'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE
Conestoga vs Garnet Valley - January 24, 2020
It was Senior Day for the Stoga swimmers on Friday night, as those participating in their last home meet were honored for their contributions to the program. In addition to numerous individual achievements, the most impressive from a team standpoint is that neither the boys nor girls Seniors had ever lost a Central League dual meet. Garnet Valley was on hand to try and change that, and the GV girls in particular were expected to be a formidable foe, coming into Friday night’s battle undefeated.
If Garnet Valley girls were primed to try and pull the upset, senior Caroline Famous made sure they knew Stoga was ready for the challenge. Exploding off the wall in the backstroke leg of the 200 Medley Relay, Famous was 2 body lengths ahead by the time she took her first stroke. Her teammates Adriana Bertolotti, Allison Yuan, and Lily Robinson were just as impressive, easily taking gold. Senior Lucy Wydeven, Lilly Shui, Alyssa Totoro, and Kallie Whitaker were in a battle for second, but Whitaker’s charge down the stretch needed about two more strokes as she was touched out.
Garnet Valley’s freshman Diedre-McKenna Scudder got GV’s first win in the 200 Free, touching out Delaney Burns by .02, with Ava Collin taking fourth. In the 200 IM, Naomi Furman fought back from an early deficit, using a powerful breaststroke leg to reel in Garnet Valley’s Catherine Weaverling, but could not make up enough ground in freestyle and took silver. Adriana Bertolotti finished 4th.
The back and forth battle continued in 50 Free, with Robinson’s huge turn being the difference as she and Senior Louise Hay went 1-3. With no diving at UMLY, halftime had senior divers Jamie Semmer and Tanna Styer joining senior swimmers Erin Oh and Samantha Verrelli and the other teammates for Senior recognition, with Stoga holding a 12 point lead at the break.
Garnet Valley wasn’t going away, as Weaverling was back and easily outpaced Totoro and Madi Ritzenthaler in the 100 Fly. The upset bid took a major hit in the 100 Free, however, as Robinson led the Stoga sweep, with Hay taking silver and Yuan holding off a late charge to earn bronze. But again Garnet Valley rallied, with Amy Townsend dominating the field in the 500 Free, with Burns hanging on for silver. Ava Collins put on a strong challenge for bronze but faded to 4th.
The drama continued in the 200 Free Relay, with Hay and Whitaker establishing a body length lead before handing off to Yuan. Anchor Robinson had a small lead as she hit the water, and with the crowd roaring, held off Garnet Valley’s challenge to get the touch by .3. Natalie McGlaughlin, Ritzenthaler, Joyce Fung and Totoro battled to bronze.
Heading into the final three events, Garnet Valley was likely going to need to sweep gold if they wanted to pull the upset. But with Famous on the blocks for her final swim in the Stoga home pool, those hopes were dashed immediately. Famous again established a huge lead by the first turn, cruising to the win with Wydeven taking third. Furman then established a three body-length lead after 50 of the 100 Breast, winning comfortably as Bertolotti cruised to silver.
Senior Yuan put forth a strong effort in her final time in the pool, taking the baton from Burns and reeling in Garnet Valley in the second leg of the 400 Free relay. Whitaker kept things tight for anchor Collin, but Collin could not hold on and Stoga took silver in the wrapup event.
Final score of the thrilling senior sendoff, Conestoga 103, Garnet Valley 81.
On the boys’ side, someone forgot to tell the sophomores it was Senior night. The second year crew of Gary Wang, Raymond Welgosh, Stanley Kim, and Stephen Graver had no nostalgia in holding off and touching out the Senior relay team of Jack Hughes, Ishau Jiang, Miles Whitaker, and James Hughes in the 200 IM Relay. Sophomore Jack Semmer then continued the charge, grabbing a lead after 100 and cruising to the win over Aiden Brown in the 200 Free.
Garnet Valley’s senior Griffin Young dominated an all freshmen field for Conestoga in the 200 IM, with Aspen Malstrom and James Johnson neck and neck after the breaststroke leg in a 4 way battle for silver, with Malstrom hanging on and Johnson fading to 5th.
Wang then led the way in the 50 Free before the senior recognition break.
The 100 Fly kicked off the 2nd half, with Noel Park in a tight battle before a strong stretch run earned him gold. Yash Ray then turned a body length lead after 50 to a comfortable win in the 100 Free, with James Manion getting touched out for silver by .02.
The sophomores were back in the 500 Free, with a reluctant but dominant Stephen Graver breaking the 5:00 mark for the first time to outdistance classmate Semmer and junior Brown who went 2-3. Graver then helped seniors Hughes, Whitaker, and Hughes go out in style in the 200 Free relay, with Jack Hughes’ strong start being the difference as they took gold. Hughes had to hang on as teammate Wang’s strong anchor came up just short for his crew that included Stanley Kim, Nagel, and Jiang.
The 100 Back was over after 50, as Ryan McDonough had a powerful second length and dominated from there. Teammate Welgosh then earned a silver in 100 Breast.
The final event of the night, the 400 Free relay, was a four-way back and forth battle. Manion and Semmer handed a small lead to Senior Aaron Li, but Li and James Hughes were overtaken by a Garnet Valley foursome and a powerful final swim from Jiang. With Garnet Valley in his sights, anchor Nagel charged down the stretch but was touched out by .24.
Final score – Conestoga 101, Garnet Valley 77