West Chester Henderson boys, girls win swim season opener against Rustin

West Chester >> The West Chester Henderson swim team, featuring 40 girls and 25 boys, got its season off to a good start with a couple of victories against West Chester Rustin Wednesday evening at the West Chester YMCA.

The Warrior boys won a 103-72 decision while the Henderson girls came out on top, 100-86.

“I just think that, for us, tonight’s meet was about getting off the ground; starting the season right and coming together as a group,” said Henderson head coach Jeff Bott. “I’m really proud of our group tonight, there’s obviously a lot of work to do and room for improvement. I told the team this win was a real good starting point. I think a team’s depth is so important in these high school meets – everyone contributes in their own way.”

Aside from depth, the Warriors had a few standouts.

For the Henderson girls, Paige Fisher won the girls 200 free (2:02.23) and girls 100 breast (1:10.70), Shannon Gamble won the girls 50 free (26.06) and 100 free (56.14) and Natalie Krauss won the girls 500 free (5:29.26). Lauren Cotellesse posted a time of 1:04.45 in the girls 100 back.

The Henderson girls also won the girls 200 medley relay (Lauren Cotellese, Paige Fisher, Gabby Daltry and Shannon Gamble, 1:55.58) and the girls 200 free relay (Shannon Gamble, Natalie Krauss, Meghan Denney and Paige Fisher, 1:47.24).

The Warrior girls had some promising performances other than first-place finishes, such as Hannah Guidotti in the girls 100 back (fourth, 1:08.16) and girls 200 free (fourth, 2:11.03); Gabby Daltry in the girls 100 fly (second, 1:05.15) and 200 IM (third, 2:27.24); and Meghan Denney in the girls 200 free (second, 2:07.14) and 500 free (second, 5:34.49).

For the Warrior boys, Vedant Bedaker won the boys 100 free (50.31) and 200 free (1:54.37), Colin Smolders won the boys 200 IM (2:07.82) and 500 free (5:14.71), Finn Lukens won the boys 50 free (23.31) and posted an exhibition time of 1:05.04 in  the boys 100 breast and Edward Stoltz won the boys 100 fly (55.29) and posted an exhibition time of 55.12 in the boys 100 back (55.12). Sam Gilman placed first in boys diving (178.25).

Henderson also won the boys 200 medley relay (Vedant Bedekar, Finn Lukens, Edward Stoltz and Colin Smolders, 1:42.78) and the boys 200 free relay (Sean Dillon, Will Cortes, Bailey Steimel and Finn Lukens, 1:37.52). The quartet of Dillon, Bedekar, Smolders and Stoltz posted an exhibition time of 3:27.33 in the boys 400 free relay.

For the Rustin girls, Lily Turco won the girls 200 IM (2:15.85) and 100 fly (1:00.64). The Golden Knights’ Ellie Smith finished first in girls diving (208.65), Lily Greenwood picked up first place points in the girls 100 back (1:04.51) and the Rustin quartet of Lily Greenwood, Leah Hilt, Michelle An and Lily Turco finished first in the girls 400 free relay (3:52.53).

For the Golden Knight boys, AJ Chapman picked up first-place points in the boys 100 back (56.82), Sebastian Hess got first-place points in the boys 100 breast (1:11.14), and the Rustin quartet of Jonah Hilt, Brendan Porter, Vijay Upadhyay and AJ Chapman picked up first-place points in the boys 400 free relay (3:50.85).

“I’m really proud of our team today,” said Rustin head coach Kiera Callahan. “They swam hard and fought to the end, they did an awesome job. I’m looking forward to our next meet, against Great Valley Jan. 6.”