Conestoga’s Jake Wang shines brightest at District 1 swim championships

York >> For the third consecutive year, Conestoga senior Jake Wang was named the Boys Swimmer of the Meet at the PIAA District 1 Swimming Championships at the Graham Aquatic Center Saturday.

Wang won the 100 yard breaststroke Saturday with a District 1 meet record time of 53.30, breaking the record of 55.28 set by six-time Olympic medalist Brendan Hansen in 2000. On Friday, Wang won the boys 200 IM, setting a District 1 3A meet record with his clocking of 1:47.36.

Conestoga boys swimming coach Mark Tirone said, “Overall, Jake had a great performance and, by far, without a doubt, was the Boys Swimmer of the Meet. Last year, when he won the 100 breast, he was a little disappointed that he didn’t break (Hansen’s) record, but he came close to it at that meet.”

Also on Saturday, the Pioneers won the 400 freestyle relay with a District 1 meet record clocking of 3:02.59, with a quartet of junior Hutch Wood, Wang, senior Brock Whitaker and senior Can Yeniay. Yeniay also won the gold medal in the 500 yard freestyle Saturday with a time of 4:32.86.

On Friday, Conestoga had three first-place finishers in the District 1 boys’ 3A division – Wang in the 200 IM, Yeniay in the 200 freestyle and the 200 yard freestyle relay of freshman Liam Haas, Wang, Whitaker and Yeniay, who set a District 1 meet record with their clocking of 1:23.47.

Conestoga finished second to North Penn in the boys 3A team competition, same as last winter.

“Overall, I think our guys had an outstanding performance,” said Tirone. “They finished strong, came in focused, you can’t ask for anything more. We’re looking forward to States, and seeing how things pan out there for us.”

Other solid finishes by Conestoga Saturday included Whitaker in the 100 freestyle (fifth place, 46.49), Henry Kogan in the 500 free (11th) and Wood in the 100 free (14th).

For the 3A girls, Unionville senior Izzy Iwasyk, a multiple medal winner at last year’s PIAA 3A state meet, finished first in the 100 free Saturday with a clocking of 50.65. On Friday, she posted a winning time of 23.14 in the 50 free.

“I have a lot of motivation this year – it took a while to get here, and being a senior, this is my last chance (to win),” said Iwasyk on Friday. “I’ve had a lot of tough competitors in the past, but I feel like this is my (best) year to win, so maybe it gave me some extra energy to win.”

Following Iwasyk’s performance on Saturday, Unionville swimming head coach Mike Mangan said, “I was so proud of Izzy’s district championships this weekend, especially since her goals now include focusing on strong performances at States. She is happy with how this weekend kept her on track for those goals.”

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West Chester Henderson finished seventh in the District 1 3A boys team competition. For the Warriors, Edward Stoltz was fifth in the 100 backstroke (50.47), Finn Lukens finished fifth in the 100 breast (57.61), Sean Dillon was ninth in the 500 free. Vedant Bedekar was 14th in the 100 back.

Other solid 3A boys finishes Saturday included West Chester Rustin sophomore Connor Kirby in the 100 back (sixth, 50.82), Avon Grove freshman Kyle Burk in 500 free (seventh, 4:43.94) and 100 back (10th, 52.48), Unionville freshman Grant Fleming in 100 back (11th), Downingtown East’s Sam Sperling in 100 free (11th), the D-East 400 free relay quartet of Sperling, Jack Thompson, Matt DiAddezio and Gabe Carroll (10th, 3:14.30), DiAddezio in 100 breast (15th), Downingtown West sophomore Shane Martin in the 100 back (15th) and the Rustin 400 free relay of Jonah Hilt, George Harkins, Philip Grece and Kirby (15th.)

In the boys 2A competition Saturday, Bishop Shanahan’s Owen Eusemann finished 12th in the 100 free.

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In the girls 3A competition, Chesco swimmers particularly sparkled in the 100 breaststroke, capturing nine of the top 14 spots, including West Chester East’s Taiylor Tegler (third, 1:04.30), West Chester Henderson’s Paige Fisher (fourth, 1:04.79), Conestoga’s Hadar Miller (fifth, 1:05.19), Avon Grove’s Cailin Maley (sixth, 1:05.48), Coatesville’s Macey Speakman (seventh, 1:05.98), Oxford’s Claire Livingston (10th), Great Valley’s Grace Curtis (12th), Conestoga’s Reilly Dolan 13th) and Downingtown West’s Keira Carmella (14th).

