in the state heading into the big meets.
North Penn’s Sean Faikish is ranked first in the 100 back (50.46) and the Knights’ 400 free relay is tops with a 3:05.76.
Upper Dublin’s Matt Jensen is the top guy in the 100 fly (47.84) and the Cardinals also have the top-ranked 200 free relay with a 1:24.67 as well as the fastest 200 medley relay with a 1:32.62.
On the girls side, Upper Dublin’s Meghan DiMartile has the top 100 back time (55.39) and Springfield Montco’s Maura Fluehr is ranked first in the 100 free with a 51.71.
Germantown Academy’s Emma Atkinson is ranked first in both the 200 free (1:50.97) and 500 free (4:53.40).