Conestoga girls, Alexa Fulton, Jake Wang win Districts gold

The Conestoga High School girls swim team, Pioneer junior Jake Wang and Downingtown East senior Alexa Fulton were the standouts at the final day of the PIAA District 1 3A Swimming Championships Saturday at the York County YMCA.
Defending District 1 3A girls champion Conestoga clinched another district team title Saturday, earning 316 points, well ahead of second-place North Penn (207). On Saturday, Conestoga senior Naomi Furman finished first in the 100 breast (1:03.12), after her strong performance in the breaststroke helped the Pioneers finished first in the 200 medley relay Friday.
Many of the Pioneer girls who starred Friday followed it up with another fine performance Saturday. The Conestoga senior quartet of Lily Robinson, Keira Haas, Furman and Audrey Laganelli finished second in the 400 free relay Saturday (3:29.51). Other strong Conestoga girls performances Saturday included Laganelli and Robinson in the 100 free (sixth and seventh place, respectively), junior Sarah Fox in the 500 free (seventh), freshman Maddie Fox and Haas in the 100 back (sixth and eighth place, respectively), sophomore Hadar Miller and freshman Reilly Dolan in the 100 breast (sixth and 10th place, respectively).
“Our depth is the main strength of our team at this meet,” said Conestoga girls swimming head coach Rob Kirkby. “We had 17 girls, including two divers, at Districts – that’s more than any other team had.”
The Pioneers feature four High School All-Americans in Robinson, Furman, Laganelli and Haas. Furman and Laganelli are committed to the U.S. Air Force Academy, while Robinson is a Brown University commit and Haas is headed to University of Connecticut.
“These seniors have been a strong and dominant force in our league throughout the years, and they’ve complemented each other very well,” said Kirkby.
On Saturday, Fulton set a new District 1 meet record in the girls 100 free (49.17), breaking the previous record of Pennridge’s Morgan Scott set in 2018. On Friday, Fulton finished first in the girls 50 free with a clocking of 22.79. Last winter, Fulton was the District 1 3A Girls Swimmer of the Meet, then won the gold medal at States in both the 50 free and 100 free for the second consecutive year.
In the District 1 3A boys meet, Conestoga finished second in the team competition, behind North Penn. Wang was named the Boys Swimmer of the Meet for the second year in a row, winning the 100 breast Saturday (55.74) and finishing first in the 200 IM Friday.
“Jake was very consistent with his swims this weekend,” said Conestoga boys swimming head coach Mark Tirone. “I’m hoping that it’s the start of things to come (going into States).”
On Saturday for the Conestoga boys, junior Cam Yeniay finished second in the 500 free (4:31.34), the Pioneers placed second in the 400 free relay with a quartet of Wang, junior Brock Whitaker, senior Andrew Zhang and Yeniay (3:06.37); and Whitaker was 10th in the 100 free.
Other top 10 performances in District 1 3A boys’ individual events Saturday included West Chester Henderson sophomore Edward Stoltz, who finished fourth in the 100 back (50.96); Oxford senior Alex Karahalis, who placed fourth in the 100 breast (57.06); Avon Grove senior Jacob Texter, who finished sixth in the 500 free; and West Chester Henderson sophomore Finn Lukens, who was 10th in the 100 breast.
In the District 1 3A boys competition, West Chester Henderson finished ninth, Avon Grove was 18th and Oxford placed 20th.
Other top 10 performances in District 1 3A girls’ individual events Saturday included Unionville junior Izzy Iwasyk, who finished second in the 100 free (51.03); West Chester Rustin senior Flynn Truskett, who placed third in the 100 free (51.06); West Chester East junior Taiylor Tegler, who placed third in the 100 breast (1:03.66); Kennett freshman Alexandra Scime, who placed fifth in the 500 free (5:04.23); Downingtown East senior Victoria Maki (ninth in both the 100 free and 100 back); Downingtown West freshman Elizabeth McNamara (eighth in the 500 free); Coatesville freshman Sarah McGann (ninth in the 500 free); and West Chester Henderson sophomore Paige Fisher (10th in the 500 free). The Henderson quartet of sophomore Meghan Denney, senior Shannon Gamble, junior Natalie Krauss and Fisher finished 10th in the 400 free relay.
In the District 1 3A girls team competition, Downingtown East finished fifth, Unionville 13th, West Chester Rustin tied for 15th, West Chester East tied for 17th, West Chester Henderson placed 19th, Downingtown West finished 22nd and Kennett was 25th.
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In the PIAA District 1 2A Girls Swimming Championships, Villa Maria Academy placed fifth in the team competition. The Hurricanes’ Keriann Collison had another productive day Saturday with a third-place finish in 100 free and a PR of 54.94. The Hurricanes’ 400 free relay (Collison, Graciella Schofield, Ainsley Ingram, Brinley Beck) finished sixth with a season-best time of 3:54.74.
Villa Maria head coach Fritz Schumann said, “We are proud of our young swimming team, along with a strong diving team, and look forward to an even stronger finish next season.”
Bishop Shanahan finished seventh in the PIAA District 1 2A girls meet team competition. Standouts for the Eagles included senior Kerrighan Stewart, who placed third in 100 back (1:00.96), sophomore Julia Taylor (finished fifth in 100 back), junior Isabelle Sawicki (placed eighth in 100 free) and the 400 free relay team of Sawicki, Taylor, freshman Julia Roselli and Stewart (finished fourth, 3:50.70).
In the PIAA District 1 2A Boys Swimming Championships, Bishop Shanahan finished seventh. The Eagles finished seventh in the 400 free relay, with a quartet of Owen Eusemann, Jayden Snook, Eamon Welsh and Matthew Carpenter.