SOUTH WHITEHALL TOWNSHIP — Katie Kurzinsky grew up idolizing former Marian swimming standout Kristen Shickora.
Now a Marian swimmer herself, Kurzinsky was able to emulate her idol Saturday at the District 11 Class AA Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.
Kurzinsky became the first Marian swimmer since Shickora in 2008 to win a district gold medal, placing first in the 100-yard backstroke.
The victory automatically qualifies the sophomore for the PIAA Swimming Championships to be held March 11-12 at Bucknell University.
“It was great. I’m so excited,” Kurzinsky said. “Kristen Shickora is the swimmer that I’ve always looked up to since I was little.
“I’ve aspired to be like her, and to have her talk to me before the race and give me advice was amazing. I feel like she’s my role model, like a big sister to me.
“To be a district champion like she was is one of the most amazing feelings.”
Shickora is the most decorated swimmer in Marian school history. In three years at Marian, Shickora was a perfect 6-for-6 at districts and won the Dennis A. McGinley Award, given to the outstanding District 11 female swimmer, twice.
Including her freshman season at Parkland, Shickora collected six gold medals and four silver medals at the PIAA Championships, and was the Class AA Outstanding Female Swimmer at the state meet in 2008.
Shickora went on to win an NCAA national championship as a member of the University of Georgia women’s swimming team.
Now the head coach at Saucon Valley High School, Shickora had some words of encouragement and advice for Kurzinsky before she hit the water Saturday.
“She gave me some motivation and some advice on what to do,” Kurzinsky said. “I was very grateful for that.”
A two-time Schuylkill League champion in the 100 backstroke, Kurzinsky’s best time in the event this season was 1:01.89 at the league meet Feb. 7.
Saturday, she dominated the race from start to finish, slicing that time by two seconds to a career-best 59.81. Schuylkill Haven’s Allison Adams was second in 1:02.31.
“I worked so hard all season, and to see it pay off like this ...,” Kurzinsky said. “Just three weeks ago, from then dropping all that time and to break a minute, which was my season goal, was amazing. I’m so happy.
“I came in with the game plan of ‘Do what you’ve gotta do to win.’ Just give it your all, pace yourself, keep an eye on where everyone else is at and just go.”
Kurzinsky’s victory in the 100 backstroke came moments after she placed second in the 100 freestyle to Southern Lehigh’s Jenna Forrester.
Kurzinsky was able to stay with Forrester through 50 yards, but the Southern Lehigh senior pulled away late. Forrester finished in 53.55, while Kurzinsky was clocked in 54.84.
“I was nervous about swimming two events in one day, but I knew I could do it,” said Kurzinsky, who swam the 50 freestyle last year at districts. “My parents and my teammates and my coaches gave me great motivation. They really pumped me up.
“I thought it was going to be tough, because I really wanted to do my best in both events. To get best times in both events was really great.”
Kurzinsky was the Schuylkill League’s only female gold medalist, and thus the league’s only girls’ swimmer to automatically qualify for states.
Several others, however, figure to join her by earning one of the at-large bids — 16 individual, eight relay — that will be awarded either today or Monday.
Adams excelled in her final District 11 meet, winning four silver medals. After placing second in the 50 freestyle Friday, the Haven senior was second in the 100 backstroke to Kurzinsky and then teamed with Taylor Felty, Elizabeth Bayliff and Mary Zimmerman to place second in the 400 freestyle relay in 3:49.03.
“We went in with a goal to keep up with Southern Lehigh,” Bayliff said of the relay race. “We told ourselves to kick the whole time, don’t stop kicking, and I think we fared pretty well.
“We worked really hard the past two years.”
Zimmerman added her second individual medal of the weekend by placing fourth in the 500 freestyle in 5:39.89. Schuylkill Haven took third in the girls’ team standings with 212 points, trailing only champion Southern Lehigh (480.5) and runner-up Allentown Central Catholic (250).
