Nathanael Marino is going to be pretty busy at the PIAA Swimming Championships.
The Blue Mountain junior qualified for four events in the Class AA competition, which will be held Friday-Saturday, March 14-15, at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium.
Marino automatically qualified for states in the 100 breaststroke and 200 medley relay after capturing gold
medals in those two events this past weekend at the District 11 Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.
He added two more events Sunday, earning at-large bids in the 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay.
The District 11 champion in each event earned one of 16 automatic berths to the Class AA state meet, with the other 16 berths in each event awarded based on the fastest times of non-automatic qualifiers from across the state. In relay events, there are 16 automatic qualifiers, but only eight at-large berths.
Marino is seeded seventh in the 100 breaststroke at 1:00.83, while the quartet of Mark Boran, Marino, Stephen Johnson and Joey McLaughlin is seeded 16th in the 200 medley relay at 1:43.65.
That same foursome earned an at-large bid in the 200 freestyle relay after placing third at districts in 1:32.39. The Eagles are seeded 19th. District 11 champion Salisbury is the top seed in the state at 1:27.36, with runner-up Southern Lehigh drawing the first at-large berth and third overall seed at 1:28.29.
Also qualifying on the boys' side were Boran in the 100 backstroke and the Millersburg duo of Cole Davis and Ian Lloyd. Davis qualified in the 200 IM and 500 freestyle, while Lloyd will compete in the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke.
On the girls' side, Tamaqua senior Joann Butkus clinched her fourth trip to states by earning at-large berths in the 50 freestyle and 100 breaststroke.
Butkus earned silver medals in both events at districts, clocking a 24.48 that has her seeded 12th at states. Butkus is seeded 15th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:07.58.
Butkus will be joined at states by freshman teammate Rebecca Kanaskie, who earned an at-large berth in the 200 IM and is seeded 24th at 2:16.47, and Schuylkill Haven's Allison Adams.
Adams, a junior, qualified for states as a freshman and just missed last season. This year, she's seeded 27th in the 50 freestyle at 25.20.
There were several Schuylkill League individuals and relay teams that just missed the cut for states. They include Blue Mountain's Maddie Bartush in the 100 butterfly (1:01.05, final berth 1:00.97); the Tamaqua (1:42.35) and Schuylkill Haven (1:42.78) girls' 200 freestyle relay teams (final berth 1:42.10); and Schuylkill Haven's Nick Semanco (1:04.24) in the 100 breaststroke (final berth 1:03.50).