'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE
Central League Championships – Day 1 - Feb 14, 2020
The final battle in Conestoga’s quest for the Central League crown kicked off with a diving skirmish earlier in the week, with Patrick Hoey capturing 11th for the boys and teammates Phoebe Hutton and Jamie Semmer going 7/8.
The forces then lined up for half of the swimming events on Friday night, as both Stoga squads looked to continue their march to the title. Generals Tirone and Kirkby had their warriors ready. With the top 16 finishers in each event scoring points, speed plus depth would be key. Stoga has both.
The boys hit the pool first. Gary Wang kicked off the 200 Medley relay for Stoga’s A squad, and was in a tight battle for the lead as he tagged Ishau Jiang. Stanley Kim kept pace in breaststroke, but a tough Radnor foursome outdistanced Kim and anchor James Hughes to earn gold. The B team of Ryan McDonough, Noel Park, Christopher Ivory, and James Manion earned 5th.
Stephen Graver was in a tight battle in the second to last heat of the 200 Free, and surged down the stretch to win the heat in 1:47:73, knocking 2 seconds off his seed time. It was good enough for an overall 5th place in the event. In the same heat, Miles Whitaker edged Jack Semmer as they finished 12th and 13th overall respectively. In the final heat Raymond Welgosh put on a show, outdistancing the field in the second 100 to take gold. Teammate Luke Nagel rode a strong start but was touched out and settled for bronze.
John Yu charged down the stretch in the second heat of the 200 IM, but was nipped at the wall and finished 4th in the heat, good enough for 15th place overall. Dennis Koh also had a very strong freestyle leg in the same heat to take 13th. Heat 3 had Christopher Ivory make up ground in breaststroke to finish 3rd (9th overall), before James Manion took over for Stoga in the final heat. In a tight battle for Top 3 after backstroke, Manion kept it close throughout but could not make up enough ground in freestyle and finished 4th.
Conestoga only sent two swimmers out to compete in the 50 Free, but were the only school to have two finish in the Top 10. James Hughes edged Yash Ray as the duo earned 6th and 7th in the sprint.
In the 100 Butterfly, Ryan McDonough put on a late charge to win the 3rd heat, good enough for 13th overall. In the final heat, Gary Wang was in a battle for gold the entire race, but was outpaced late and captured silver. Fellow sophomore Stanley Kim finished 5th overall.
Coach Tirone shuffled up the teams in the 200 Free Relay, and it proved to be brilliant strategy. In heat 3, Manion led off the Stoga B team and handed a small lead to Yash Ray. Ray’s great start built a strong foundation for Matthew Pawlow and Nagel to extend and easily win the heat. In the final heat, Gary Wang handed a ½ body-length lead to Hughes, who immediately doubled it. Welgosh then exploded off the blocks and had a four body-length lead before his first stroke. Anchor Graver was halfway across the pool before the closest competitor hit the water, as the foursome easily took gold in 1:28:19. The real battle was on the scoreboard, however, as the 1:29:27 from the B team held up, and Stoga went 1-2 in the final event for the boys on the night.
With half the events complete, the boys point total is 291, a 105 point lead over their closest competitor.
It is a Central League championship tradition for the coach of the winning swimmer to hand out the awards at the end of each event. This ritual left girls Coach Kirkby looking like a rope line politician by the end of the night – he shook a lot of hands.
As is her habit, Carolyn Famous immediately had a lead in the backstroke leg of the 200 Medley relay. Naomi Furman stretched that lead, but it was a huge butterfly leg from Allison Yuan that gave anchor Lily Robinson a shot to close out a pool and meet record. She delivered, and the Stoga foursome smashed the mark by over 2 seconds! Teammates Kallie Whitaker, Adriana Bertolotti, Delaney Burns and Alyssa Totoro were solid and steady taking 6th.
With 5 heats (30 swimmers) ordered by seed time, it would be unusual for someone to place Top 16 out of Heat 2. But freshman Ayala Miller did exactly that, sneaking in at 15th in the 200 Free. Ava Collin was awesome in the penultimate heat, building a big lead after her first turn and cruising to a win in 1:57:88, knocking 7 seconds off her seed time, taking first in the heat and 5th overall. Keira Haas joined her in the heat and earned an overall 10th place finish. In the final heat, Audrey Laganelli’s powerful finish earned her bronze, while Delaney Burns finished 6th in the event.
It was almost a Stoga Sweep of freshmen in Heat 4 of the 200 Yard IM, as Keira Wiley won the heat with Sarah Park and Emma Galef going 2-4. None of the trio placed overall however. Classmate Naomi Furman did, as a strong breaststroke leg landed her bronze in the final heat. Sophomore Adriana Bertolotti knocked 3.5 seconds off her seed time and took 7th overall.
Teammates Kallie Whitaker and Louise Hay went 1-2 in Heat 5 of the 50 Free, earning them 9th and 13th overall, while we perhaps witnessed a changing of the guard in the Final heat. Senior Caroline Famous dominated the field to win by 0.5, while potential heir apparent freshman Robinson had a great swim before losing the touch and finishing 3rd.
It appeared that the entire team competed in the 100 Butterfly, but in reality it was only 11 Stoga swimmers. Allison Yuan led the way, and was in a tight four way battle at the half way point before capturing bronze. Alyssa Toto ro used a strong finish to win heat 5 and finish 10th overall, while Emma Galef had a similar late charge in heat 6 to take 16th.
Coach Kirkby mirrored Coach Tirone and mixed up the order of the 200 Free Relay, and received strong if slightly less spectacular results. The B Squad in Heat 2 used a great start by Keira Haas to turn Kallie Whitaker’s small lead into a big one that Adriana Bertolotti and Ava Collin closed out. That effort was good enough for 4th overall. In the final heat, Louise Hay and Lily Robinson handed a small lead to Adriana Bertolotti. Bertolotti was strong, building a body length lead that Carolyn Famous hammered home for the win in 1:37:79.
Halfway through the championships, Conestoga Girls have 310 points, with Radnor in 2nd place at 243.