Tamaqua’s Rebecca Kanaskie also captured a pair of individual silver medals. The runner-up in the 200 IM on Friday, Kanaskie took second in the 100 breaststroke Saturday. The Blue Raiders’ sophomore was clocked in 1:07.69, just behind Saucon Valley’s Caroline Madigan (1:07.14).
“I wasn’t expecting to do as well as I did,” Kanaskie said. “I kind of left (Friday) with a bit of a shoulder injury, and I was having shoulder spasms (Saturday). I was not expecting that time whatsoever.
“I just got in there, my rhythm was good and it turned out really well. I’m just really psyched right now.”
At Parkland High School
Saturday’s results
CLASS AA
Teams participating — Allentown Central Catholic (ACC), Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Blue Mountain (BM), East Stroudsburg North (ESN), Mahanoy Area (MA), Marian (Mar), Moravian Academy (Mor), Northern Lehigh (NL), Northwestern Lehigh (NWL), Notre Dame-Green Pond (NDG), Palisades (Pal), Palmerton (Plm), Pius X (PX), Pottsville (Po), Salisbury (Sal), Saucon Valley (Sau), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Southern Lehigh (SL), Tamaqua (Tam), Weatherly (Wea)
GIRLS
100 freestyle — 1. Forrester (SL) 53.55, 2. Kurzinsky (Mar) 54.84, 3. Spirk (BC) 55.47, 4. (tie) Geis (SL) and Talecki (SL) 56.97, 6. (tie) Schiaretta (SL) and Simone (NDG) 57.35, 8. Bayliff (SH) 58.26
500 freestyle — 1. Karam (BC) 5:02.65, 2. Holstrom (ACC) 5:21.66, 3. Touzeau (SL) 5:35.45, 4. Zimmerman (SH) 5:39.89, 5. Blanchard (Pal) 5:49.38, 6. R. Donohue (BM) 5:50.76, 7. Washburn (Sau) 6:01.85, 8. Johnson (ACC) 6:05.25
100 backstroke — 1. Kurzinsky (Mar) 59.65, 2. Adams (SH) 1:02.31, 3. O’Neill (ACC) 1:02.59, 4. Davis (Mor) 1:04.69, 5. Sawickij (SL) 1:04.89, 6. Feldman (SL) 1:05.13, 7. Donato (SL) 1:05.15, 8. Pascuzzo (BM) 1:07.25
100 breaststroke — 1. Madigan (Sau) 1:07.14, 2. Kanaskie (Tam) 1:07.69, 3. Rodriguez (SL) 1:08.31, 4. Fahrney (ACC) 1:11.29, 5. Krupko (Mar) 1:12.69, 6. Posh (Mor) 1:13.46, 7. Webb (Pal) 1:14.26, 8. Bernardyn (MA) 1:14.98
400 freestyle relay — 1. Southern Lehigh (Talecki, Geis, Schiaretta, Forrester) 3:42.87, 2. Schuylkill Haven (Adams, Felty, Bayliff, Zimmerman) 3:49.03, 3. Allentown Central Catholic 3:50.23, 4. Moravian Academy 3:52.58, 5. Salisbury 4:02.36, 6. Saucon Valley 4:02.42, 7. Blue Mountain 4:04.98, 8. East Stroudsburg North 4:34.04
Final Team Standings — 1. Southern Lehigh 480.5, 2. Allentown Central Catholic 250, 3. Schuylkill Haven 212, 4. Moravian Academy 187, 5. Tamaqua 161.5, 6. Blue Mountain 161, 7. Saucon Valley 151, 8. Salisbury 97, 9. Mahanoy Area 81, 10. East Stroudsburg North 61
BOYS
100 freestyle — 1. Reihman (Sal) 47.87, 2. Castano (ACC) 48.36, 3. J. Marx (Po) 50.75, 4. Johnson (BM) 50.79, 5. Mansell (MA) 51.63, 6. Johnston (ACC) 52.61, 7. Arndt (ACC) 52.69, 8. Antolick (MA) 53.03
500 freestyle — 1. Shackleton (NWL) 4:41.25, 2. Avila (NL) 4:59.83, 3. Dando (Mar) 5:05.08, 4. Smerlick (Po) 5:06.09, 5. Logothetides (Po) 5:12.31, 6. Redfern (Mor) 5:18.57, 7. McGowan (SH) 5:21.11, 8. Turrano (Tam) 5:25.06.
