It doesn’t take long to recognize the accomplishments of Bloomsburg High School swimmers by the number of banners draping their home pool at Bloomsburg Middle School. Their success most recently is where the boy’s team has been District IV champions since the 06-07 season (2009 AA PIAA State runner-up). This success does not appear in ninth grade but as a result of a YMCA program that funnels technical swimmers up the pipeline. Jersey Shore ran into that pipeline this past weekend as the Bloomsburg YMCA (BAY) won the day by taking 8 of the 10 age groups. However, there were two age groups where Jersey Shore showed some fight.
The 10-and-under girls won their grouping by capturing both relays and all the individual events. “This was their first win of the season”, said head coach Dave Keegan, “and as a group they swam much faster than previous meets.” It started off well when Jordon O'Connor, Isabelle Griswold, Taylor Fleming, and Cheyenne Gansell took the 200 yard medley relay over BAY by over 15 seconds. The foursome then went on to dominate the individual events as the meet progressed. Fleming captured the 50 yard butterfly and freestyle; O'Connor the 100 yard individual medley; Griswold the 100 yard freestyle; and Gansell the 50 yard breaststroke. The only individual event these four girls did not take was the 50 yard backstroke but teammate Isabella Hale fought off BAY's Sarah McHenry by 29/100s of a second to keep the winning streak alive. The medley relay quartet also joined together to win the 200 freestyle relay.
The other Shore age group win was the 8-and-under boys. This was a win attributed to depth as they had the numbers over BAY. Caleb Stemler led the charge by picking up 15 points with wins in the 25 freestyle and butterfly plus the 50 freestyle. Points were accumulated with Aaron Baker finishing second in the 25 yard freestyle and backstroke, Owen Staggert touching second in the 25 yard freestyle, and A. J. Kitchen capturing third in the25 yard backstroke.
Last week's meet against East Lycoming YMCA (ELY) was a bit more successful as Shore was able to capture an additional age group in a 7-3 loss. While the 8-and-under boys were the only age group win on the male side, the 14 and the 12-and-unders were winners in female age groups.
“We swam some fast teams the past week but it pushes our swimmers, especially with championship coming up where we would like to see a strong showing,” said Keegan. With the dual meet season over, Shore swimmers are now gearing up for the Central Pennsylvania YMCA Swim League Championships at Lock Haven's Zimmerli Pool on February 18.
