Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Unionville stays perfect in American
Unionville on verge of titles after sweeping Great Valley
EAST WHITELAND >> Unionville continues to swim unblemished through the Ches-Mont American Division, sweeping Great Valley Friday afternoon at Immaculata University to improve the Indians’ division record to 5-0 (for both boys and girls).
Unionville, which finished first in 20 of 22 events, has virtually wrapped up the Ches-Mont American titles with one division meet left (against Oxford Feb. 6).
The Unionville girls were facing a strong Great Valley squad (53, 3-1) that entered the meet unbeaten in the Ches-Mont American. The Indians trailed the Patriots 34-28 after the first four events, but rallied to win, 102-68, with sophomore Camryn Carter winning four events and senior Bridget Foote, senior Maura Grimes and junior Caroline Mayk three apiece.
The Indian boys got off to a 4022 lead in the first four events, and won by a convincing count of 110-60, finishing first in all 11 events. Senior Matt Tascione and junior Harrison Bass each finished first in four events, and senior Justin McLellan and junior Liam Callahan were first in three events each.
“I think our kids swam really well today,” said Unionville first-
year head coach Cindy Millison. “Our kids have done a lot of yardage recently, so I didn’t expect them to be as fast as they were today. And there’s a virus going around Unionville High School - three kids called out sick today, so we had to re-do the roster.”
The Patriot girls finished first in two of the first four events. In the 200 medley relay, the Patriots quartet of senior Kelsey Bartlett, senior Erica Dougherty, junior Becca Choi and senior Cassie Tiburcio posted a fine clocking of 1:55.91 to place second, and then Choi and Tiburcio pulled off first-place victories in the 200IM (2:14.77) and 50 free (26.00), respectively. For Choi, her 2:14.77 clocking was a personal best.
“Becca’s always impressive, and I was really happy with Cassie’s time - she’s been [ill],” said Great Valley head coach Joe Bradley.
Choi also finished second in the 100 fly, with a District qualifying time of 1:00.43. She now has four automatic District cuts - in the 100 fly, 100 back, 100 free and 200 free.
Choi said, “I was really happy with my time in the 200IM today. I wanted to deliver for our team - they’ve really supported me.”
Millison noted, “I had to make some changes in the [girls] lineup in midmeet because Great Valley brought such a strong team with them.”
The Unionville girls finished first in the final seven events, including Mayk in the 100 fly (59.93), Carter in the 100 free (55.80), sophomore Madison McGovern in the 500 free (5:38.47), Grimes in the 100 back (1:01.14) and Foote in the 100 breast (1:11.49). Earlier, Carter finished first in the 200 free (2:01.33).
The Indian girls finished first in all three relays - the 200 medley relay (senior Caroline Kenton, Foote, Grimes and sophomore Olivia Miller - 1:54.16); the 200 free relay (Foote, Mayk, Kenton and Carter - 1:43.82); and the 400 free relay (Grimes, Mayk, Miller and Carter - 3:58.29).
For the Unionville boys, Callahan finished first in the 200 IM (2:05.59) and 500 free (4:58.98) and was part of the Indians’ first-place 200 medley relay team that posted a personal-best (and Districts-qualifying) time of 1:44.57.
“We really wanted [to win] this meet - we knew Great Valley was coming in with a strong team,” said Callahan. “I felt like my 200IM and 500 free [swims] were pretty solid. I qualified for States last year in the 500 free [as a sophomore] and want to do it again.”
Also for the Unionville boys, McLellan finished first in the 100 fly (57.02), was second to Callahan in the 200IM (2:13.78), was part of the Indians’ first-place 200 medley relay team that posted a personal-best (and Districts-qualifying) time of 1:44.57, and helped the 200 free relay team finish first (1:33.46).
McLellan, who has already made his mark in the 100 free and 200 free this season, said, “I was swimming a variety of events today. I felt a little sore today, and it was a little bit of a game [to win the 100 fly]. I felt like I had a good swim in the 200IM today, finishing second behind Liam and getting points for the team. I’m looking forward to Districts. My goal [this year] is make States.”
Tascione finished first in the 100 breast (1:03.68) and 200 free (1:54.62), while Bass finished first in the 100 back (1:00.18) and the 100 free (50.78).
“[Bass] posted a really good time in the 100 free today,” noted Millison.
Other first-place finishers for the Unionville boys were Eric Zhu (50 free, 23.68); the 200 medley relay team of McLellan, Tascione, Callahan and senior Kyle Garvey (personal best and District-qualifying time of 1:44.57); the 200 free relay team of Zhu, Tascione, Bass and McLellan (1:33.46); and the 400 free relay team of Bass, Zhu, sophomore Taylor Bohn and junior Matt DiPaolo (3:36.26).
For the Great Valley boys (3-5, 2-2), Bradley noted that the Patriots had some encouarging performances, such as freshman Tommy Boerger’s second-place finish in the 100 free (51.71), junior Nick Cave’s second-place finish in the 100 breast (1:06.95) and senior Matt Lionetti’s third-place finish in the 100 breast (a personal best 1:07.29).
“I was [fairly] pleased with our swims today,” said Bradley. “We earned some personal bests.”
The seniors were honored in ceremonies for both teams Friday. Unionville’s 14 seniors were honored after the first eight events. The Unionville seniors honored were Lauren Adams, Kipp Astin, Andrew Choffo, Bridget Foote, Kyle Garvey, Ethan Graper, Maura Grimes, Jessica Homitz, Caroline Kenton, Justin McLellan, Matthew Tascione, Colin Underwood, Deven Vongnarath and Nicholas Yang.
Great Valley’s 20 seniors after the meet. Great Valley seniors honored were Kelsey Bartlett, Luke Brogan, Kenzie Bullock, Erica Dougherty, Olivia Dremann, Carolyn Duran, Abhishek Karmarkar, Matt Lionetti, Cooper Lownes, Kelly McQueston, Sam Muir, Katie Neff, David Nehring, Randy Patton, Matt Prendergast, Rachel Raccio, Jason Ren, Katie Sharp, Cassie Tiburcio and Jesse Xu.