It was a very successful weekend for Schuylkill League swimmers at the District 11 Class AA Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.
It might be the start of bigger things to come.
Schuylkill swimmers captured 15 individual and nine relay medals in the two-day competition, the most since they grabbed 31 total medals in 2008. Included in that collection of 24 medals were two gold, six silver, seven bronze and nine fourths.
What makes the Schuylkill League's performance even more exciting is how young the medalists are.
Of the 23 individuals who left Parkland with a medal around their neck, 15 are underclassmen. Of those underclassmen, eight are freshmen.
Seniors Joann Butkus, Miranda Amey and Jake Kropp of Tamaqua; Maddie Bartush and Rachel Juritsch of Blue Mountain; and Schuylkill Haven's Kyle McGarry, Billy Sieck and Nick Semanco all capped their outstanding careers with district medals.
But the performance of the league's youngsters certainly raised some eyebrows.
For example, Blue Mountain's gold-medal winning 200 medley relay, and Schuylkill Haven's medal-winning girls' 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relay teams, are made up entirely of underclassmen.
Freshmen Mark Boran and Rebecca Kanaskie qualified for states in individual events after earning silver medals, while Marian freshmen Katie Kurzinsky and Timmy Dando medaled as independents.
Blue Mountain's Nathanael Marino, who won the boys' 100 breaststroke and will swim in four events at states, is only a junior. So is Schuylkill Haven's Allison Adams, who qualified for states in the 50 freestyle.
The success of the Schuylkill League's youngsters goes even further than the medalists.
Tamaqua sophomore Ben Turrano placed fifth in the boys' 100 butterfly, breaking the school record with a time of 57.02.
Pottsville freshman Michael Smerlick had a phenomenal swim in the 200 freestyle, winning the second heat and shaving five seconds off his seed time. Weatherly sophomore Jacob Sirkot did the same in the 200 IM, shaving six seconds and placing ninth.
Smerlick was also strong in the 500 freestyle, bettering his seed time by more than eight seconds to take ninth. Crimson Tide junior Michael Logothetides, who didn't swim at leagues, cut 11 seconds off his time in the same event and placed seventh.
Mahanoy Area freshman Liam Mansell, who broke several school records this season, is another name to keep an eye on.
So, while this year was a big success for Schuylkill League swimmers, the future looks even brighter.
Looking back
How impressive was the Schuylkill League at districts in 2008?
Schuylkill swimmers won nine of the 11 girls' races, taking silver in another. And while there were no boys' gold medals, Tamaqua was the team runner-up.
That year was the senior seasons of Panther Valley's Allysa Vavra and Marian's Kristen Shickora, who went on to win state titles and become college All-Americans - as well as the senior campaigns of Blue Mountain's Kristen Caldarella and the junior seasons of Panther Valley's Sami Vavra and Mahanoy Area's Kelly Purcell. Panther Valley's Alexia Follweiler and Karoline Vavra and Blue Mountain's Tommy Boran were only freshmen, but major contributors.
Hurricanes' relay's strange ritual
Swimming is full of rituals and superstitions. Relay teams, for example, often gather behind the blocks prior to the event and do some sort of cheer, group hug or dance to get themselves psyched for the race.
The Schuylkill Haven boys' ritual is unique. This weekend, they took it to a new level.
The Hurricanes' quartet of McGarry, Sam Brennan, Sieck and Semanco placed fourth in both the 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. Before each relay race throughout the season, they gathered in a huddle and did a little song and dance that ended with a loud yell, "Hasselhoff."
Hasselhoff, of course, is television actor David Hasselhoff from Knight Rider and Baywatch fame. Why do they chant "Hasselhoff" before each relay race? Well, I never found that out.
This weekend, not only did they chant "Hasselhoff" before each race, they brought along a framed photo of Hasselhoff in a bikini bathing suit and placed it on the corner of the media table near the starting blocks, right next to my computer.
When I first saw it Friday, I had no idea what it was. I was able to put two and two together and figure out it was theirs, and they had it again Saturday. Same spot on the table, same result.
You never know who you might see on deck
As I headed over to the podium to interview the District 11 champion Blue Mountain boys' 200 medley relay team, I passed a familiar face on deck.
Former Marian star and PIAA state backstroke champion Kristen Shickora is now the head coach for Saucon Valley. An All-American at the University of Georgia, Shickora graduated from college last May and was hired as a family and consumer science teacher at Saucon Valley High School.
Shickora still holds the Parkland pool record in the 100 backstroke of 55.24 set in 2007 and the Parkland school record set when she attended Parkland as a freshman of 56.19 from 2005. Shickora also is the current District 11 Class AA record-holder in the 50 freestyle (23.58) and 100 backstroke (55.24).
With her team situated directly below the Parkland record boards, she said she had to explain several times to her swimmers that, "Yes, that's my name up there."
Odds and Ends
Some other notes of importance from this weekend's district championships:
- Former Tamaqua coach Eric Lech worked the meet as an official.
- Joey McLaughlin, the anchor for Blue Mountain's winning medley relay team, wore the same swim trunks that Tommy Boran wore when he won the gold medal in the 200 IM in 2011.
- Panther Valley's Vavra still holds the Parkland pool records in the 200 IM (2:01.50, 2006) and the 100 breaststroke (1:03.18, 2006). Those two times still stand as District 11 records.
(Boyer is sports editor and covers high school swimming for The Republican-Herald. Follow him on Twitter at @pubsportsboss)