North Penn fast off the blocks in wins over rival Pennridge

EAST ROCKHILL >> North Penn earned some additional holiday gifts on Friday night, as their rewards for a brutal but satisfying winter training regiment began to pile up.

“Understanding how sweet this moment is, you have to go back a week ago and see what we were doing,” Knights coach Jeff Faikish said. “During the break, we were doing four hours of training — three hours in the pool and an hour of lifting every day. It’s not easy, it’s not fun. But, this is the reward. That perseverance and coming back even though your body says stay in bed, produced some fantastic swims today.

“I’m shocked, to say the least, to see how fast some of these kids are swimming. A lot of kids swam personal-best times today, which was fantastic. And our relays were phenomenal.”

It all added up to a 95-78 victory for the North Penn boys and a 95-83 win for the North Penn girls as the Knights pushed past rival Pennridge in a Suburban One League Colonial Division meet.

“We love this meet. We’re really good friends with Pennridge – coaching staff and kids,” Faikish said.

North Penn bookended the meet with pool records in the 200-yard medley relay and 400 free relay.

A team of Mason Potts, Aidan Faikish, Nathan Rawa and Macek Vandermolen went 1:37.59 in the medley, surpassing the previous record of 1:38.35, set by North Penn in 2019.

The Knights’ free relay foursome, which swam the event as an exhibition, cranked out a 3:10.19. The foursome of Danny Dunigan, Vandermolen, Faikish and Potts replaced the previous mark of 3:11.49, also set by North Penn in 2019.

“When I got here, I didn’t realize my brother (Sean, who is now at Notre Dame) had all the records,” said a smiling Aidan Faikish, speaking of the marks they were gunning for. “So it was a little bit more motivation for us to take them down. So I’m happy we got two out of three.

“After the medley, I felt pretty good. So I was like, let’s ride with it and see how fast we can go.”

Faikish raced to victory in the 100 fly and Nathan Rawa took care of the 100 free.

Madeline Faikish was first in both the 200 IM and 100 free for the North Penn girls, and she also swam on the winning 200 free relay. Emma Raser anchored both the medley relay and 200 free relay to victory for the Knights and she touched first in the 100 fly.

For the Rams, Ally Ricciardi (50 free), Emily Myers (500 free) and Lexy Hulse (100 breast) all won individual events and joined Anjali Verma for a win in the 400 free relay.

Freshmen Timothy Hong (100 breast) and Ethan Whitehurst (100 back) each had an individual win and were on first-place relays for the Pennridge boys.

“I am very proud of my team,” Ram boys coach Jenna Anselmo said. “I have a very young team this year – I have 10 freshmen, which is the most I’ve ever had in a season. We’re young, we’re learning, we’re racing. I have some freshmen who are going to be the future of this program and I’m very proud of what they’re doing. And my veterans – my sophomores, juniors and seniors – are also pulling their weight.

“At this point in the season, the guys are tired. They’re racing multiple times per week, they’re getting upwards of 10,000 yards in a day at times. So they’re training heavy and they’re tired, but the fact that they can come in and swim against a really top-notch team and put up some good times, and have fun, is what it’s all about.”

Boys Swimming

North Penn 95, Pennridge 78
200 medley relay: North Penn (Mason Potts, Aidan Faikish, Nathan Rawa, Macek Vandermolen), 1:37.59 (pool record, previous: 1:38.35, North Penn, 2019); 200 free: Colin Harkrader (NP) 1:50.76; 200 IM: Brayden Kemezis (NP) 2:03.14; 50 free: Brendan Lao (NP) 22.69; Diving: Brady Stanton (NP) 223.95; 100 fly: Aidan Faikish (NP) 54.14; 100 free: Nathan Rawa (NP) 50.40; 500 free: Benjamin Rawa (NP) 5:41.45; 200 free relay: Pennridge (Timothy Hong, Sean Whitehurst, Timur Akman, Michael Timm), 1:40.70; 100 back: Ethan Whitehurst (P) 1:02.82; 100 breast: Timothy Hong (P) 1:06.44; 400 free relay: Pennridge (Michael Timm, Caleb Powell, Jack Boor, Ethan Whitehurst), 3:51.68.

Girls Swimming

North Penn 95, Pennridge 83
200 medley relay: North Penn (Anna Evans, Eva Welsh, Sarah Poach, Emma Raser), 1:50.53; 200 free: Mikayla Potts (NP) 2:01.26; 200 IM: Madeline Faikish (NP) 2:19.25; 50 free: Ally Ricciardi (P) 25.24; Diving: Emily Donahue (NP) 178.20; 100 fly: Emma Raser (NP) 1:00.14; 100 free: Madeline Faikish (NP) 54.68; 500 free: Emily Myers (P) 5:43.51; 200 free relay: North Penn (Layla Robey, Sarah Poach, Madeline Faikish, Emma Raser), 1:42.69; 100 back: Emily Cattie (P) 1:14.73; 100 breast: Lexy Hulse (P) 1:13.18; 400 free relay: Pennridge (Anjali Verma, Ally Ricciardi, Emily Myers, Lexy Hulse), 3:54.86.