Rustin swimmers earn split with Great Valley

West Chester >> The West Chester Rustin girls swimming team rolled to a 133-46 win against Great Valley in its meet Monday evening at the West Chester Area YMCA.

It was the second victory of the season for the Knights (2-3). The Great Valley boys won their meet against the Golden Knights, 100-76, earning a boys-girls split for the evening.

“I think we did really well tonight,” said Rustin girls swim coach Kiera Callahan. “I think that for our team overall – both boys and girls – we’re seeing a huge buy-in on team pride and spirit, and it’s awesome to see how that spirit translates into better times. Working on that as a team and being a more united whole is making a big difference for us, and we’re excited to see how our next two meets go, against Kennett and Sun Valley.”

Three Rustin girls won two individual events apiece Monday – senior Amanda Rollings won the girls 200 free (2:11.58) and the girls 100 back (1:04.63); junior Flynn Truskett won the girls 200 IM (2:18.06) and girls 100 free (56.27); and Lily Turco won the girls 100 fly (1:01.71) and girls 100 breast (1:13.32).

“I can always count on Flynn and Lily and Amanda to get a win for us, and they all did that [twice] today,” said Callahan.

Other Rustin girls who won individual events Monday were freshman Ellie Smith, who won the diving with a score of 221.10, good for District consideration; junior Kate Mondick in the girls 50 free (27.26); and sophomore Cara Schwacke in the girls 500 free (5:54.79).

The Golden Knight girls swept the three relays. The foursome of Rollings, Turco, Truskett and Leah Hilt won the girls 200 medley relay (1:58.98); the quartet of Turco, Tara Goldfinger, Sara Nsereko and Mondick won the girls 200 free relay (1:52.35); and the foursome of Hilt, Rollings, Carly Chapman and Truskett won the girls 400 free relay (4:00.20).

On the boys’ side, Great Valley (now 2-1) had two swimmers win two individual events apiece – freshman Patrick Li won the boys 200 free (1:53.97) and boys 100 fly (56.78), and junior Seth Turner won the boys 50 free (22.64) and boys 100 back (56.66). Turner made the District cut in the 100 back, his fourth district cut of the season (Li has three).

Great Valley senior Phillip Zhang won the boys 100 breast (1:08.18).

“Our guys had a lot of great swims tonight, a lot of Ches-Mont cuts and best times were achieved by our men swimmers,” said Great Valley swim coach Kyle Turner. “Our women swimmers had some Ches-Mont cuts as well and some best times. Overall, I was pleased with our meet. Our girls had a tough time because we were low on numbers [11 swimmers present, four were out] but they came together and did a great job.”

The Great Valley boys won two relays – the quartet of Jack Deegan, Jack Phillips, Stanley Sha and Colton Gilfillan won the boys 200 free relay (1:40.49); and the foursome of Li, Leo Hawke, Zhang and Seth Turner won the boys 400 free relay (3:38.35).

For the Rustin boys, senior Adam Khatib won two individual events – the boys 200 IM (2:07.45) and boys 100 free (53.67). Rustin sophomore AJ Chapman won the boys 500 free (5:08.71).

The Golden Knight boys won one relay – the quartet of Chapman, Sebastian Hess, Khatib and George Harkins won the boys 200 medley relay (1:47.83).