Big finish for North Penn in sweep of rival Pennridge
EAST ROCKHILL >> It truly was a grand finale for both North Penn and Pennridge Tuesday afternoon, as the two squads pushed each other to the finish line of their Suburban One League Colonial Division schedule.
The Knights polished off a perfect 5-0 run through the division, propelled by both experienced veterans and rising newcomers who stepped onto the blocks with confidence.
Said freshman Nevin Shaw: “We’ve had some ups and downs throughout the season and in practice but we always come together as a family and push through everything.”
North Penn pushed to victories of 107-70 on the boys side and 99-76 in the girls meet, in what was a fast-moving, frenzied atmosphere at Pennridge.
Added Shaw, speaking of the postseason quickly approaching: “I wish everyone the best of luck.”
Shaw stepped into – and filled – a bigger role Tuesday, taking over the 200 IM and racing to a winning finish in 2 minutes, 11.02 seconds.
“This is my second meet back with everyone and it was a really good win and everyone got a chance to swim,” said Shaw, who had been out for six weeks following toe surgery. “To be honest, it felt really tiring. I only had three practices. I was out for six weeks and it was kind of tough to come back, but I’m gonna make my way through and come back to be the best I can be. And maybe even more.”
That was the theme of the day for the Knights: doing a little bit more. Tim Schwar (200 free, 1:52.71), Macek Vandermolen (50 free, 23.51), Joshua Gratton (diving, 247.10), Ryan Woolaver (100 fly, 57.64), Ryan O’Donnell (100 free, 51.59) and Daniel Balsells (500 free, 5:14.87) all won their respective events.
The 200 medley relay of Nathan Rawa, Aidan Faikish, Jadyn Manning and Robert Freece was a winning foursome in 1:40.73, and the 200 free relay team of Mason Potts, Manning, Freece and Faikish was fastest in 1:29.45.
“It was a great meet,” said Knights coach Jeff Faikish. “It was another local club rivalry. Because of all the summer clubs, the aquatic clubs in the winter, water polo, this is another team where we know every single person on the team. And I’m really good friends with the coaching staff here as well.
“A lot of kids for both teams got a chance to swim around. A lot of kids got a chance to swim races that they typically don’t get to swim. There was a lot of very happy people.”
One of them was junior Kayla Stressman (50 free, 25.89; 100 fly, 1:02.58), who helped lead the NP girls.
“It’s a very good win. It was fun – I’ve been swimming against these people since forever so it’s a long-time rivalry,” said Stressman. “I felt really good in my races, better than I had been feeling. (My goal for the stretch run is) I wanna improve my times and just be happy overall with how my season went.”
Luna Hutchinson (200 free, 2:03.61), Zoe Welsh (200 IM, 2:28.96), Keira Allison (diving, 221.15), Mikayla Potts (100 free, 56.72) and Kathryn Dilenge (500 free, 6:01.30) all raced to victories for the Knights.
“We’re in that part of the season where we’re flirting with the end, the taper is gonna start soon, and so there’s that sense of urgency that the kids are feeling,” said coach Jeff Faikish, who will take his teams out to Carlisle Tuesday for a non-league clash with Cumberland Valley. “There’s a lot of younger kids who got a chance to step up and get a taste of some real, tight competition. That’s the part that makes this really fun.”
The Pennridge foursome of Ally Ricciardi, Emily Myers, Adi Garges and Lauren Scott got the meet off to a buzzing start, winning the 200 medley relay in 1:54.15. The same foursome went on to win the 200 free relay in 1:42.11.
The Ram girls also won the 400 free relay, a team of Ricciardi, Anjali Verma, Garges and Scott going 3:44.52.
Emily Cattie (1:12.14) won the 100 back for Pennridge and Laney Sayre took first in the 100 breast (1:22.05).
The Pennridge boys were anchored by Darien Rajan, who surged to a first in the 100 back (1:01.64), and Clay Stephens, who was fastest in the 100 breast in 1:07.21.
