'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE
Swim Meet - Conestoga v. Strath Haven - 12-19-19
It was a spirited Strath Haven squad that faced the Pioneers on Thursday afternoon, but the Stoga girls and boys remained perfect on the season with another easy win.
Caroline Famous got the girls off and kicking by leading Natalie McLaughlin, Delaney Burns and Lily Robinson to an easy win in the 200 Free relay. The drama was really in the battle for second, with Ava Collin touching out Keira Wiley by 3 100ths, giving Collin, Madi Ritzenthaler, Adriana Bertolotti and Alyssa Totoro the silver over Wiley’s group that included Kallie Whitaker, Naomi Furman, and Allison Yuan.
Audrey Laganelli continued the momentum by winning the 200 Free, before Robinson picked up her 2nd gold in the early going by easily winning the 200 IM. Famous then used a very strong start to lead teammates Joyce Fung and Erin Oh to a 1/3/4 finish in the 50 Free.
It was a Strath Haven show on the boards as the Dijstelbloem sisters were a very tough 1-2 punch, but Marley Duda and Paige Cutler battled to a 3-4 finish for Stoga.
Ritzenthaler, Lucy Wydeven, and Anna Bakker started off the 2nd half with a 2/3/4 finish in 100 Fly, followed by an identical 2/3/4 finish from Ayala Miller, Lilly Shui, and Emma Galef in 100 Free. The 500 Free was dominated by sophomore Sydney Bergstrom from Strath Haven, with Furman and Alyssa Totoro grinding to a 2/3 finish.
With the meet well in hand, Coach Kirkby setup a class battle between Stoga teammates in the 200 Free relay, with his freshman team stealing the show. Bertolotti and Yuan were neck and neck during the first leg ahead of freshman McLaughlin, but McLaughlin’s relay-mate Laganelli reeled in Wydeven and Burns in leg 2. All three Stoga teammates Oh, Totoro, and Furman were tight at the end of leg three, which allowed Robinson to close out the win for the McLaughlin, Laganelli, and Furman Freshman squad. Famous touched out Whitaker for the seniors giving the team of Yuan/Wydeven/Oh/Famous 2nd with sophomores Bertolotti/Burns/Totoro/ Whitaker completing the Stoga sweep.
Whitaker and Collin then went stroke for stroke down the stretch in the 100 Back, with Collin getting the touch for 1st, before Yuan took gold in 100 Breast.
Coach Kirkby again got creative for the 400 Free. While Strath Haven was going 1-2, Stoga set a lineup in class order to battle for 3/4/5. Freshman Keira Wiley was in a close battle with classmate Oliva Braswell ahead of fellow frosh Elle Wenstrup in the leadoff leg, before sophomores Burns, Lauren Verrelli and Shui maintained the same order in the leg 2. It was junior Collin’s show from there, as she outpaced fellow juniors Ally McKenrick and Claire Newhall, handing a lead to senior Wydeven who closed out a 3rd place Stoga finish ahead of fellow seniors Oh and Samantha Verrelli.
On the boys’ side, a similar fast start led to a similar result. Jack Hughes, John Yu, Christopher Ivory and Stanley Kim rolled to a win in the 200 Medley relay, with teammates Ryan McDonough, Ishau Jiang, Andrew Zhang and Jack Semmer taking 2nd. Stephen Graver and Matthew Pawlow then added another 1-2 finish in the 200 Free.
Sophomore Gary Wang took control of the 200 IM from the start, building a lead with a strong butterfly, extending it with a solid backstroke leg, ultimately winning the event by the length of the pool with a District Qualifying time of 2:03:03. Michael Orsulak and Derek Fung took 3-4 respectively. In 50 Free, Yash Ray used a great turn to win ahead of James Manion who took 2nd, leading into the diving where Patrick Hoey brought home gold to extend Stoga’s lead.
Wang was again impressive in the 100 Butterfly, winning by half a pool length over Luke Nagel. In the 100 Free it was a Stoga sweep, Raymond Welgosh leading the way with James Hughes touching out Kim for 2nd. It was time for 3 fast freshmen to lead the way in the 500 Free, as Ivory took gold, Aspen Malstrom silver, and James Johnson bronze in the grueling event.
Another underclassman was the star of the 200 Free relay, with Sophomore Manion driving home a win for teammates McDonough, Jack Hughes, and Jiang. Semmer, Nagel, Ray and Jack Reinhart took second, while Henry Kovan, Pawlow, Dennis Koh, and John Yu completed the sweep.
Miles Whitaker led the whole way in the 100 back, before Stephen Graver also easily won the 100 Breast in a District Consideration time of 1:03:69.
It was another Stoga sweep in the final event, the 400 Free relay. Graver took command in the second leg, but Welgosh’s strong 3rd leg got things even as anchors Malstrom and Johnson hit the pool. It was Malstrom winning the touch for his crew of Malstrom, Derek Fung, Graver and Ray over Brennan Stigall, Noel Park, Welgosh, and Johnson. Reinhart, Whitaker, James Hughes and Zhang completed the sweep.
The Pioneers are undefeated on the season, but there is a non-conference bully lurking around the corner. Conestoga takes on Malvern Prep / Villa Maria on Friday evening headed into the holiday break in what figures to be their toughest competition before Districts.
Final Score:
Girls: Conestoga – 96, Strath Haven – 85
Boys: Conestoga – 88, Strath Haven - 70