'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE
Swim Meet - Conestoga v. Marple Newtown - 12-17-19
Not only did the Conestoga Swimmers again dominate another Central League foe, they also served notice that they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Only six seniors took to the pool for the girls’ squad, while a scant four hit the pool for the boys in Tuesday night’s matchup with Marple Newtown.
Adriana Bertolotti swam a strong anchor to lead Elia O’Shea, Ally McKenrick and Ava Collin to a win in the medley relay to get things started. Lily Robinson then cruised to an easy win in the 200 Free, as teammates Joyce Fung and Samantha Verrelli went 2-3. Alyssa Totoro used a strong butterfly leg to win the 200 IM, with Sarah Park taking 2nd, before a similar 1-2 finish was recorded by Kallie Whitaker and Audrey Laganelli in the 50 Free sprint.
While the diving can often be an afterthought in these meets, the fans were treated to a pool record performance by Marple’s Alex Pastris, with Stoga’s Jamie Semmer battling to a personal best and District qualifying score to grab 2nd ahead of teammate Phoebe Hutton who took 3rd.
A 1-2 finish in the 100 Fly by Emma Galef and Keira Wiley kicked off the 2nd half, before Caroline Famous powered her way to a body length win over teammates Bertolotti and Whitaker in the 100 Free. Lauren Verrelli then took on the challenge of the 500 Free and finished 3rd for the Pioneers.
With the meet well in hand, the drama in the 200 Free was watching the nip and tuck battle between the 3 Stoga squads. Allison Yuan gave her teammates a lead, but her squad was ultimately caught by both Verrelli, Totoro, Lily Robinson and Madi Ritzenthaler, who touched out Erin Oh, Ayala Miller, Matalia McLaughlin and Naomi Furman for first.
The scoreboard was turned off (at 80-45) after Ally McKenrick and O’Shea went 1-2 in the 100 Back, followed by a 1-3 finish in 100 Breast from Lily Shui and McLaughlin. The last event was again 1-2 for Stoga, with Oh, Burns, Famous and Yuan outdistancing Claire Newhall, McKenrick, Laganelli and Collin at 400 Free.
On the boys’ side, Ryan McDonough, Gary Wang, Stanley Kim and Noel Park (3 sophomores and a freshman) got things started with a win in 200 Medley relay. Miles Whitaker dominated the 200 Free, then watched teammate James Hughes touch out Andrew Zhang for the Stoga sweep. Another close Stoga battle saw Stephen Graver use a very strong butterfly leg to edge Raymond Welgosh in the 200 IM heading into the diving where Patrick Hoey competed well for the Pioneers.
The second half saw Christopher Ivory, James Johnson, and Aidan Brown go 1-2-4 in the 100 Fly, ahead of a 1-3-4 finish from Yash Ray, James Manion and Jack Semmer in the 100 Free.
After Whitaker turned in a strong 2nd place in the 500 Free, the Stoga boys swept the 200 Free relay. Graver gave a lead to his teammates Ray and the Hughes brothers, then watched as each extended into an easy win. Ishua Jiang, McDonough, John Yu and Luke Nagel took 2nd, with Mantas Sevelis, Ivory, Johnson, and Dennis Koh completing the sweep.
While not in contention to win the 100 Back, 2-4 was a close Stoga battle throughout, with Luke Nagel edging Orsulak and Aspen Malstrom. Again the scoreboard was turned off (76-47) heading into the final two events, but there was still a bit of excitement. Gary Wang turned in a dominant 100 Breast performance over Koh and Derek Fung in the penultimate event, setting up a 1-2 Stoga shootout in the 400 Free relay. A battle throughout, Jack Hughes touched out Whitaker to lead teammates Semmer, Yu, and Matthew Pawlow to a close win over Whitaker’s crew that included Jiang, Manion, and Welgosh.
While Stoga has been absolutely spectacular in the kickoff to the Central league, they will need to be at their best to close out the week and the year undefeated. They will be back in action vs Strath Haven on Thursday, with non-conference power Malvern Prep/Villa Maria lurking on Friday.
Final Score:
Girls: Conestoga – 115, Marple Newtown - 68
Boys: Conestoga – 97, Marple Newtown - 78