In the 3A girls 100 back, West Chester Rustin freshman Claire Roussakis was third (56.39), Conestoga’s Maddie Fox fifth (57.61), West Chester East’s Sam Heiland ninth and Avon Grove’s Lily Perrin 14th.

In 3A girls 500 free, Kennett’s Alexandra Scime placed fourth (5:02.62), Downingtown West’s Elizabeth McNamara was fifth (5:05.02), D-West’s Morgan Harlan was sixth (5:06.36), Coatesville’s Sarah McGann was seventh (5:06.62), Conestoga’s Sarah Fox was 10th and West Chester Henderson’s Natalie Krauss was 11th.

In 3A girls 100 free, Iwasyk was first, Downingtown West’s Leah Lacovara 16th and Avon Grove’s Ava Pfaff 17th.

In the 3A girls’ final event, the 400 free relay, the Downingtown West quartet of McNamara, Harlan, Carmella and Lacovara finished fourth (3:34.07), Conestoga (Olivia Tudge, Mackenzie Nagel, Sarah Fox, Maddie Fix) sixth (3:35.48), West Chester East (Emily Schwarz, Heiland, Grace Herlihy, Tegler) was seventh (3:35.58), Avon Grove (Kaitlyn Burk, Perrin, Maley, Pfaff) was eighth (3:35.73), Unionville was 10th (Amelia Miller, Jacqueline Heyer, Lauren Dobie, Iwasyk) and West Chester Henderson 12th (Caelen Ladd, Meghan Denney, Krauss, Fisher).

In the 3A girls’ team competition, Conestoga finished third, with 146 points, behind Upper Dublin (261) and Hatboro-Horsham (181.50). Avon Grove was ninth, West Chester East 10th, Downingtown West 11th, Unionville 12th, West Chester Henderson 14th and West Chester Rustin 18th.

In the girls’ 2A competition Saturday, Villa Maria Academy had some strong performances  and earned a third-place finish as a team. The 400 free relay of Keriann Collison, Meghan Collison, Gewn Devenney and Hailey Rittenhouse finished second (3:39.13). Rittenhouse finished third in the 100 free (53.96), Devenney was sixth in the 500 free (5:29.56), Riley Meriwether was 13th in the 100 breast and Brinley Beck was 14th in the 100 free.

Bishop Shanahan placed sixth in the girls 2A 400 free relay (3:52.06) with a quartet of Isabelle Sawicki, Lauren Ruggeri, Julia Roselli and Julia Taylor.

District 1 3A boys’ event winners (Friday/Saturday)

200-yard medley relay: Springfield (Ronanye, Chan, Johsnon, Kennedy) 1:32.61; 200 freestyle: Yeniay (CON) 1:39.93; 200 IM: Wang (CON) 1:47.36; 50 freestyle: Kennedy (SDC) 20.58; 100 butterfly: Johnson (SDC) 46.98; 200 freestyle relay: Conestoga (Haas, Wang, Whitaker, Yeniay) 1:23.47; 100 freestyle: Johnson (SDC) 44.51; 500 freestyle: Yeniay (CON) 4:32.86; 100 backstroke: Eckler (RID) 49.72; 100 breaststroke: Wang (CON) 53.30; 400 freestyle relay: Conestoga (Wood, Wang, Whitaker, Yeniay) 3:02.59.

District 1 3A girls’ event winners (Friday/Saturday)

200-yard medley relay: Upper Dublin (Williams, Sileo-Magliari, Auwarter, Shapiro) 1:43.98; 200 freestyle: Faikish (NP) 1:49.00; 200 IM: Jia (HAT) 2:02.06; 50 freestyle: Iwasyk (UN) 23.14; 100 butterfly: Jia (HAT) 53.83; 200 freestyle relay: Hatboro Horsham (Jia, Mothersbaugh, Erikson, Parker) 1:34.25; 100 freestyle: Iwasyk (UN) 50.65; 500 freestyle: Weber (WIS) 4:51.62; 100 backstroke: Conner (LM) 54.60; 100 breaststroke: Sileo-Magliari (UDU) 1:02.87; 400 freestyle relay: Hatboro-Horsham (Erikson, Luddecke, Jia, Parker) 3:24.58.