Several local athletes had outstanding performances at the State Games of America held July 29 through Aug. 4 in the Harrisburg/Hershey area.
The State Games of America are held every other year, and it was the first time the event was held in Pennsylvania. Previous State Games competitions have been held in St. Louis (1999, 2001), Hartford, Conn. (2003); Colorado Springs, Colo. (2005, '07, '09) and San Diego, Calif. (2011).
Gymnastics
Grace Fenstermacher, of Friedensburg, won five medals and placed second all-around in the girls' Level 4 10-year division.
Representing the Pottsville Gymnastics & Theatrical Center, Fenstermacher won silver on bars (9.1), silver on beam (9.225), bronze on vault (9.25), bronze on floor (9.1) and finished with an all-around score of 36.625.
Fenstermacher's PGTC teammate, McKenna Fletcher, earned a silver medal on floor, posting a 9.25 in the Novice Optional division. The PGTC has competed in every State Games of America competition since its inception in 1999.
- Morgan Hadesty of Tamaqua, 10, won bronze on bars (9.425) and placed fifth on beam (9.225) in the Level 5 competition. Hadesty competed in only two events due to a fractured patellar sleeve.
- Chloe Kruslicky, 8, placed sixth on bars in the 8-9-year-old group. Kruslicky is a member of Tumble with Denise of Lehighton.
Girls' Basketball
Alexi Plachko of Pottsville, Abbey McGee of Mahanoy Area, and Lilyana Bickel of Lourdes were members of the Mid-Penn Motion girls' basketball team that captured the gold medal in the 6th-grade division.
The Mid-Penn Motion went 4-1, beating the Lady Showtime of Berks County in the gold-medal game after losing to them in pool play. Plachko and McGee both started for the squad, which had players from Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, York, Hanover and Elysburg (Bickel).
Power lifting
Three local weightlifters from Barnesville earned medals in the bench press/deadlift competition.
Jim Kane placed first in the Men's Open/Raw 220-pound division, while Robert Roncek captured gold in the Men's Junior Open/Raw 220-pound division. Mike Tomko garnered silver in the Men's Open/Raw 242-pound event.
Wrestling
Josh Mason of Orwigsburg went 5-0 for Team Pennsylvania in the team dual tournament.
Swimming
Schuylkill County swimmers shined at the State Games of America, with several bringing home a bounty of medals from the competition held at Central York High School. The swimming competition featured 510 swimmers from 20 states.
Most of the local swimmers that competed represented the Schuylkill YMCA.
Here's an individual look at how local swimmers fared:
- Pottsville's Ryan Schreffler broke five state records en route to five gold medals in the boys' 11-12-year-old division.
Schreffler won the 50 freestyle (24.16), 100 IM (1:02.67), 100 freestyle (52.98) 50 backstroke (27.83) and 200 freestyle (1:55.45), all in convincing fashion.
- Mary Zimmerman, 14, of Auburn, captured two gold, two silver and a bronze medal in the girls' 13-14 division.
Individually, Zimmerman won the girls' 13-14 100 freestyle (55.28), took second in the 50 freestyle (25.52) and 200 freestyle (2:04.99), and was sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:08.35).
- Zaidian Van Orden, 10, of Schuylkill Haven, broke the SGA record by placing first in the boys' 9-10 50 butterfly with a time of 31.89.
Van Orden garnered seven medals, placing third in the 200 freestyle (2:30.13), fourth in the 50 freestyle (30.18), fourth in the 100 freestyle (1:08.59), sixth in the 50 backstroke (37.74), first in the 200 freestyle relay and third in the 200 medley relay.
- Austin Bayliff, 18, of Schuylkill Haven, placed first in the boys' 17-18 200 freestyle in 1:53.61.
Bayliff, a recent Schuylkill Haven graduate, also placed second in the 100 butterfly (57.78), second in the 100 backstroke (1:00.51), third in the 50 freestyle (23.09) and fourth in the 100 freestyle (50.84).
- Bayliff's main competition in several events was former Schuylkill Haven teammate Billy Sieck, 17, who was second in the 200 freestyle (1:57.22), third in both the 200 backstroke (2:16.50) and 100 backstroke (1:00.72), fifth in the 100 freestyle (52.50) and sixth in the 50 freestyle (24.25). Sieck will be a senior for the Hurricanes this winter.
- Timmy Dando, 14, of Girardville, captured a gold medal in the boys' 13-14 200 freestyle with a time of 1:56.49.
Dando, who will be a freshman at Marian, also was second in the 500 freestyle (5:25.71), took second in the boys' 15-16-year-old 200 medley relay with swimmers from other states, was fourth in the 100 freestyle (53.50) and fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:01.35).
- Madison Dando, 10, of Girardville, competed in six events and won a pair of medals in the girls' 9-10 division. A fifth-grader at Trinity Academy in Shenandoah, Madison was fifth in the 200 freestyle (2:33.55), sixth in the 100 freestyle (1:10.58), 10th in the 50 freestyle (31.54), 10th in the 50 breaststroke (43.13), and 15th in the 50 butterfly (37.25). All of her times were personal bests.
