Basch makes a splash with Blue Hens
Pottsgrove graduate to compete in distance free at CAA championships
Kevin Basch will get his first taste of competing in the Colonial Athletic Association men’s swim championships starting Wednesday in Christiansburg, Va. The University of Delaware freshman from Pottstown and a Pottsgrove High graduate will be competing in distance freestyle races.
Basch prepped for the CAA meet by winning the 1,000-meter freestyle in 9:30.11 and finished second in the 500 freestyle in 4:38.70 as the Blue Hens wrapped up their regular dual meet season with a 159-139 league setback to Towson on Jan. 28 in Newark, Del.
On Jan. 7, he also captured the 1000 (9:33.24) and finished third in the 500 (4:40.69) against league foes Drexel and Northeastern in Philadelphia.
“Kevin has risen through the ranks both on our team as well as in the conference,” veteran coach John Hayman said. “His distance freestyle (15:47.73 in the 1,650) is currently ranked fourth in the CAA.”
The coach feels that Basch’s great work ethic and focus on training has led to tremendous improvement throughout the season.
“We are excited about his performances in the upcoming CAA meet,” Hayman said.
SARAH PAYONK (SPRINGFORD) » The Scranton senior has earned an honor and the season isn’t over yet. The 6-foot forward was named to the Landmark Conference All-Decade women’s basketball team on Feb. 13. She was the league’s Player of the Year as a junior and earned second team honors as a freshman and sophomore and was Rookie of the Year in 2013. She has 1,242 career points and 1,021 career rebounds and is third on the Royals in scoring (11.0) and leads in rebounding (8.7), assists (108), steals (40) and blocked shots (28). The team is 21-3 overall and 10-3 in league play after a 70-60 victory over Susquehanna on Feb. 15. XAVIER SMITH (DANIEL
BOONE) » The Penn State junior is in a prime spot to score points at the Big Ten Indoor Track Championships starting Friday at the SPIRE Complex in Geneva, Ohio. Smith is seeded second in the 60 meter dash with a 6.69 time which he recorded while finishing first at the Penn State National on Jan. 27-28. He’s also a member of the 4x4 relay which is seeded second after finishing first in the SPIRE NCAA Division I Track & Field Meet on Feb. 10-11 in Geneva with a time of 3:07.81. And, he’s seeded ninth in the 200-meter dash (21.23) after finishing third at the Geneva meet. AGHINA MARSHALL (METHACTON)
» The Duquesne sophomore likes competing in Youngstown, Ohio. The long jumper finished third at the YSU National on Feb. 3 with an 18 foot, 1 inch effort. That matched her personal record distance when she finished second at the YSU Icebreaker on Dec. 2. In her latest meet, Marshall finished 10th at the Marshall Invitational on Feb. 10-11 with a leap of 17 feet, 7½ inches. Her top effort as a freshman was 16 feet, 6 inches and that came at the YSU Lid-Lifter in Youngstown. AUSTIN D’ANGELO (METHACTON) » The Monmouth freshman made his first appearance in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Swim Championships Feb. 8-11 in Buffalo, N.Y. D’Angelo finished 10th in the 100 breaststroke in 57.90 and 12th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.17. Both times were ECAC qualifying efforts. He also swam
on three relays but none of them scored points as the Hawks finished last in the 10-team field. The ECAC meet will be held March 3-5 in Annapolis, Md. KRISTEN SIWY (UPPER
PERKIOMEN) » The King’s freshman had a standout effort in the Middle Atlantic Conference women’s swim championships Feb. 9-12 in York. She captured the 400 IM (4:39.55) to become the Monarchs first individual champion since 2011. She also finished second in the 200 breaststroke (2:26.46) and was fourth in the 200 IM (2:11.67). Siwy also swam legs on the 800 free relay (8:17.4) which finished fourth, the 400 medley relay (school record 4:07.87) which finished sixth, the 200 medley relay (1:52.96) which finished sixth and the 400 free relay (3:45.19) which finished seventh. BRYCE GROSHARDT (PERKIOMEN VALLEY) » The King’s sophomore finished fourth in the 200 backstroke (1:55.88), fifth in the 200 IM (1:58.53) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (53.41) at the Middle Atlantic Conference men’s swim championships Feb. 9-12 in York. Groshart also swam a leg on the 200 free relay which finished third in a school record time of 1:26.50. And, he was on the 200 medley
relay (1:36.07) which finished third, the 400 free relay (3:10.90) which finished third and the 400 medley relay (3:33.93) which finished fifth. CODY RICHMOND (BOYERTOWN) » The Ursinus junior was runner-up at 184 pounds at the Centennial Conference wrestling championships on Feb. 11 in Hoboken, N.J. Richmond entered the tourney as the No. 3 seed He posted a 9-2 decision to earn a bid into the semifinals. He faced second-seed Danny Moore of Stevens Tech and defeated him 4-3 with an escape in the second sudden death period. No. 1 seed Patrick Rooney of the Merchant Marine Academy ended Richmond’s run with an 11-6 victory in the title bout. GRACE DAVIS (SPRING-FORD)
» The freshman has competed in all five matches on balance beam and floor exercise for the Rhode Island College women’s gymnastics team. Her best finish to date was a tie for seventh on beam with a personal best score of 9.325 in a TriMatch in Cortland, N.Y. on Feb. 5. Her best effort on floor came in the Bulldog Invitational in New Haven,
Ct. on Jan. 28 when she finished 17th with a personal record score of 8.975. She’s averaging 8.925 on beam and 8.605 on floor. LUCAS MILLER (BOYERTOWN) » The 25th-ranked Kutztown wrestling team pulled out a come-from-behind 24-16 victory over East Stroudsburg on Feb. 14 and Miller had a key sudden-victory effort in his 133-pound match. His match was tied 6-6 at the end of regulation and he won the match when his opponent was called for stalling in overtime. He’s 13-7 overall and 11-3 in dual matches for the Golden Bears who are 12-5 overall and 4-3 in the PSAC in dual matches. STEVE RICE (SPRING-FORD) » Muhlenberg’s true freshman was leading but got pinned in the 174-pound class quarterfinals of the Centennial Conference wrestling championships Feb. 1 in Hoboken, N.J. He bounced back to score a 6-4 victory in his first consolation match but dropped a 7-4 decision in the next round. Rice finished with a 9-6 record in dual matches and was 14-10 overall. He had a pin, two major decisions and two technical falls on the season.