LEWISBURG — The most successful season in Blue Mountain boys’ swim team history ended Thursday with a pair of its stars in the state consolation finals.
Senior Nathanael Marino placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke and sophomore Mark Boran was 15th in the 100 backstroke at the PIAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
The Eagles finished with 23 team points after its 200 medley relay (13th), 200 freestyle relay (13th), Marino and Boran all advanced to the consolation finals.
“It’s unbelievable, being up here with the boys,” Marino said. “We have a really close-knit group. It’s great to be with them, spend time with them. We all have fun personalities, and we all can mess around and have fun with each other. It was a great time.”
For Marino, Thursday’s effort was his highest finish
in his four trips to the state meet.
The SUNY-Maritime-bound standout was 14th in the Thursday morning preliminaries in 1:01.90, slightly slower than his District 11-winning time of 1:01.53, but faster than last year’s prelim time of 1:02.09 that earned him 17th place.
Marino’s career best in the 100 breaststroke was 1:00.83 when he won the District 11 title as a junior.
“I really had a time goal, just to push myself to a limit that I’ve never pushed myself to before, to get below a minute,” Marino said of Thursday’s game plan. “That’s really what I was going for.
“But I can’t complain with what I pulled through today. It was a really long day.”
Marino placed 26th at states in the 100 breaststroke as a freshman, 13th as a sophomore, 17th as a junior and 12th as a senior. He also took 22nd in the 50 freestyle as a junior, was 20th in the 200 IM on Wednesday, and teamed with Boran, Stephen Johnson and Joey McLaughlin to reach states in both the 200 freestyle relay and 200 medley relay the past two seasons.
The 18-year-old West Brunswick Township resident capped his sensational high school career by placing 12th in the consolation final in 1:02.28.
“I wasn’t too happy with my (prelim) time,” Marino said. “I got a call, and I talked to my sister for a while. She said, ‘You need to have fun with it.’ And that’s what I did.
“I can’t complain ... 12th in the state, that’s phenomenal. I got out of the pool and knew I put my all into it. That’s all I can ask for.”
Boran was 14th in morning 100 backstroke prelims in 54.72, faster than his District 11-winning seed time of 54.98.
Boran was 23rd in the 100 backstroke last year at states in 55.89. He placed 24th in the 200 IM on Wednesday.
“It was the first time I (reached the consolation finals) in an individual event, and I felt really proud of myself,” Boran said. “I decided to go full throttle in this one and see how I could do.”
Boran, who will swim at the YMCA state meet next weekend at Penn State, finished the consolation finals in 54.82.
He nearly placed higher than his older brother Tommy, who was a three-time state qualifier and placed 14th in the 200 IM as a senior in 2011.
“I messed up one of my turns, but I still went my hardest,” Boran said. “I didn’t go too much slower than the morning, so I wasn’t too disappointed by that. I still thought overall I had a good swim.
“For me, it’s more experience for the night session, so I can look forward to next year for states and that I can make it to the last heat instead of the consolation finals.”