SCHUYLKILL HAVEN - A pair of important individual wins, a celebratory jump in the pool and a Schuylkill League championship.
Thursday turned out to be a heck of an 18th birthday for Miranda Amey.
The Tamaqua senior was victorious in a pair of key races as the Blue Raiders captured their third Schuylkill League girls' swimming championship in four years with a 103-77 victory over Schuylkill Haven.
Fellow senior Joann Butkus won two individual events and swam on two winning relays as Tamaqua (9-1, 5-0 SL) completed an unbeaten run through its Schuylkill League dual-meet schedule.
"I'm so excited," said Amey after posing for pictures with her fellow Tamaqua seniors and Schuylkill YMCA teammates who swim for the Hurricanes. "This week going into this meet, we were just so pumped up and excited. We knew it was going to be great competition. We thought a lot of races were going to be close.
"To go out here, have two great individual swims and win the league title, it's the best birthday present. I feel great."
Amey won the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, outdueling Schuylkill Haven freshman phenom Mary Zimmerman in the process.
In the 200, Amey used a dominating surge over the final 50 yards to win by 3½ seconds in 2:05.08. In the 500, Amey rallied through the middle laps to take control, finishing in 5:41.70.
Amey and Zimmerman are teammates with the Schuylkill YMCA Tempest team.
"I know Mary is a great swimmer, fantastic. We have some similar times," Amey said. "Going into it, I just wanted to go out there, try
to keep up with her, and if I could get ahead of her, I would just go with it.
"She's a great swimmer, so the fact we could swim against each other and have that competition, it's really cool."
Amey is one of six seniors on the Tamaqua girls' roster that were motivated and inspired to return to the top of the Schuylkill League standings after not winning the league crown a year ago.
All six played key roles in Thursday's victory.
Butkus won the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly, while Carly Trovinger placed first in the 100 breaststroke and swam a leg on the winning 200 medley relay, and Rebecca Minehan captured diving.
Makayla Boyle was a member of the 200 medley relay, placed second in the 100 backstroke and took third in the 100 freestyle. Nichelle Pucklavage added key points with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle and a fourth-place effort in the 500 freestyle.
"This year the team is closer than I've ever seen us before," Butkus said. "Literally, we are a family, and the seniors are the glue that holds us all together.
"I'm so proud of not just the seniors, but everybody on the team. This year we have really stepped it up. We've done some amazing things, and the season isn't even over yet."
Freshman Rebecca Kanaskie added a victory in the 200 IM as the Blue Raiders won the first six events to build a 60-28 lead halfway through the meet.
The early dominance was critical against a Schuylkill Haven team that had won its last two dual meets with stirring comebacks over the final six events.
The Hurricanes (5-2, 3-2) got a pair of wins from Allison Adams (100 free, 100 back) and took first in the 200 freestyle relay, but didn't have the depth to stay with the Blue Raiders.
Haven senior Janna Daley broke the school record in the 100 butterfly with a third-place time of 1:07.84.
"I was surprised we were ahead by that much," Tamaqua coach Ashley Stanek said. "They have a great team, and there would be a lot of good competition for our swimmers.
"I thought we had to go with our best shot. We stacked the areas where we were strong and see if we could maintain that the best we could."
Stanek, Butkus and Amey all praised the family atmosphere the Blue Raiders have had the entire season, and their drive to win another Schuylkill League title.
The current Blue Raiders seniors are 43-6-1 overall and 20-1 in Schuylkill League dual meets over the past three-plus seasons, with their only league loss coming last year to eventual champion Blue Mountain.
"Losing last year, it stung a lot," Butkus said. "I don't think it had to do with us not swimming adequately as much as it had with us having a lack of resources without the diving board and everything. It did make a big difference.
"Coming back this year and winning it, it was really, really sweet. It was actually bittersweet, because it was so nice to have three times in four years in our careers as league champions, but it's also sentimental to say goodbye.
"It's going to break my heart when I leave at the end of the year. I'm sure all the seniors feel the same."