Conestoga’s swimmers sparkle on the first day of Districts
The Conestoga High School swim teams sparkled on the first day of the District 1 3A Swimming Championships Friday at the York County YMCA.
At the end of day one, the Pioneer girls were in first place, with 181 points, comfortably ahead of North Penn (128); while the Conestoga boys were in second place, behind North Penn.
Leading the way for the Conestoga girls was the first-place 200 medley relay team of senior Keira Haas, senior Naomi Furman, freshman Maddie Fox and senior Lily Robinson, who posted a winning time of 1:45.65.
Other high finishes by Conestoga included Furman’s fourth-place finish in the girls 200 IM 92:04.44) and senior Audrey Laganelli’s fourth-place finish in the girls 200 free (1:51.72)
“Naomi swam a great breaststroke in the medley relay,” said Conestoga coach Rob Kirkby. “Maddie Fox helped us not only in the medley relay, but also in the 200 free relay (fifth place clocking of 1:37.62, with a quartet of Haas, Fox, Ayala Miller and Laganelli). We have a lot of team depth, and that really helps to carry you through at Districts.”
On the boys side, junior Can Yeniay won the 200 free with a clocking of 1:38.92, and junior Jake Wang won the 200 IM with a time of 1:50.23.
The quartet of Yeniay, Wang, junior Brock Whitaker and senior Andrew Zhang finished first in the boys 200 medley relay, with a clocking of 1:33.07.
“That was a real down-to-the-wire win,” said boys coach Mark Tirone. “Our team is really swimming well, and we’re taking it one step at a time, on the way to Bucknell (PIAA 3A state championships) in three weeks.”
Another highlight Friday was the performance of Downingtown East senior Alexa Fulton, who finished first in the girls 50 free with a clocking of 22.79. Last winter at states, Fulton won the gold medal in both the 50 free and 100 free for the second consecutive year.
On Friday, Fulton also anchored the Cougars’ fourth-place 200 medley relay team of senior Victoria Maki, junior Finley Mulhern and senior Cady Kiebort. The foursome posted a time of 1:48.19.
Other top-five performances in boys individual events Friday included Oxford senior Alex Karahalis, who finished third in the 100 fly (49.70); Avon Grove senior Jacob Texter, placing fifth in the 200 IM (1:55.99); Whitaker, fifth in the 100 fly (50.93) and West Chester Henderson sophomore Edward Stoltz, fourth in the 50 free (20.81).
For the girls Unionville junior Izzy Iwasyk, was third in the 50 free (24.22); West Chester Rustin’s Flynn Truskett finished fourth in the 100 fly (55.87); Robinson, who finished fifth in the 50 free (23.52) and Kennett freshman Alexandra Scime, who was fifth in the 200 free (1:52.68).
In the 2A championships, Villa Maria sophomore Keriann Collison finished second in the 100 fly. Seeded third, she posted a season-best time of 1:00.81, and was edged out for first place by only 0.3 seconds.
