One relay team qualified for an event and an individual swimmer qualified for two events going into the PIAA state swim meet held at Bucknell University March 17-18.
On the girls’ side, senior Sarah Corse-Campion qualified for both the 100 and 200 freestyle by placing third in both events at the District XI meet held March 3 and 4 at Parkland High School. She broke the school record with her time of 1:58:21 in the 200, and she is also the first girls’ swimmer to qualify for states since 2005.
Campion is very proud of her team’s performance at districts, and she has high goals for herself going into states.
“The girls’ team accomplished a lot. Many swimmers’ individual goals were met at districts, and everybody swam well,” Campion said. “My goal for states is to get the school record in 100 yard free and to qualify for nationals. I’m so close!”
For the boys, the 200 freestyle relay team of seniors Michael Smerlick and Charlie Botto and sophomores Jordan Young and Zach Turnitza qualified for states by placing third in the event at districts March 3 and 4. It is also the first time a boys’ swimmer qualified for states since 2011.
“The league meet went well, but our 200 medley relay made some mistakes that resulted in us not getting a gold medal. My goal is to get a school relay record,” Smerlick said.
At the state meet, Corse-Campion placed 25th in the 100 freestyle, and the boys’ relay team placed 21st.