Padilla, Gutshall, Richards lead returning champions into PAC swimming championships

This weekend’s Pioneer Athletic Conference Swimming Championships represent the last chance for some athletes to qualify for the district meet or improve their times heading into it.

But for those who have already clinched a spot in the District 1 championships at the York County YMCA in two weeks, this weekend might be a chance to try some different individual events or new relay team alignments. Or, if nothing else, it will be a good opportunity to swim as a team one last time this season and to also get a chance to compete against and enjoy some time with other competitors from around the PAC.

Both the girls and boys meets will be held at Upper Merion High School. The girls will compete Friday beginning at 6 p.m. and the boys Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The top three finishers in each event will receive medals and ribbons will go to the fourth through sixth place finishers.

The girls competition will feature three swimmers who won individual titles at last year’s PAC meet held at Perkiomen Valley. Phoenixville junior Kenzie Padilla – then a sophomore – swam in four events in that one. She set a pool record in the 100 butterfly and went on to place fourth in the state in that event and sixth in the state in the 500 freestyle. She also won the PAC 200 free and swam on relay teams that finished in second and third places.

Spring-Ford’s Ashley Gutshall, a two-time state medalist in the 50 and 100 free, won those two races at the PAC championships last year as a junior. Recently, she set a school and Ursinus College pool record of 23.83 seconds in the 50 free when the Rams met OJR to decide the PAC team championship.

Another returning PAC champion is Methacton junior Madison Wimmer, who won the 200 individual medley title last year. She went on to finish third in the district and qualify for states in the 200 free.

In the boys meet, three PAC individual champions return from last year. OJR senior Logan Richards won the 500 freestyle and 200 free PAC titles. In the process, he broke a 31-year old pool record at Perkiomen Valley in the 500 and went on to also shatter the District 1 all-time mark and win a gold medal at the PIAA Championships. He also placed sixth in the state in the 200 free.

Colin Davis, also from Owen J. Roberts, won the 50 free as a freshman and Wildcat teammate Eskander Bierman – then a junior – came in first in the 100 free. Another outstanding freestyle swimmer in Saturday’s event will be Pope John Paul II senior Henry Phillips, who placed second in the district and eighth in the state in the Class 2A free last year and won his third straight district title and finished seventh in the state in the 500 free.

Although unofficial team scores will be kept at the meet, this year’s official PAC championships were won by Owen J. Roberts by virtue of having the best dual meet record. Both went 10-0, with the girls winning their sixth consecutive title and the boys their second straight.

PAC Championships
Girls Top 3 Seed Times

200 medley relay: 1. Spring-Ford (Sadowski, S Koehler, A Koehler, Gutshall), 1:51.02; 2. Boyertown (Ferraro, Engler, Lacock, Andrews) 1:55.53; 3. Phoenixville (Mardis, Deeney, Padilla, Barbash) 1:55.65

200 freestyle: 1. Kenzie Padilla, Phoenixville, 1:52.26; 2. Eliana Crew, Owen J Roberts, 2:02.57; 3. Olivia Cooper, OJR, 2:03.64

200 individual medley: 1. Madison Wimmer, Methacton, 2:11.13; 2. Ella Dittmar, Perkiomen Valley, 2:17.34; 3. Laney Dittmar, Perk Valley, 2:17.43.

50 freestyle: 1. Ashley Gutshall, Spring-Ford, 23.83; 2. Kaitlyn McGuire, OJR, 25.15; 3. Natalie Spencer, OJR, 25.19

100 butterfly: 1. Kenzie Padilla, Phoenixville, 54.97; 2. Eliana Crew, OJR, 59.06; 3. Mackenzie Gorman, OJR, 1:00.54

200 freestyle relay: 1. Spring-Ford (Sadowski, A Koehler, S Koehler, Gutshall), 1:41.58; 2. Phoenixville (Mardis, Barbash, Deeney, Padilla) 1:45.95; 3. Owen J Roberts (Spencer, Fedun, Cox, Crew) 1:46.32