100 backstroke — 1. Boran (BM) 54.98, 2. Bozzi (PX) 57.16, 3. LaSelva (BC) 57.22, 4. Mansell (MA) 59.12, 5. Wessner (BM) 1:00.92, 6. Wiener (Sal) 1:01.33, 7. Daniel (Sau) 1:01.56, 8. Caldwell (Pal) 1:01.91
100 breaststroke — 1. Marino (BM) 1:01.53, 2. Li (ACC) 1:04.45, 3. McLaughlin (BM) 1:04.54, 4. Delans (NL) 1:05.03, 5. Allen (Plm) 1:07.02, 6. Redfern (Mor) 1:07.25, 7. Madigan (Sau) 1:07.27, 8. Sirkot (Wea) 1:07.35
400 freestyle relay — 1. Salisbury (Bonge, Wiener, Carey, Reihman) 3:25.60, 2. Pottsville (Smerlick, Scanlan, Logothetides, J. Marx) 3:28.35, 3. Allentown Central Catholic 3:31.47, 4. Schuylkill Haven (J. Brennan, Raymond, S. Brennan, McGowan) 3:33.63, 5. Saucon Valley 3:36.24, 6. Moravian Academy 3:38.49, 7. Blue Mountain 3:43.47, 8. Tamaqua 4:14.15
Final Team Standings — 1. Allentown Central Catholic 312, 2. Blue Mountain 299, 3. Pottsville 263, 4. Salisbury 231, 5. Saucon Valley 189.5, 6. Schuylkill Haven 144, 7. Moravian Academy 133, 8. Mahanoy Area 119, 9. Tamaqua 84
CLASS AAA
Friday’s Pottsville girls’ results
200 medley relay — 9. Pottsville (Corse-Campion, Sternick, Berdanier, Deegan) 2:04.10
200 freestyle — 23. M. Consugar, 2:15.04
50 freestyle — 24. Deegan, 27.61
100 butterfly — 17. Corse-Campion, 1:06.03; 23. J. Turnitza, 1:15.01
Saturday’s results
Top 3, plus Pottsville finishers
100 freestyle — 1. Salvaggio (Parkland) 49.92, 2. Blair (Nazareth) 52.02, 3. Palochik (Nazareth) 52.25 ... 22. Deegan (Po) 59.92
500 freestyle — 1. Howell (Freedom) 4:59.04, 2. Connolly (Parkland) 5:01.72, 3. Jordan (Parkland) 5:05.12
100 backstroke — 1. Hsu (Freedom) 56.05, 2. Kutch (Easton) 56.50, 3. Freeman (Parkland) 57.13 ... 15. Corse-Campion (Po) 1:04.92
100 breaststroke — 1. Rosa (Easton) 1:05.20, 2. McCarthy (Liberty) 1:06.64, 3. Garton (Emmaus) 1:09.34 ... 20. Fellows (Po) 1:18.97, 21. Young (Po) 1:19.39
400 freestyle relay — 1. Parkland 3:31.32, 2. Freedom 3:34.62, 3. Nazareth 3:35.09 ... 10. Pottsville (Deegan, Berdanier, Zanis, Corse-Campion) 4:03.33
Final Team Standings — 1. Parkland 443, 2. Emmaus 334, 3. Liberty 294, 4. (tie) Freedom and Nazareth 247, 6. Easton 207, 7. Whitehall 181, 8. Pocono Mountain East 86 ... 11. Pottsville 43