The YAIAA swimming championships took place at 1:00 on Saturday, February 15 at Central York High School.
Going into the event, the boys were third in their division with a divisional record of 3-2 and an overall record of 3-5. The girls held the fourth spot in the division with a divisional record of 1-4 and an overall record of 2-6.
Senior Derik Rodgers is pleased with how the season went.
“Both the boys and the girls teams had a pretty good season, and hopefully we will be able to make it far in the postseason,” said Rodgers.
On the boys side of the meet, there were many personal records [PR] , but one relay team swimming the 400 meter freestyle managed to place seventh, earning a medal. This team consisted of senior Zach Gloeckner, senior Robert Altom, sophomore Robert Jackson, and sophomore Ryan Gloeckner. This relay has moved on to districts, but it is not yet decided who will be swimming it.
Altom was very happy with this placement.
“I may not have been the fastest, but I contributed to an awesome relay which I’m very proud of,” said Altom. “I think that in order to swim the relay in districts we need to train hard and have a good mental attitude.”
Personal records that were big milestones for the boys team included Jackson dropping to 2:00 minutes in his freestyle event, senior Brandon Loehmer dropping to 5:00 minutes in the 500 meter, and senior Zach Reed dropping to 6:00 minutes in the 500 meter.
As for the girl’s side of the meet, although no medals were won, it was still a great meet for the team when it came to personal records. A big personal record for the team came from senior Katie Steines who dropped to 6:10 minutes in the 500 meter.
Junior Maddie Kroner was very excited with her personal record.
“Well I only PRed in one of my events, but it is always a good feeling when you PR,” said Kroner. “It makes all of those hard practices worth it. Overall, the meet was a blast, and I’m excited for districts.”
Each meet two swimmers, one boy and one girl, are deemed swimmer of the meet. This meet Zach Gloeckner was the boys swimmer of the meet, and Katie Norris was the girls swimmer of the meet.
Coach and science teacher Brian Wingert comments on why they were chosen for swimmer of the meet.
“They both had an outstanding meet and had the best meet out of all the kids,” said Wingert. “Both of them swam in four events and PRed in all four of them. Not only did they PR, but they dropped a lot of time in all their events.”
At the conclusion of this meet many qualified for districts. Those who qualified for the boys were Gloeckner, senior Zach Galante, Loehmer, junior Evan Mosko, Jackson, sophomore Joe Speir, junior Mark Freidhoff, Altom, Ryan Gloeckner, sophomore Gibson Porter, sophomore Will Mosko and junior Patrick Hogan. For the girls sophomore Dani Mentlik, sophomore Courtney Rodgers, senior Kathryn Jackson, freshman Emilee Krewson, sophomore Megan Keuler, Norris, freshman Hannah Pellissier, Kroner, and Steines all will be swimming at districts. The team’s next post season meet will take place on Friday, February 28.
