SOL Continental’s: North Penn defends title in style

WARRINGTON >> Nicole Chiappa went to a gear that was unmatched, and by the end of a medal-filled evening, the North Penn girls were huddled atop and around one of the packed diving blocks at Central Bucks South, clutching the Suburban One League Continental Conference trophy.
Chiappa’s performance in the 200-yard freestyle was a proper metaphor for the meet: the Knights dug deep to pull away from some outstanding competition.
“I try to pace myself off of people but I’m not the greatest at taking out my races faster,” said the North Penn senior. “So when (Pennridge’s Lauren Scott) took it out fast, I was a little bit discouraged but I felt like if I could stay near her for the end, I could catch her.”
Chiappa sped away to the gold medal in 1 minute, 56.40 seconds, helping the Knights compile 464 points to overcome impressive efforts by Souderton Area (402) and Central Bucks East (397.5).
Said North Penn coach Jeff Faikish: “We had great performances top to bottom today. It was a really good meet going into districts. It filled the kids with positivity.”

Golden girl >> Lots of swimmers stood out for North Penn, none more decorated than Chiappa.

The senior won four gold medals, swimming on all three relays in addition to her victory in the 200 free.
“That was the first complete 200 she’s done all season,” Faikish said. “And she really gutted it out at the end. She swallowed hard and pushed as hard as she could, and came out on top. It was a great finish.”
“I was really proud of that,” Chiappa said. “I hadn’t been swimming too much 200 free this year so I was thinking of switching up my events and swimming a different race at districts, but I’m really happy with that race. It opens up a lot of doors. I’m very excited about it.”
The relays have been a revolving door for the Knights, but with outstanding results.
“The relays have been great this year. They really have. We’ve been switching the relays every meet. Every time someone else is in, it’s just a whole different atmosphere,” Chiappa said. “And it’s great to swim with all of your friends, not just the same group of people every time.
“So it’s super fun to change up the relays and I’m really excited to see what (coach Faikish) is gonna do with it at districts.”
All three foursomes won gold: the 200 medley was made up of Charlotte Thamm, Maddie Fritz, Caroline Dunigan and Chiappa; the 200 free included Kaelan Daly, Dunigan, Chiappa and Julia Davis; and the 400 free relay went Thamm, Daly, Chiappa and Olivia Toussaint.
There were also some more district cuts for the Knights.
“Our 500 frees stand out to me,” Faikish said. “We had a lot of kids drop a lot of time. Our breaststrokers looked good. All the way around, it was a really solid meet for us.”
Added Chiappa: “We lost a lot of key seniors from last year who would not only motivate us in the water but also, their attitudes were so great, so to be able to fulfill that, it was really great.”
Defending Champ North Penn also got key contributions from Fritz, who raced to second in the 200 IM in 2:12.03 and second in the 100 breast in 1:07.35; Daly, who earned silver in both the 50 free (24.27) and 100 fly (59.55); and Dunigan, who was a silver medalist in the 100 free (54.10) and a bronze medalist in the 100 fly (1:00.20).
Showing their medal >> Souderton Area’s 200 medley relay foursome of Ellie Hiestand, Hailey Freece, Frankie Ferlick and Kayla Pike raced to second for Big Red with a time of 1:50.51.
The Indians were also silver medalists in the 200 free relay, with a team of Pike, Abby Burns, Jordyn Grossman and Ferlick, who touched in 1:39.49.
Big Red’s Kelsey Donatelli toughed it out in the 500 free, taking the bronze in 5:25.11.
Souderton also placed second and third in the 100 back, courtesy of Hiestand (1:01.38) and Ferlick (1:01.42).
Pennridge’s Scott, just a sophomore, had quite a meet, capturing gold in the 100 freestyle (53.43) along with earning silver in the 200 free (1:57.26).
Lina Hofmann was a standout for Central Bucks West, seizing the gold in the 100 breast with a winning time of 1:05.82 and also taking the bronze in the 50 free with a time of 25.02.
Next up >> The SOL Continental Boys Championships will be held Saturday morning at North Penn.

Suburban One League
Continental Conference Championships
Team Scoring: 1. North Penn, 464; 2. Souderton Area, 402; 3. Central Bucks East, 397.5; 4. Central Bucks South, 317; 5. Central Bucks West, 234.5; 6. Pennridge, 132; 7. Quakertown, 84.
200 medley relay: 1. North Penn (Charlotte Thamm, Maddie Fritz, Caroline Dunigan, Nicole Chiappa), 1:47.65; 2. Souderton Area, 1:50.51; 3. CB South, 1:51.58.
200 free: 1. Nicole Chiappa (NP) 1:56.40; 2. Lauren Scott (P) 1:57.26; 3. Maggie Young (CBE) 1:58.05.
200 IM: 1. Haley Scholer (CBS) 2:08.39; 2. Fritz (NP) 2:12.03; 3. Ilene Stark (CBE) 2:13.61.
50 free: 1. Heidi Scholer (CBS) 24.26; 2. Kaelan Daly (NP) 24.27; 3. Lina Hofmann (CBW) 25.02.
100 fly: 1. Sophie Moyer (CBE) 58.72; 2. Daly (NP) 59.55; 3. Dunigan (NP) 1:00.20.
200 free relay: 1. North Penn (Daly, Dunigan, Chiappa, Julia Davis), 1:38.50; 2. Souderton Area, 1:39.49; 3. Central Bucks East, 1:40.77.
100 free: 1. Lauren Scott (P) 53.43; 2. Caroline Dunigan (NP) 54.10; 3. Kaylin Goodling (CBS) 55.06.
500 free: 1. Maggie Young (CBE) 5:10.92; 2. Riley Reteneller (CBS) 5:24.68; 3. Kelsey Donatelli (S) 5:25.11.
100 back: 1. Haley Scholer (CBS) 57.71; 2. Ellie Hiestand (S) 1:01.38; 3. Ferlick (S) 1:01.42.
100 breast: 1. Lina Hofman (CBW) 1:05.82; 2. Maddie Fritz (NP) 1:07.35; 3. Heidi Scholer (CBS) 1:07.55.
400 free relay: 1. North Penn (Charlotte Thamm, Kaelan Daly, Nicole Chiappa, Olivia Toussaint), 3:37.03; 2. Central Bucks South, 3:39.88; 3. Central Bucks East, 3:40.91.