LEWISBURG -- The first day of the PIAA Class AA state swimming championships proved to be productive for the local district swimmers. Three earned medals, while two others earned all-state honors.
Danville junior Kelsey Williams won her second career medal in the 200 individual medley, finishing fourth, while Selinsgrove's Tyler Long won his first state medal, finishing fifth in the 200 freestyle. Lewisburg's Allison Friery made her first-ever appearance in a state final, winning an eighth-place medal in the 50 freestyle.
By virtue of their times in the consolation finals, Line Mountain's Michelle Giordani earned all-state honors in the 200 freestyle, while the Lewisburg team of Friery, Emily Maxwell, Gwen Stefan and Maggie Storm earned all-state honors in the 200 freestyle relay.
Williams finished fourth in her race, one place higher than her finish from a year ago. Williams's time of 2:08.21 was her best of the year.
"I'm really happy. That was my best time of the season," Williams said. "The first two strokes are my best, but the breaststroke is my weak point, but I held on pretty well."
Long has struggled in his career at times with the 200 free, so he was pretty happy with medaling in the event.
"The past years I've swam the 200 pretty horribly, so it was nice to swim my best time in the morning and come out in the evening and swim faster," Long said.
The 200 race was very tight. Long's fifth-place time of 1:44.09 left him less than a half-second from fourth.
"I swam my best time. I swam my race as good as I could have, so it can't get much better," Long said. "You always know it's going to be close. When you take a breathe, you take a peek to see where everyone is."
In a tight 50 free final, Friery finished eighth, but just a second behind the winning time of 23.18. She swam her best time of 24.37 seconds.
"I was happy that I was guaranteed with eighth," Friery said. "It was my best time, so I'm happy about that."
Both Giordani and the Lewisburg relay team shook off disappointing mornings to grab all-state honors, by finishing faster in their consolation heat than the last qualifier for the final. Giordani swam a 1:57.24 in the morning preliminaries of the 200 freestyle.
"I was a little disappointed (I didn't make the final), because I knew the time I swam in prelims could have been a little better," Giordani said.
Giordani bounced back to finish second in the consolation round with a 1:55.96 to earn all-state.
"It's my best time ever, so I'm really happy," Giordani said. "I wanted to keep my pace and finish strong."
Giordani shook off a disappointing District 4 meet as well where she finished second to Maddie Thompson of Jersey Shore. Giordani bettered Thompson's time twice on Friday.
"I was disappointed at districts, I'm really glad I came back to swim my best time at the state meet," Giordani said.
She's hoping her finish on Friday propels her to further heights in her final scholastic season. "I really hope I make it to the final next year, that's my goal," Giordani said.
Friery and her teammates swam their fastest time of the year in the preliminaries of the 200 freestyle relay, but missed the final by nine hundredths of the second. Lewisburg won the consolation final in 1:40.39 to earn all state honors.
Other area swimmers competed on Friday in the consolation final. Storm finished 11th overall in the butterfly in 58.86, also earning all-state status. Sammy Koons of Danville finished 16th in the 200 freestyle in 1:59.84.
Emily Maxwell finished 30th in the 200 individual medley in 2:21.55. Lexi Cole of Danville finished 25th in the butterfly in 1:01.7, while Michelle Delgado of Selinsgrove was 27th in 1:02.7.
On the boys side, Zack Haney of Danville finished 14th in the 200 freestyle in 1:47.48. Logan Metzger of Lewisburg finished 17th in the same event with a time of 1:48.18. In the 200 individual medley, Nathan Witmer of Warrior Run finished 21st in 2:03.29, while Matt Bason of Danville was 27th in 2:05.23 and Mike Jones of Mifflinburg finished 32nd in 2:10.55. Matt Reddell of Danville finished 23rd in the 50 freestyle in 22.59. The Danville 200 freestyle relay team finished 17th in 1:32.07.
Sports
Related Photos
-
-
-
Robert Inglis
-
Robert Inglis
Discussion
Locals win medals, all-state honors on first night
Locals win medals, all-state honors on first night
- Sports
-
-
Defense helps Crusaders snap skid
The going hasn't been easy for the Susquehanna University women's basketball team this season. So much so, that it hasn't won a game in more than a month.
-
SU rides Harley to win
With the chants of "ride the Harley" coming from the student body, sophomore Harley Sellinger certainly took visiting Goucher for a spin Friday night.
-
HS Roundup: Braves close in on playoff bid
Counted for dead not too long ago, the Shikellamy Braves are still alive and kicking and they are now one win away from making the District 4 playoffs.
-
Danville stays in HAC-I title race
When their 13-point lead had been whittled to seven midway through the fourth quarter Friday, the Danville girls were at a tipping point.
-
Harold Raker's column on high school wrestling: Playing the name game
Going into last weekend, with four Valley teams competing in the District 4 Class AA and AAA Duals Tournament, I had already made tentative plans to be in Hershey this week. Had things gone really well, I would have still been in Chocolatetown, covering at least one of them in the state tournament.
-
NCAA denies UConn APR waiver request
The NCAA on Friday turned down the University of Connecticut's request for a waiver that would allow its men's basketball team to play in the 2013 national championship tournament.
-
College Lacrosse: Bucknell men prepare to improve upon great season
LEWISBURG -- It started a handful of years ago, when the Bucknell men's lacrosse team put a big 'X' on the national map in Central Pennsylvania with an upset of No. 1 Maryland. From that point on Bison coach Frank Fedorjaka has had a difficult time getting big-time opponents on the schedule, even with Bucknell opting to travel under the worst of circumstances.
-
High school football: Pratt says Kutztown the right fit
SUNBURY -- When Shikellamy's Tyler Pratt joins the Kutztown University football team as a free safety next fall, he will already have a good feeling for what his position coach will expect from him. Pratt, who signed a national letter of intent this week to accept a scholarship offer to play for the Golden Bears, will be under the tutelage of his father's high school football coach.
-
Todd Stanford On high school boys basketball: Increasing the refs' workload
If two heads are better than one, does that mean six eyes are better than four? Not necessarily, according to some Heartland Athletic Conference officials. There is a move afoot in the HAC to cut the number of basketball referees from three to two for part of the season beginning next year.
-
High School Roundup: Greenwood boys complete perfect TVL season
Greenwood capped off an unbeaten 2011-12 Tri-Valley League season by crushing Halifax 61-38 on Thursday Night.
- More Sports Headlines
-
Defense helps Crusaders snap skid
