'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE
Central League Championships – Part 2 - Feb 15, 2020
The team outcome of the Central League Championships was all but decided before the Conestoga swimmers hit the pool on Saturday afternoon at Radnor, but that didn’t stop either squad from putting their best fin forward in the final five events of their Central League season.
James Hughes and Matthew Pawlow were very strong in Heat 5 of the 100 Freestyle, coming out of the first lap 1-2. Pawlow powered home from there to win the heat with a time that would hold up for 5th overall. Hughes battled down the stretch but was touched out for 2nd (10th overall). Stoga put three in the final heat, and like teammate Pawlow, Stephen Graver turned a tight battle after 50 to a big win in 49.01. Stanley Kim and Yash Ray went 4-5 in the heat, 6-7 overall in the event.
Aidan Brown was first in the water for Stoga in the 500 Free in Heat 4, and was in a 2-3 battle for most of the grueling swim. Finishing with a strong final 200, Brown took second in the heat and 13th overall. Jack Semmer benefited from strong heat competition in Heat 5, not only with fast swimmers to pace him but an outside lane that positioned him directly in front of his teammates. With most of his team in his ear stroke-by-stroke for the final 200, Semmer broke 5:00 for the first time ever (4:59:29) good enough for a District consideration time and 11th in the event. Luke Nagel was first off the blocks ahead of teammate Noel Park in the final heat. While Park trailed the field for most of the swim (still finishing a very strong 7th overall), Nagel was in a battle for silver. Positioned 4th for most of the event, he reeled in #3 and challenged #2 in the final 50 before being touched out by .06. Exciting, but all for naught, as he had been DQ’d approximately 5 minutes earlier for a false start.
The 100 Back was less dramatic. In the first heat, Mantas Sevelis and James Johnson battled the entire way before Sevelis extended late as they went 1-2 in the heat, but neither placed overall. Congratulations to Sevelis who broke 1:00 for the first time. Aspen Malstrom led Heat 2 from the start and stretched for a touch to get the heat win, but similarly did not place overall. Teammates Ryan McDonough and Miles Whitaker were the last Stoga swimmers in the event, participating in the second to last heat. They were in a four-way battle at the 50 turn before Whitaker settled for 2nd and McDonough won the touch for 3rd. They finished 8-9 overall.
It seemed like most of the team participated in the 100 Breaststroke (10 swimmers), resulting in six placers. Gary Wang led the way with a late charge to capture 3rd, just ahead of Raymond Welgosh who finished 5th. A scrum of Pioneers consisting of Matthew Pawlow, Ishau Jiang, Christopher Ivory, and James Manion finished within a second of each other in 9th, 10th, 11th and 13th place respectively.
After going 1-2 in the 200 Free relay on Friday, Stoga looked to continue that dominance in the final event, the 400 Free relay. They were good, but not quite THAT good! Ray hit the water first in Heat 3 and had a strong second 50 to give Stanley Kim a slight edge. Kim extended to a two-body length lead which Miles Whitaker maintained. Noel Park cemented the Heat win, which resulted in 5th overall for the B squad. In the final heat, Pawlow and Welgosh were in a tight battle with Radnor and were a close second after 200. But Luke Nagel eeked out a small lead for Stephen Graver. It’s always good to hand a lead in the 400 relay to the 100 Freestyle champ… and Graver did it again, driving home the win and capturing gold by 0.75.
A fantastic Central League season and championship for the boys concluded with Stoga outdistancing rival Radnor by almost 200 points in the league championship meet,
On the girls side, it is worth asking if Coach Kirkby is becoming bored by his dominant squad. What other explanation is there that he “forgot” to hand out another set of awards until reminded by the chanting crowd of Conestoga fans in the stands? His team captured gold in three of the five events on Saturday night, keeping him busy at the podium. I don’t think he minded.
In the 100 Free, Natalia McGlaughlin easily won Heat 3 to post the 16th best time overall, and was outdone by no less than four of her teammates. Ava Collin and Louise Hay were neck and neck after 50 in Heat 6, with Collin eeking out the win as they went 1-2 in the heat, and 5th and 7th in the event. In the final heat, Lily Robinson used strong turns and a powerful final surge to get the touch and the win for gold. Audrey Laganelli came out of Lane 1 to capture 4th overall.
In the 500 Free, Alyssa Totoro easily won Heat 3 with a District Consideration time of 5:30:04, narrowly edging teammate Ayala Miller who finished 5th in Heat 2 and 12th overall. In that same heat Delaney Burns had a battle on her hands the entire race but she held on to win the heat. Burns was the highest Stoga finisher in the marathon in 5th place.
Carolyn Famous immediately ended the Stoga slump, crushing the field in the 100 Backstroke by more than a second, breaking her own pool and meet record. Honorable mention to Garnet Valley’s Catherine Weaverling, who also bested Famous’s previous mark while taking silver. As for the rest of the placers, almost the entire back half were Conestoga swimmers – Kallie Whitaker (9th), Keira Haas (10th), Madi Ritzenthaler (11th), Lucy Wydeven (12th), apparently superstitious Allison Yuan (14th), Natalia McLaughlin (15th), and Elle Wenstrup (16th). We won’t mention that only the Top 4 placers per team score points…
Conestoga apparently has less depth at breaststroke, but it certainly appears to be very strong young depth. Freshman Naomi Furman held off a challenge from fellow freshman Katya Eruslanova of Haverford to finish atop the podium, with sophomore Adriana Bertolotti finishing 5th.
While there was no drama regarding the team score, the final event of the championships (400 Free Relay) proved to be exciting none-the-less. In Heat 2, Stoga’s B relay team used a strong 3rd leg from Alyssa Totoro and great turns from anchor Delaney Burns to reel in Garnet Valley, giving the foursome of Haas, Miller, Totoro, and Burns the heat win. It was good enough for 6th overall. The A squad had a battle on their hands in Heat 3, as Naomi Furman and then Louise Hay were tied for the lead after 200. Anchor Audrey Laganelli had a slight deficit as she took over from Ava Collin, and with the crowd roaring went to work. The valiant effort fell short however, as they were outpaced by Radnor and had to settle for Silver.
Radnor may have won the last battle, but they lost the war. Similar to the boys squad, Stoga cruised to the overall championship by almost 200 points. Congratulations to the 2020 Central League Champions!