Conestoga swimmers, D-East’s Fulton in fast lane at District 1 swim championships

Conestoga continued to shine on the final day of the PIAA District 1 swimming championships Sunday at the York County YMCA.
The defending District 1 3A champion Conestoga girls captured the district title once again; and the Pioneer boys placed second in the boys’ 3A competition.
The Conestoga girls earned 312 points, comfortably ahead of second place Hatboro Horsham (262) and third place North Penn (171).
“This was a great team win,” said Conestoga girls swim coach Rob Kirkby. “We scored points in every event and had many personal bests, including a new school record by Delaney Burns, who swam an outstanding 500 free.”
Chester County swimmers swept both Swimmer of the Meet awards at the District 1 championships Sunday. Downingtown East junior Alexa Fulton was named the Girls Swimmer of the Meet, and Conestoga sophomore Jake Wang was named the Boys Swimmer of the Meet.
Fulton, who finished first in the girls 50 free Saturday with a district-record 22.65, was the champion in the girls 100 free Sunday with a clocking of 50.29. Last year at States, Fulton won gold medals in both the girls 50 free and girls 100 free and was named 2021 Daily Local News Girls Swimmer of the Year.
“Alexa had a really good race today and we look forward to her having the chance to defend her gold medals [at States] from last year,” said Downingtown East girls swimming coach Sean Wyatt.
In the boys District 1 3A meet Sunday, Conestoga finished in second place with 296.5 points, behind North Penn (324).
Jake Wang, the Boys Swimmer of the Meet, finished first in both the boys 200 IM (1:50.31) and boys 100 breast (55.40) and was part of the Pioneers’ first-place teams in the boys 200 medley relay and boys 400 free relay during the weekend.
“Jake had a phenomenal meet, and overall, we had a great district meet,” said Conestoga boys swim coach Mark Tirone. “We were able to continue where we left off [Saturday] with some great swims, and we’re looking forward to moving on to the state meet.”
The Chester County teams in the top 20 in the girls’ 3A competition included Conestoga, West Chester Henderson (fourth place, 158 points), Downingtown East (ninth, 94 points), Unionville (10th) and West Chester Rustin (16th). West Chester East was 21st, Downingtown West 31st, Avon Grove 33rd and Coatesville 35th.
Here is a look at the local highlights on the final day of the District 1 3A girls swimming championships:
Conestoga’s depth continued to play a key role on Sunday. Delaney Burns set a school record in the girls 500 free (4:57.23) Sunday, finishing third. Naomi Furman finished second in the girls 100 breast (1:04.12). Conestoga placed third in the girls 400 free relay (3:28.72) with a quartet of Delaney Burns, Audrey Laganelli, Naomi Furman and Lily Robinson. In the girls 100 free, Lily Robinson was third and Audrey Laganelli eighth. Keira Haas was sixth in the girls 100 back, and Sarah Fox was eighth in the girls 500 free.
West Chester Henderson senior Krista Marlin, who finished first in the girls 200 free Saturday, placed second in the girls 500 free Sunday (4:54.95), behind Haverford’s Katya Eruslanova. The Warriors placed second in the girls 400 free relay with a clocking of 3:28.09 with a quartet of Katie Simpson, Rylee Kelly, Shannon Gamble and Krista Marlin. Rylee Kelly was fifth in the girls 500 free, and Katie Simpson was 10th in the girls 100 free.
“It was a great meet all around – our team’s finish [girls and boys] was a result of great swims by everyone,” said Henderson swim coach Jeff Bott. “To see the entire group perform so well was great and it helped create energy throughout the meet.”
Unionville sophomore Izzy Iwasyk once again led the Longhorns on Sunday, finishing in fourth place in the girls 100 free with a time of 51.17. Interestingly, Chester County had three of the top four swimmers in the girls 100 free Sunday, with D-East’s Alexa Fulton (first), Conestoga’s Lily Robinson (third) and Iwasyk. Emily Albans placed seventh in the girls 100 back Sunday. The Longhorns placed 11th in the girls 400 free relay.
