Downingtown East, West swimmers earn dual meet split; Cougar boys undefeated

Uwchlan >> The Downingtown West swimming and diving teams celebrated their Senior Recognition Day Friday with a dual meet split against archrival Downingtown East in front of a spirited, packed house at the Lionville YMCA.

The Whippet girls (6-2) defeated Downingtown East, 101-85, while the Cougar boys completed an undefeated dual meet season (9-0) with a 104-76 win against D-West.

“There’s a lot of camaraderie in this meet,” said Downingtown West swim coach Dan Casey. “A lot of the East and West kids swim in clubs together. It’s fun for them to compete against each other here, even though this is a (strong) rivalry.”

Following the meet, the Whippets honored their nine senior captains in a special ceremony — Sydney Martin, Chayse Nunciato, Callie Ritter, Anya Zebluim, Josh Miller, Nathan Reynolds, Ike Durkin, Jack Taylor and Zach Mourar.

“All of our captains created a positive atmosphere for this team this season, and brought this team closer together, both in and out of the pool,” said Casey. “Due to their leadership, our swimmers became not just teammates, but also friends.”

The Whippet girls won four individual events Friday, led by Elizabeth McNamara, who won both the 200 IM (2:18.17) and 100 back (1:03.32) with district consideration times. Leah Lacovara finished first in the 100 free with a district consideration time of 54.23, and Cooper Jones finished first in the 50 free (26.44).

Downingtown West’s Morgan Harlan posted a district consideration time in the 500 free (5:28.67) while finishing in second place, and Casey pointed out that the Whippet girls’ depth was a key factor in their win.

“We’ve had a few top girls this winter, but all of our girls bring something to the team,” said Casey. “We had a lot of top three finishes today. The rest of the team was able to help us out as much as our top girls.”

The Downingtown West girls got off to a good start Friday when the 200 medley relay team of Martin, Ritter, Jones and Lacovara finished first (1:57.76).

The Cougar girls (7-2) gave the Whippets a spirited battle. Alexa Fulton, the 2022 Daily Local News Girls Swimmer of the Year, had a hot spurt late in the meet where she finished first in the 100 fly with a district consideration time of 57.77, then won the 500 free with a district consideration clocking of 5:12.75, then anchored the victorious 200 free relay team of Victoria Maki, Finley Mulhern, Cady Kiebort and Fulton, which posted a district consideration time of 1:43.12.

“Alexa had a big workload today, I asked her to do us a favor and take on a lot of big events, and those three events were very close together,” said D-East girls head coach Sean Wyatt.

Fulton also anchored the first-place 400 free relay team of Kiebort, Ellie Reese, Maki and Fulton, which posted a district consideration time of 3:42.36.

“Our relays really showed up today,” said Wyatt. “In the 400 free relay we got a (new) consideration time today — we crushed the consideration time that we had before, and I think 3:43 should hold up (for the District cut). We’ll have three relays at Districts now, and we’ll have about 5-6 individuals there.”

Maki won the 200 free with a district consideration time of 2:00.84, the Cougars’ Rachel Laraio finished first in 1-meter diving with a district consideration score of 243.80, and Mulhern was first in the 100 breast (1:16.23). Kiebort posted a district consideration time in the 100 free (55.30) while finishing second.

“Victoria did a great job in the 200 free,” said Wyatt. “We had a lot of good times from Ellie Reese – her first time ever swimming the 500 free (for us), and she swam it in under six minutes (5:58.96, fifth place).”

The Downingtown East boys, who completed an undefeated dual meet season, celebrated their win Friday by playfully tossing Cougar boys head coach Kirsten Snyder into the pool.

“I’m really proud of our team, they’ve been fun to coach,” said Snyder.

A key goal Friday for the Cougar boys was to qualify for Districts in the 400 free relay, and the quartet of freshman Sam Sperling, Matt DiAddezio, Jack Thompson and Gabe Carroll made that happen, posting an exhibition time of 3:20.71 in the final event of the meet.

“Before they went up for the 400 free relay, we talked about their splits, and they did exactly what they said they were going to do,” said Snyder. “I’m really proud of them.”

In the first boys’ event of the meet, the quartet of Sam Sperling, DiAddezio, Carroll and Thompson won the 200 medley relay with a district consideration time of 1:42.75.  The Cougar foursome of Niall Richards, Luke Sperling, Connor Kiebort and Thompson finished first in the 200 free relay.

On an individual level for the Cougar boys, Luke Sperling won the 200 free (1:53.28), Sam Sperling won both the 200 IM (2:07.91) and 100 fly (54.23) with district consideration times, Carroll won both the 50 free (22.24) and 100 free (49.15) with district consideration times, and Lucas Respicio finished first in the 100 breast (1:07.19), edging his East teammate Thompson (1:07.21) for the top time.

For the Downingtown West boys, Nolan Dobry finished first in 1-meter diving (167.75), Henry Dennin won the 500 free (5:26.27) and Shane Martin finished first in the 100 back (58.80).

 

Downingtown East (boys) 104, Downingtown West 76

200 Medley Relay: Downingtown East (Sam Sperling, Matt DiAddezio, Gabe Carroll, Jack Thompson), 1:42.75

200 Free: Luke Sperling, DTE, 1:53.28

200 IM: Sam Sperling, DTE, 2:07.91

50 Free: Gabe Carroll, DTE, 22.24

1-meter diving: Nolan Dobry, DTW, 167.75

100 Fly: Sam Sperling, DTE, 54.23

100 Free: Gabe Carroll, DTE, 49.15

500 Free: Henry Dennin, DTW, 5:26.27

200 Free Relay: Downingtown East (Niall Richards, Luke Sperling, Connor Kiebort, Jack Thompson), 1:37.11

100 Back: Shane Martin, DTW, 58.80

100 Breast: Lucas Respicio, DTE, 1:07.19

400 Free Relay: Downingtown West (Logan Seiss, Sean Borkowski, Shane Martin, Nathan Reynolds) 3:47.63

 

Downingtown West (girls) 101, Downingtown East 85

200 Medley Relay: Downingtown West (Sydney Martin, Callie Ritter, Cooper Jones, Leah Lacovara) 1:57.76

200 Free: Victoria Maki, DTE, 2:00.84

200 IM: Elizabeth McNamara, DTW, 2:18.17

50 Free: Cooper Jones, DTW, 26.44

1 Meter Diving: Rachel Laraio, DTE, 243.80

100 Fly: Alexa Fulton, DTE, 57.77

100 Free: Leah Lacovara, DTW, 54.23

500 Free: Alexa Fulton, DTE, 5:12.75

200 Free Relay: Downingtown East (Victoria Maki, Finley Mulhern, Cady Kiebort, Alexa Fulton), 1:43.12

100 Back: Elizabeth McNamara, DTW, 1:03.32

100 Breast: Finley Mulhern, DTE, 1:16.23

400 Free Relay: Downingtown East (Cady Kiebort, Ellie Reese, Victoria Maki, Alexa Fulton), 3:42.36