ORWIGSBURG - It couldn't get any more dramatic than this.
Tie score.
Final race.
Winner takes the Schuylkill League boys' swimming title.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd that screamed and shouted the entire race, Blue Mountain rode the superb effort of Nathanael Marino to capture the 400 freestyle relay and defeat Pottsville 96-90 on Wednesday.
Swimming the final leg of the relay, Marino entered the water with the Eagles trailing by a full second. He quickly caught Pottsville anchor
Michael Logothetides with a 23.27-second split over the first 50 yards, then passed him over the final 50 yards to give the Blue Mountain quartet of Stephen Johnson, Colin Greenawalt, Mark Boran and Marino the victory in 3:35.30.
The meet victory leaves Blue Mountain (4-3, 3-0 SL) as the only unbeaten boys' team in the Schuylkill League. The Eagles can clinch their second straight league crown by beating either Mahanoy Area or Mount Carmel in their remaining two dual meets.
"I put my all into that first 50," said Marino, whose 100-yard split time of 49.95 was faster than the school record in the 100 freestyle. "My legs hurt a lot over the last 50, but I saw Michael was right behind. I just told myself I had to stick my head down and bring it on home."
Marino's dramatics were the perfect capper to an amazing night for the junior.
A two-time state qualifier in the 100 breaststroke, Marino doesn't usually swim in freestyle events. Yet, he won the 50 freestyle in a blistering 22.98 - nearly breaking Paul Klepchick's 21-year school record of 22.59 - and captured the 100 freestyle in 51.25.
In the 50, Marino defeated Pottsville's Josh Marx (23.97), who won the Schuylkill Sprint Meet title and was 6-0 in the event in dual meets. It was the first time all season Marino competed in the 100 freestyle.
"I've never swam that much freestyle in my entire life in one swim meet," Marino said. "We weren't expecting to put me in any of those events, but we decided at the last minute. It all came down to chances, and it all paid off."
The path to the dramatic final event had some interesting twists and turns.
The Eagles used a 1-3-4 placing by Marino, Joey McLaughlin and Nick Yackenchick in the 50 freestyle to take a 36-26 lead through four events.
Blue Mountain then got a major victory by Lyle Luckenbill in a tight diving competition. Luckenbill finished with 154.35 points, edging Pottsville's Kyle Brennan (152.80) and Patrick McDonald (152.30) for top honors.
"Lyle got a light bulb on," Blue Mountain coach Sandy Englert said. "He watched a videotape of the Pottsville divers, and he kept begging to open the pool. He wanted more practice, more practice.
"Today, he said 'I'm ready.' "
Marino's win in the 100 freestyle came after Englert made a late lineup change, moving Marino from the 100 butterfly to the 100 freestyle and putting Johnson in the 100 fly.
Pottsville's Charlie Botto won the 100 fly, but Johnson and Kiefer Luckenbill took second and third to keep Blue Mountain ahead 51-43.
Marino followed by outracing Pottsville's two best swimmers - Logothetides and Marx - to win the 100 free. When the Eagles' Wyatt Kramer and Yackenchick took fourth and fifth, Blue Mountain led 60-50.
"I had different charts and scenarios of what (Pottsville coach) Ned (Hampford) would do," Englert said. "When I saw Charlie Botto in the 100 butterfly, then I knew he wasn't swimming the 100 free. I knew we could get first in the 100 free with Nate.
"We needed to not let Logothetides and Marx finish 1-2 in the 100 free."
Added Marino: "It was a lot of mind games. Both teams played it out very well."
Pottsville (5-2, 2-1) countered by winning the next three events, the 200 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke and 100 breaststroke. Logothetides won the 100 backstroke, while Tanner Steinhart paced a 1-3-4 finish in the 100 breaststroke that tied the meet and set up the winner-take-all 400 freestyle relay.
"We were like a deer in the headlights early on. It was looking pretty bad," Hampford said. "We came up short in diving, but we started getting a couple points here, a couple points there. The 200 freestyle relay pulled it out, and that opened the door.
"It came down to the 400 freestyle relay, our best against their best. We go a season-best time ... you can't ask for more than that."
The Crimson Tide's comeback seemed to be complete early in the relay, as Botto and Michael Smerlick gave Pottsville a 2.27-second lead through 200 yards.
Boran, however, sliced that margin to 1 second with a 51.31-second split, catching the Tide's Marx. Marino then took over, bringing the Eagles' faithful to their feet as he touched the wall and punched his fist into the air.
"I touched the wall and I knew that we got first," Marino said. "We knew coming into the season that this was going to be the biggest meet of the season. We were all pumped up and wanted to be league champs."
Girls' Swimming Blue Mountain 114 Pottsville 66
ORWIGSBURG - Rachel Juritsch won four events for the first time in her career as the Eagles rolled past the Crimson Tide.
Juritsch captured the 50 free and 100 free and swam on two winning relays for Blue Mountain (4-3, 2-1 SL), which won nine of 12 events. Maddie Bartush (200 IM, 100 fly) also had a hand in four victories, while JoJo Jacobson (200 free), Rebecca Donohue (500 free) and Erica Donohue (100 breast) added individual wins.
Gabrielle Hammer (diving) and Sarah Corse-Campion (100 back) recorded individual wins for Pottsville (1-6, 0-3).