100 freestyle: 1. Kaitlyn McGuire, Owen J. Roberts, 55.69; 2. Lucy Michel, Methacton, 57.93; 3. Elsa Lucas, Pottsgrove, 58.38

500 freestyle: 1. Audrey Schroeder, Owen J. Roberts, 5:18.47; 2. Maddy Deeney, Phoenxville, 5:26.40; Ava Sgarra, Methacton, 5:27.79

100 backstroke: 1. Maris Sadowski, Spring-Ford, 59.68; 2. Amanda Tsai, Methacton, 1:01.73; Beatriz Santos, Upper Perkiomen, 1:02.09

100 breaststroke: 1. Tamara Engler, Boyertown, 1:08.83; Jane Hummel, OJR, 1:11.18; Ella DIttmar, Perkiomen Valley, 1:11.94.

400 freestyle relay: 1. Spring-Ford (Gutshall, A Koehler, S Koehler, Sadowski), 3:39.38; 2. Owen J. Roberts (McGuire, Schroeder, Gorman, Crew) 3:44.44; Spring-Ford (Griffith, Metry, Koons, Fennimore) 3:56.00.

Boys Top 3 Seed Times

200 medley relay: 1. Spring-Ford (Baganski, Sadowski, Dayrit, Reagan), 1:37.24; 2. Perkiomen Valley (Crothers, Croy, Keenan, Schilling) 1:39.66; 3. Owen J. Roberts (Kulp, Suessmuth, Flewelling, Bierman) 1:46.13

200 freestyle: 1. Logan Richards, Owen J. Roberts, 1:44.68; 2. Kyle Kruppa, Spring-Ford, 1:48.87; 3. Christian Lebold, Methacton, 1:48.56

200 individual medley: 1. Blaise Sadowski, Spring-Ford, 2:01.96; 2. Mark Flewelling, OJR, 2:03.65; 3. Cameron Wilson, SF, 2:04.73

50 freestyle: 1. Patrick Baganski, Spring-Ford, 21.53; 2. Eskander Bierman, OJR, 21.98; 3. Christopher Groff, Methacton, 22.15

100 butterfly: 1. Ethan Seussmuth, Owen J. Roberts, 52.92; 2. Henry Phillips, Pope John Paul II, 55.21; 3. Mark Flewelling, OJR, 55.22

200 freestyle relay: 1. Spring-Ford (Dayrit, Kruppa, Sadowski, Baganski), 1:30.13; 2. Methacton (Groff, Zang, Du, Lebold) 1:32.57; 3. Upper Merion (Andraka, Gordan, Hardel, Herman) 1:34.22

100 freestyle: 1. Colin Davis, Owen J. Roberts, 46.63; 2. Eskander Bierman, OJR, 50.13; 3. Nick Darragh, Phoenixville, 50.61; 3. Nate Reagan, SF, 50.61

500 freestyle: 1. Logan Richards, Owen J. Roberts, 4:37.47; 2. Christian Lebold, Methacton, 4:59.99; 3. Kyle Kruppa, SF, 5:00.32

100 backstroke: 1. Nate Kulp, Owen J. Roberts, 57.30; 2. Patrick Bowker, OJR, 58.77; 3. Maks Fedun, OJR, 59.89

100 breaststroke: 1. Blaise Sadowski, Spring-Ford, 1:01.79; 2. Ethan Suessmuth, OJR, 1:03.13; 3. Luke Andraka, Upper Merion, 1:05.08

400 freestyle relay: 1. Owen J. Roberts (Davis, Bierman, Suessmuth, Richards) 3:19.01; 2. Perkiomen Valley (Harris, Demark, Carpico, Crothers) 3:22.45; 3. Spring-Ford (Baganski, Dayrit, Kruppa, Reagan) 3:23.05.