North Penn aims to defend district titles
NP aims to defend district titles
It started a couple weeks back at the conference meet.
North Penn not only defended its Suburban One League Continental title, but did so to a finelytuned degree, suggesting it could be a pretty special postseason.
“It was kind of shocking. We put together a pretty solid meet with this boys team this year. Top to bottom, everybody swam awesome,” North Penn coach Jeff Faikish said. “It was a great day.”
Faikish coached both the boys and girls squads to the conference crown. Next up is the District One Championships, set for Thursday and Friday at La Salle University.
“The motivation and the leadership of this team is pretty awesome this year so it’s kind of, make sure I get out of their way and let them do what they set themselves up to do,” Faikish said. “They are a very self-motivated crew right now. A little guidance here and there, but otherwise it’s a (selfdriven) team this year.”
AT THE FRONT » The North Penn boys are seeded well in several events, especially the 200-yard freestyle.
There, the Knights have the top three seeds in Evan Mancini, Max Bachman and Nick Clark.
Sean Faikish is seeded first in both the 200 IM and the 100 back.
The Knights also have the second best time in both the 200 medley and the 200 free relays,
and in what could be a grand finale of sorts, NP is seeded first in the 400 free relay.
The girls are also set up
pretty well for their trip to La Salle.
The Knights are seeded third in both the 200 medley and 200 free relays.
The North Penn girls are striving for an eighth straight title in Class 3A while the NP boys are going for four in a row.
The NP girls’ biggest obstacle could once again be Upper Dublin, led by Aly Breslin (200 free/100 breast), and the 400 free relay.
The Upper Dublin boys should also be in the running, led by Matt Jensen (100 fly/100 free) and the
top-seeded 200 medley and 200 free relay foursomes.
ONES TO WATCH » There are other standouts from the area that should be making a trip to the medal stand, including Plymouth-Whitemarsh’s Caleb Kelly (50/100 free) and Pennridge’s Joseph Hong (100
breast).
On the girls side, Mount St. Joseph’s MaryKate Leonard (200 free), SpringFord’s Ashley Gutshall (50 free) and Hatboro-Horsham’s Vivi Vergara are all seeded highly in their respective events. DEFENDING THE CROWN »
The Lower Moreland boys will be pushing for another Class 2A title, led by Greg Landis (200 free), Alex Yoon (200 IM) and Ryan Park (500 free).
In the 2A girls, Gwynedd Mercy Academy’s Isabella Kellner is seeded first in the 200 IM.