PIAA Swimming: ‘Unexpected’ title just as sweet for Haverford’s Eruslanova
LEWISBURG — Katya Eruslanova seemed surprised, but pleasantly so.
At the gold medal around her neck, for one, but also for the thought that she might have to consider herself a 500 freestyler.
Ever the astute swimmer, Eruslanova knew who she was facing in the final at the PIAA Class 3A championships. There was the reigning champ, Strath Haven’s Sydney Bergstrom, to whom Eruslanova finished second last year. There was 200 free champion Krista Marlin of West Chester Henderson. And those are just her training partners at Suburban Swim Club.
So for the Haverford junior to add a second gold medal of this meet and third career, in what became her second event basically by default, that was, “definitely a little more unexpected.”
“I didn’t really start thinking of myself as a 500er until districts this year,” Eruslanova said, after a comprehensive swim won her gold in 4:48.98 at Bucknell University. “At first, it was just another event to have, so I was always more middle distance. But now I kind of do consider it my second event.”
Eruslanova had beaten Marlin at districts, but she was the second seed at states, behind North Allegheny’s Lexi Sundgren. Marlin was first in prelims in an authoritative 4:51.00.
In the finals, Eruslanova went out with a leading pack of five for the first 200 yards, but when she saw that she was with Sundgren, a noted fast starter, Eruslanova started feeling good. So she kept pushing, surging ahead for good at 300 yards. Aiming to keep her splits under 29.5, she ended up not exceeding 29.2 until her penultimate 50, delivering a 57.99 middle 100 that gouged a second out of Sundgren.
“Once we got to that halfway point, and we were still next to each other, I kind of got a surge of adrenaline,” she said. “And that’s where the 28 was. Coach (Matt) Stewart said that was where I really started to pull ahead.”
Marlin finished fourth in 4:52.08. Bergstrom, Strath Haven’s first girls swimming state champ and a Penn commit, was fifth in 4:58.03.
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Day 1 of states didn’t go to plan for Ridley’s Shane Eckler. Day 2 was a tad unorthodox, too, though more gratifyingly so.
The sophomore sprinter used a swim-off to nab the 16th and final spot in the 100 freestyle, setting a best time along the way.
Eckler tied Wilson’s Isaiah Eberly for 16th in prelims in 47.10. That required a swim-off to end the session, which Eckler controlled from start to finish, even with the eyes of the pool trained on him.
“There was a whole bunch of crowd, but as soon as we walked out there, I heard all my friends cheering,” Eckler said. “I saw everyone was watching. I saw the other dude walk out, he was really muscular so I was like, ‘ooh.’ But then it was a lot of fun.”
Eckler pulled away early, blasting a school record 46.80. Eberly was well back in 48.98. (He had just split 46.24 to help Wilson qualify third in the 400 free relay.)
Eckler bumped up two more spots in finals to 14th, in 46.97. He was two places behind Springfield’s Jake Kennedy, who went 46.51 for 12th. The sophomores train together at Ridley YMCA.
Eckler’s second day was better than the first, when he botched his turn on the 50 free to finish 31st.
“I was kind of not very happy with how that went,” he said. “But coming back and going a best time and making finals, that’s a really nice feeling.”
Ties have followed Eckler this postseason: He tied for fifth at districts in the 50 free and sixth in the 100 (in 47.07). His states focus is on the long view: With only two underclassmen in the 100 free A final, he’s have the chance to grow into the event.
“Right now, it’s more about the experience,” he said. “Obviously making finals, I was really happy with that, and I was hoping the 50 went a little better, but it’s just getting the experience and coming back next year better.”
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Zoey Rogers wasn’t sure what to expect in her first states trip, the Garnet Valley freshman downplaying her hopes of a second swim. When she earned her way into Wednesday’s 100 fly final, she was ecstatic.
“It definitely exceeded my expectations, for sure,” Rogers said. “… Swimming that way in the morning was awesome and I was happy with that, and then making it back for finals was just the icing on the cake.”
The freshman picked up two eighth-place medals at districts. When she went 58.35 in prelims of the 100 fly to upgrade from the 18th seed to 14th, she was thrilled at getting a second swim. She held her place in finals, riding the evening momentum to go 57.92.
Her jump Thursday in the 100 back was even bigger, though it didn’t crack the finals. From the 27th seed, Rogers won the first heat in 59.05, quicker than districts. She rose to 19th place.
“I’m just proud of myself for being one of the few freshmen in that heat and coming as far as I have,” she said. “I did not expect to make it this far at the beginning of the season, so just making it here is an honor.”
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Sitting 19th after five dives wasn’t the worst fate for Ava Keller, not when divers 21 through 24 were axed after prelims. But it told the Ridley sophomore she had work to do to reach the 16-diver final.
“I was kind of nervous,” Keller said. “It just felt nerve-wracking, like I had to push harder.”
Keller responded beautifully, rocketing from 19th to 12th, with a score of 345.75. Dives seven through nine were moving time. Two were back dives, and she tossed in higher degree-of-difficult twisters. She rose to 12th after eight rounds.
“It was really reliving, knowing I was making finals,” she said. “It felt really nice.”
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NOTES >> Rhett Cosgrove secured his second medal, finishing eighth in the 500 free. He went 4:35.11 in the morning to nip into the A final. … Two days brought two B finals for Springfield junior Mary Kubiak. She finished 14th in the 50 free – she had been just 10th at districts – then won the B final of the 100 back. The junior went 56.66 to secure ninth place. … Radnor junior Marina Wang assembled a stellar final day. She went 51.98 in the consolation final of the 100 free for 10th place. She then threw down a 51.12 anchor leg to vault the Raptors from fourth to first in the B final of the 400 free relay. The team of Audrey Collins, Kelsey Wakiyama and Avery Barber went 3:33.73. It’s Collins’ fourth top-10 finish of the meet.
