Lehigh Valley athletes score successes on Day 2
Day 2 of the PIAA swimming and diving championships on Thursday at Bucknell University in Lewisburg featured some notable successes for Lehigh Valley athletes.
After a Day 1 on Wednesday with no points for either the Emmaus boys or girls swimmers, the Hornets put themselves on the team standings scoreboard on both sides. The Parkland girls, who had a big first day, finishing in seventh place, held onto that spot through Day 2. In all, area teams put four swimmers into the finals.
East Stroudsburg South’s Kseniia Luniushina had the top finish with a bronze medal in the 100-yard backstroke, complimenting her silver medal performance on Day 1 in the 100-yard butterfly. Luniushina, a senior, posted a time of 54.31 in the finals that left her just 01.41 seconds out of first place.
“The backstroke was my main stroke for about the last five years, so I am happy to be here and happy to have this (winning two medals) happen,” Luniushina said.
Parkland’s Kelsey McPeek also collected a medal when she finished with a 1:04.11 in the 100-yard breaststroke final to finish eighth. The medal was the first individual medal for the Parkland sophomore after she collected a medal as part of the 200-yard medley relay team a day earlier.
Boys swimmers also collected a pair of medals for seventh place finishes in the finals. Emmaus senior Logan Shriver finished with a time of 4:36.82 in the 500-yard freestyle and Pocono Mountain West senior Carter Mui medaled in the 100-yard breaststroke, finishing in a time of 56.77 seconds.
“I didn’t have a very good swim yesterday in the 200-free, but I talked to my coach and had to be sure to do my best to get that out of my head for today,” said Shriver, a senior. “You can only do as well as you think you are going to do. I was hurting a little mentally going into districts and coming in here, so I knew I had to push myself mentally and that helped.”
The Emmaus boys 400-yard freestyle relay team featured seniors Logan Hartman and Shriver, junior Griffin Messenlehner, and sophomore Andersen Borst who took home medals for seventh place when they recorded a time of 3:10.22.
“I’m really proud of us because I knew we did our best and we worked really hard this season and had the right attitude coming in here today,” Hartman said.
Hayden Taylor of Freedom set her sights on medaling in the diving competition and finished seventh to pick up a medal at states to go along with her gold medal from districts. Taylor finished with a final score of 383.85 at Bucknell.
“It’s an amazing feeling to have this medal around my neck right now. Coming in, that was my goal, but I definitely allowed it to get into my head a little bit and seeing myself among the top did affect my dives a little,” said the sophomore diver, who was among the event leaders after the first five rounds. “I think this experience will help me if I get back here again.”
Northampton’s Bella Kish finished 19th in diving, which was won by Conestoga’s Avery Hilliard with a score of 478.40.
The Parkland girls team continued to pile on some points with freshman Sydney LaBaugh finishing up her first trip to states with a pair of top-16 finishes. LaBaugh was 10th in the 100-yard backstroke and 14th in the 100-yard freestyle. Two girls relay rivals from the Lehigh Valley competed in the consolation round of the 400-yard freestyle medley. Parkland’s team of Sophia Cerimele, Milla Hahn, Julianne Zaffiro and McPeek took 12th, while Emmaus captured 15th. The Hornets team consisted of Veronica Karbosky, Gloria Klees, Mabry Krause and Georgia Magditch. Emmaus barely reached the consolation round as they finished just 00.08 seconds ahead of Hershey in the preliminary round.
Liberty’s Malcolm Collins just missed reaching the finals when Nevin Shaw of North Penn bested him by 00.29 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke for eighth place, leaving Collins to swim in the consolation round where he finished sixth to put himself in 14th place overall. Ian Thomas of Whitehall placed 14th in the preliminary round of the 100-yard freestyle after collecting a sixth place medal in the 50-yard freestyle on Day1. In the finals, the senior swimmer moved up into a tie for 13th with a time of 46.56.
North Allegheny won the girls team competition with 211 points, just ahead of Upper Dublin, with 203 points. Hatboro-Horsham was third with 164 points. In addition to Parkland finishing seventh with 92 points, East Stroudsburg South finished 21st with 33 points, all of which were gained by Luniushina. Freedom was 40th with 12 points and Emmaus was tied for 55th with four points. Stroudsburg earned a point and finished tied for 64th.
The North Penn Knights took the boys team trophy with a final score of 204 points, followed by Conestoga (183) and North Allegheny (166.5). Emmaus finished as the top finisher among Lehigh Valley teams with 36 points in 17th place. Whitehall finished 34th (16.5 points), just ahead of Liberty (16 points) and 41st place finisher Pocono Mountain West (12 points). Parkland finished tied for 51st with five points, ahead of Nazareth, whose boys team finished with four points.