North Penn boys, girls open season with wins over St. Joseph’s Prep, Mount St. Joseph
TOWAMENCIN >> Preseason aspirations were finally set into motion, as North Penn started off in impressive fashion Tuesday afternoon in a pair of victories over St. Joseph’s Prep and Mount St. Joseph.
“A lot of kids on this team have a lot of goals. And you can see it the way they’re performing in practices,” said Knights coach Jeff Faikish. “Seeing them have the opportunity to come and do it in a swim meet is awesome. There are a lot of kids that are pretty happy coming out of this first meet.”
Added Faikish: “We have some fantastic returners this year.”
The North Penn boys swam and dove to a 104.5-70.5 victory over the Hawks while the NP girls were 101-77 winners over the Magic in the non-league opener at The Rick Carroll Natatorium.
“It is a great meet to start out with because we know a bunch of the kids on Mount St. Joe’s and St. Joe’s Prep. Some of the kids know each other from North Penn Aquatic Club so it’s a great meet to start off with,” said Faikish. “We’re jam-packed this season – we have six meets in 14 days coming up.”
Aidan Faikish sprinted to a win in the 50 free in 21.80 for the Knights and he also took the 500 free (4:47.85) and swam the second leg of the first-place 400 free relay.
“I’m happy with our performance, coming off of Thanksgiving training. It was a rough week but I’m happy with how we performed,” he said.
North Penn was third in the state last year behind only Seneca Valley and La Salle. The Knights are intent on taking things further.
“We’re hoping to get another banner up there,” Aidan Faikish said of going after a state title this season. “Last time North Penn did it was 2004. I think this year we have a good shot. We have a deep set of guys so winning states – that’s our goal.”
The Knights looked solid up and down the lineup, pushing to wins in 11 of the 12 events.
“We always swim (St. Joe’s Prep) first – it’s always a fun tri-meet,” said Aidan Faikish, a senior. “It’s basically a meet where we can see where we’re at. And it’s fun to get back to meets, seeing all your teammates. It’s just a fun experience.”
Madeline Faikish, a sophomore, earned victories in the 200 IM and 500 free to help power the NP girls, who also return a solid group.
“We lost a couple good seniors from last year so I feel like this year is a good time for the underclassmen to step up and show who we are,” Madeline Faikish said. “The momentum is pretty good. We have a busy couple weeks heading into our training season over winter break. That’s really when we start to put in the work, and it shows.”
Boys Swimming
North Penn 104.5, St. Joseph’s Prep 70.5
200 medley relay: North Penn (Potts, Faikish, Rawa, Manning), 1:37; 200 free: Dunigan (NP) 1:44.34; 200 IM: Potts (NP) 1:59.60; 50 free: A. Faikish (NP) 21.80; Diving: Stanton (NP) 281.25; 100 fly: Rawa (NP) 53.52; 100 free: Koh (SJ) 47.70; 500 free: A. Faikish (NP) 4:47.85; 200 free relay: North Penn (Potts, Rawa, Dunigan, Manning), 1:28.74; 100 back: R. O’Donnell (NP) 57.34; 100 breast: Shaw (NP) 1:01.86; 400 free relay: North Penn (Potts, A. Faikish, Manning, Dunigan), 3:13.41.
Girls Swimming
North Penn 101, Mount St. Joseph 77
200 medley relay: North Penn (Stressman, Welsh, Potts, Rooey), 1:53.24; 200 free: Raser (NP) 1:58.42; 200 IM: Faikish (NP) 2:15.36; 50 free: Robey (NP) 25.30; Diving: Allison (NP) 255.10; 100 fly: Poach (NP) 59.30; 100 free: Raser (NP) 54.26; 500 free: Faikish (NP) 5:17.31; 200 free relay: North Penn (Stressman, Evans, Poach, Raser), 1:41.77; 100 back: Evans (NP) 1:02.13; 100 breast: E. Welsh (NP) 1:06.35; 400 free relay: North Penn (Raser, Robey, Faikish, Poach), 3:41.36.