Among the other local teams, Downingtown East was led by Girls Swimmer of the Meet Alexa Fulton, and teammate Victoria Maki placed 15th in the girls 100 free Sunday. West Chester Rustin junior Kate Mondick was 11th in the girls 500 free Sunday, and Lily Turco was 15th in the girls 100 breast. West Chester East sophomore Taylor Tegler finished fourth in the girls 100 breast Sunday, and Sam Heiland was 16th in the girls 100 back. Avon Grove sophomore Lily Perrin was 17th in the girls 100 back Sunday, and Coatesville sophomore Macey Speakman placed 12th in the girls 100 breast Sunday.
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In the PIAA District 1 3A boys’ competition, Chester County teams in the top 20 included Conestoga, West Chester Henderson (9th, 84.5 points), Kennett (13th, 73 points) and Oxford (17th, 53 points). West Chester Rustin was 26th, Avon Grove 28th, Downingtown East 30th, Great Valley 34th and Unionville 35th.
Here’s a look at the local highlights during the final day (Sunday) of the District 1 3A boys’ competition:
Conestoga was led by its Boys Swimmer of the Meet, Jake Wang, who finished first in the boys 100 breast Sunday. The Pioneer foursome of Jake Wang, John Yeniay, Raymond Welgosh and Stephen Graver finished first in the 400 free relay with a clocking of 3:05.94. Gary Wang finished second in the boys’ 100 back (50.61) to Liam Simmons of Kennett. Raymond Welgosh placed fourth in the 100 breast. Ryan McDonough was sixth in the boys 100 back. In the boys 500 free, James Manion finished ninth and John Yeniay 10th. Stephen Graver was 10th in the boys 100 free.
West Chester Henderson senior Dylan Smolders finished fourth in the boys 500 free (4:36.47). The Warrior quartet of freshman Edward Stoltz, Vedant Bedekar, Finn Lukens and Dylan Smolders finished tied for ninth in the 400 free relay, and Stoltz was 11th in the boys 100 back.
Kennett senior Liam Simmons sparkled Sunday, finishing first in the boys 100 back with a clocking of 49.48 (ahead of second-place finisher Gary Wang of Conestoga) and placed second in the boys 100 free (46.37). Erik Floren Smith posted his best time in the 100 free and Luke Myers posted his best time in the 100 back.
“The boys performed way beyond my expectations this weekend,” said Kennett swim coach Cindy Millison. “I am extremely proud of every one of them and I’m excited to seeing [how far] their energy in the pool takes them at states in a couple of weeks.”
Oxford junior Alex Karahalis, who finished first in the boys 100 fly Saturday, placed second in the boys 100 breast Sunday with a clocking of 56.29, behind the Boys Swimmer of the Meet, Conestoga’s Jake Wang (55.40). The Hornets placed 14th in the boys 400 free relay, with a quartet of Ryan Topmiller, Noah Topmiller, Andrew Hinkley and Alex Karahalis.
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Villa Maria Academy finished fourth in the PIAA District 1 2A girls swimming championships, with 234 points, behind Springfield (308), Nazareth Academy (273) and Lower Moreland (239).
Hannah King placed second in the girls 100 free (season-best 54.35) and freshman Keriann Collison was fifth (season-best 55.59). Ainsley Ingram was ninth in the girls 500 free and 10th in the girls 100 back. The Hurricanes placed third in the girls 400 free relay (3:47.95).
“Our girls swam really well again today,” said Villa Maria coach Fritz Schumann. “Our fourth-place finish was better than we expected. We’re very proud of our team, and looking forward to next season already.”
Bishop Shanahan finished sixth in the PIAA District 1 2A boys swimming championships, with 122 points, behind first-place finisher Springfield Township (361.5 points). For the Eagles, Patrick Taylor was eighth in the boys 100 free and Brady Hendrickson was fourth in the boys 100 breast.