Avon Grove girls swimmers shine in win against Oxford

Lower Oxford >> The versatile Avon Grove girls swimming squad got its 2022-23 season off to a flying start with a 105-59 win against Oxford Wednesday at Lincoln University.
One week ago, Red Devils head coach Kelly Burk said, “Our girls’ team is very versatile this winter with the additions of freshmen Anna Hammerschmidt and Cailin Maley to our veteran swimmers, Ava Pfaff, Kaitlyn Burk and Lily Perrin, who were all district qualifiers last winter.”
On Wednesday, these five girls combined for seven individual first-place finishes -– Pfaff in the 50 free (25.66) and 100 free (54.70), Burk in the 200 IM (2:15.27) and 100 fly (1:03.86), Mailey in the 200 free (2:05.30) and 500 free (5:32.80) and Perrin in the 100 back (1:03.03).
Pfaff’s first-place times in the 50 free and 100 free were district consideration times.
“Ava is going to be focusing on freestyle this winter because of the cross training she does for triathlons,” said Kelly Burk. “Her cross-training should help her in the sprint freestyle. She’s also going to be a huge asset to our relays.”
Kaitlyn Burk, who finished 10th in the 200 IM at the PIAA District 1 girls championship last winter and qualified for States as a freshman, posted a district consideration time in the 200 IM Wednesday, as did Perrin in the 100 back.
The quartet of Perrin, Hammerschmidt, Burk and Pfaff finished first in the 200 medley relay (1:55.02), and the foursome of Burk, Maley, Pfaff and Perrin swam the 400 free relay in 3:51.81.
“Anna and Cailin are going to be huge contributors to the team this winter,” said Kelly Burk. “Our team is in the middle of a taper, and they’re kind of tired right now. To have them swim this well today was really good.”
The Red Devil coach also noted that Avon Grove diver Alena Kurtz just missed district consideration with her score of 209.10 Wednesday.
For the Oxford girls, the quartet of Zoe Verbanas, freshman Claire Livingston, Sarah Barrowcliff and freshman Grace McDermott finished first in the 200 free relay (1:50.43). Livingston also finished first in the 100 breast (1:12.93).
“We’ve got some powerhouse freshmen,” said Oxford head coach Chrissy Reinard. “We’re outnumbered in a lot of our meets, but this winter our numbers (of swimmers) are better than they’ve been the last few years. By far this is the most prepared team we’ve had, and today we had some swimmers who have only been swimming (competitively) for two weeks and they did really well.”
The Hornets, who have 11 girls and eight boys on their team, were missing their top swimmer Wednesday, senior Alex Karahalis, who last winter finished fourth in the boys 100 fly and fifth in the boys 100 breast at states. Karahalis was absent Wednesday because he was competing at Junior Nationals, and should be back for the Hornets next week.
Despite the absence of Karahalis, the Hornet boys gave Avon Grove a close battle, dropping a 73-66 decision.
First-place indivdiual finishers for the Oxford boys were Zachary Stapleton in the 100 free (55.32) and Noah Topmiller in the 100 back (1:09.81). Topmiller, who is recovering from a shoulder injury, finished second in the 50 free (23.78). The Hornets’ boys 200 medley relay team of Topmiller, Stapleton, Andrew Hinkley and Eric Kellerman finished first (1:52.91).
For the Avon Grove boys, versatile sophomore Nate Kidder, a state qualifier last winter, finished first in the 200 free (2:02.07) and won the 100 fly with a district consideration time of 56.54. Red Devil senior Jacob Texter, a district qualifier last winter, was first in the 200 IM (2:03.06) and 500 free (4:58.13) Wednesday, posting district consideration times in both events.
“Nate and Jacob swam well today, being in the middle of a taper,” said Kelly Burk. “Nate swam some (different) events today just to try to help us win. The boys all came together and swam really well. We don’t have very many boys on our team; with us having all (six) of them here today and a diver, this was the only way we were able to win this (boys) meet.”
Also for the Avon Grove boys, Jason Reuter won the 50 free (23.70) and the 100 breast (1:12.07), and the boys 200 free relay team of Kidder, Reuter, Ben Texter and Jacob Texter finished first (1:37.66). In the boys 400 free relay, Jacob Texter, Nick Giacometti, Jason Reuter and Kidder placed first (4:03.18), and the Red Devils’ Karl Mace won the boys’ diving (118.15).