WILSON WINS CPL TITLES
The Bulldogs defeat Gov. Mifflin in the boys and girls meets to claim league championships
The Wilson boys swimming team extended its Central Penn League winning streak to 65 and claimed its ninth consecutive CPL title with a 121-65 win over Gov. Mifflin Tuesday at Shillington.
In the girls meet, the Bulldogs defeated the Mustangs 123-62 and locked up their fifth straight CPL championship.
The Wilson boys (7-0, 110) suffered their last CPL loss against Gov. Mifflin (61, 9-1) on Feb. 6, 2014.
Isaiah Eberly broke a pool record by finishing the 100 fly in 50.99 for the Bulldogs. He also finished second in the 100 backstroke to teammate Trentin Lechleitner, who won in 53.85.
“I wasn’t expecting to do this today,” Eberly said. “I wasn’t even expecting to suit up and swim this, but I saw the (record) time when I came in and I thought, ‘Why not go for it?’ I felt pretty strong during warmups, so I wanted to try to break the record. I felt really strong during the race and I pushed that last lap; I just barely got it.”
Eberly also swam the backstroke on the winning 200 medley relay team with Brady Wolf, Kai Boyer and Josh Woessner, and was the anchor on the winning 400 free relay team with Takoda Heckman, Lechleitner and Ian Metzgar. Wilson won the 200 medley relay in 1:38.30 and the 400 free relay in 3:13.89.
With the postseason on the horizon, Eberly, a senior, is hopeful that he can end his career at Wilson on a high note by doing well at states.
“I want to leave a good legacy with Wilson,” Eberly said. “I’ve been swimming for most of my life, and Wilson has been a huge part of that. So I really want to finish strong and perform well these last couple weeks.
“I definitely want to place pretty high in a final at states and I want our relays to do really well; possibly take a shot at the state title.”
Also breaking a pool record for the Bulldogs was
Brady Wolf, who won the 100 breaststroke in 58.79. In addition, Wolf won the 200 IM in 1:58.96.
With another CPL title in hand, Wolf attributed Wilson’s success to constant hard work.
“I feel pretty good,” Wolf said on breaking the record. “It wasn’t my fastest time (58.21) but it wasn’t far off.
“We’re working hard every day at practice. We’re not skipping out any days, we’re giving it our all and then the hard work pays off.”
The Bulldogs took first in every swimming event. Gov. Mifflin’s Alex Wodehouse won the diving with a score of 296.45.
Heckman won the 200 free in 1:44.03 and the 100 free in 48.09. He also was the lead swimmer on the winning 200 free relay team of Heckman, Lechleitner, Thomas Houck and Woessner that won in 1.28.58.
Like Eberly, Heckman is confident in his abilities and is looking for postseason success to cap his swimming career.
“My freestyle feels pretty
good and definitely my IM (individual medley) feels really good for sure,” Heckman said. “I want to win the 200 IM at states, I want to get the 200 IM record for Wilson and would love to win states as a team.
“I can’t imagine being on any other team. I think this is the best team in the state. We all work hard and we’re all brothers; it’s a great team.”
Also earning wins for the Bulldogs boys were Woessner in the 50 free in 22.12 and Metzgar in the 500 free in 4:48.62.
In the girls meet, sophomore Emma Dougherty won the 200 IM in 2:13.96 and swam on the winning 200 free, 200 medley and 400 free relays for the Bulldogs (6-0, 10-0).
Wilson’s team of Lexi Stambaugh, Dougherty, Olivia Vecchio and Morgan Valeriano won the 200 medley relay in 1:50.93. The 200 free relay team of Madison Cunningham, Katelym Spann, Evelyn Williams and Dougherty won in 1:42.69. The 400 free relay team of Evelyn Quick, Dougherty, Jenna Krawlzik
and Madalee Roberts won in 3:43.32.
With a ton of depth, Dougherty said she believes that maintaining a positive mindset, learning from mistakes and the Bulldogs’ strong team chemistry have been the ingredients for dominance.
“Being with your team, hanging out with each other and having that bond is really important,” Dougherty said. “I also think not getting so hard on yourself and realizing that it’s okay to not be your best. There’s going to be times where you’re gonna have a bad meet and I think that having those bad meets really helps you to become like successful. Also having really good determination and pushing through those sets that are really hard.
“That is what pushes me forward, just realizing that those times that you really want will come to you if you work hard and just trust the process.”
Winning two events each for the Bulldogs were Vecchio, who won the 50
free in 25.36 and the 100 free in 55.58; and Valeriano, who won the 100 fly in 59.38 and the 100 back in 1:01.16.
Rounding out the Wilson winners against MifflIn (52, 7-3) were Mikayla Arthur, who won the 100 breast in 1:11.03, and Nevaeh Houck, who won the 500 free in 5:28.78.
Being on a team surrounded by talent, experience and friendship has been a blessing for Dougherty.
“The role models on my team, like the seniors, juniors, they’re amazing,” Dougherty said. “I look up to them in every way that I can. I think being a part of this team is just such a blessing and you should never take something like that for granted.
“I definitely think that last year, being a freshman, a lot of things were really new to me, and it was a really great learning experience. I feel as though I’ve progressed so much. I’m really enjoying it and it’s really fun being a part of the team.”