Both Madison and Timmy Dando swim with the Hazleton YMCA.
- Pottsville's Dylan Schreffler, 10, placed second in the boys' 9-10 50 freestyle (29.26). He was also fifth in both the 100 freestyle (1:08.75) and 50 backstroke (37.67) and 11th in 100 IM (1:25.47).
- Pottsville's Sarah Campion, 13, finished in the top 10 in four events, placing third in the 100 backstroke (1:05.88), fourth in the 100 butterfly (1:05.10), fifth in the 100 freestyle (57.69) and ninth in the 50 freestyle (26.58) in the girls' 13-14 age group.
- Schuylkill Haven's Elizabeth Bayliff, 16, captured four medals, taking third in the 50 freestyle (26.56), fifth in the 100 butterfly (1:13.65), sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:17.94) and seventh in the 100 freestyle (58.87).
Other local swimmers who competed in the State Games of America, and their results:
Girls' 9-10
Rebecca Wagner, 10, Schuylkill YMCA - 8th in 50 freestyle (31.21), 8th in 50 butterfly (35.68), 6th in 100 IM (1:21.09), 9th in 100 freestyle (1:11.85)
Maria Lopez, 10, Blue Mountain - 13th in 50 freestyle (32.09)
Morgan Yuengling, 9, Schuylkill YMCA - 39th in 50 freestyle (35.87), 31st in 100 IM (1:35.99), 39th in 50 breaststroke (50.58), 23rd in 50 backstroke (41.94)
Nadia Zimmerman, 9, Schuylkill YMCA - 56th in 50 freestyle (39.93), 42nd in 100 IM (1:40.48), 37th in 50 breaststroke (49.85), 39th in 50 backstroke (45.64)
Boys' 9-10
Reese Felty, 9, Schuylkill YMCA - 19th in 50 freestyle (35.48), 15th in 100 IM (1:31.35), 13th in 100 freestyle (1:23.17), 14th in 50 breaststroke (49.93), 16th in 50 backstroke (42.62)
Andrew Phillips, 10, Schuylkill YMCA - 30th in 50 freestyle (37.26), 23rd in 100 freestyle (1:36.15), 13th in 50 breaststroke (47.29), 23rd in 50 backstroke (46.24)
Boys' 11-12
Zack Turnitza, 12, Schuylkill YMCA - 5th in 50 butterfly (30.44), 10th in 100 IM (1:14.08), 3rd in 100 backstroke (1:09.28), 4th in 50 backstroke (31.67)
Eliot Keith, 12, Schuylkill YMCA - 29th in 50 freestyle (33.87), 17th in 100 freestyle (1:14.87), 12th in 100 backstroke (1:31.80), 18th in 50 breaststroke (42.83), 26th in 50 backstroke (42.22)
Jack Kalinich, 11, Schuylkill YMCA - 30th in 50 freestyle (34.17), 27th in 50 butterfly (39.99), 22nd in 100 freestyle (1:20.80), 24th in 50 backstroke (40.71)
Derrick Yuengling, 11, Schuylkill YMCA - 31st in 50 freestyle (35.42), 23rd in 100 freestyle (1:28.63)
Girls' 13-14
Taylor Felty, 14, Schuylkill YMCA - 15th in 50 freestyle (27.43), 8th in 200 IM (2:30.44), 10th in 100 freestyle (1:00.41), 8th in 100 breaststroke (1:19.29), 10th in 100 backstroke (1:09.98)
Jessica Turnitza, 13, Schuylkill YMCA - 18th in 200 IM (2:39.98), 24th in 100 freestyle (1:03.68), 17th in the 200 freestyle (2:21.28)
Laura Turnitza, 13, Schuylkill YMCA - 42nd in 50 freestyle (32.75), 39th in 100 freestyle (1:13.87), 28th in 100 backstroke (1:21.74)
Elizabeth Andrewcavage, 13, Schuylkill YMCA - 22nd in 100 backstroke (1:17.26), 28th in 200 freestyle (2:28.78)
Boys' 13-14
Mark Boran, 14, Schuylkill YMCA - 6th in 200 IM (2:20.85), 13th in 100 freestyle (56.72), 4th in 100 backstroke (1:04.19)
Ian McGowan, 14, Schuylkill YMCA - 16th in 200 IM (2:33.07), 6th in 500 freestyle (5:47.09), 9th in 200 freestyle (2:04.71)
Liam Mansell, 14, Schuylkill YMCA - 9th in 50 freestyle (25.21), 12th in 100 butterfly (1:09.23), 15th in 100 freestyle (57.69), 18th in 100 backstroke (1:08.32)
Stephen Johnson, 14, Schuylkill YMCA - 17th in 50 freestyle (26.16), 28th in 100 freestyle (1:00.61), 8th in 200 backstroke (2:38.71), 20th in 100 backstroke (1:09.06), 30th in 200 freestyle (2:23.73)
Jonathan Phillips, 13, Schuylkill YMCA - 43rd in 50 freestyle (39.39), 44th in 100 freestyle (1:23.25), 26th in 100 breaststroke (1:45.80), 40th in 200 freestyle (2:56.86)