Girl swimmers go to States
The six swimmers pose with their shirts made for States. One of the swimmers, Taleah Ruben, is moving on to Nationals held in North Carolina. “I felt excited to go to the states because I was looking forward to swimming my hardest and having fun. What I hope to accomplish for nationals is to drop time in my events and enjoy the trip to Greensboro, North Carolina which is where nationals are held!” said senior Taleah Ruben.
Two weekends ago, March 17 and March 18, six PAHS swimmers participated in States at Bucknell University.
The six girls were Julia Balulis, Elena Martinko, Lizzy Martinko, Carly Mohl, Adalia LeSelva, and Taleah Ruben.
For most of the swimmers, this was their first time ever competing in States. They felt an overwhelming sense of nervousness and excitement.
Freshman Adalia LeSelva was an alternate, meaning she would compete if one of the swimmers competing weren’t able to, “It was nice there and an amazing experience. It was amazing seeing how good everyone there was, especially how well everyone on the team performed.”
“States was an incredible experience. I went in with the mindset to just have a good time and really take in such an amazing opportunity. The pool was insane, the times were insane- being able to see such awesome athletes was a really cool experience and I’m so grateful that all of my years of hard work and dedication paid off,” said junior Carly Mohl.
Freshman Lizzy Martinko liked being able to compete at States with her sister, Elena Martinko before she graduates. “Making it to states was always my goal that I wanted to reach this season. It was such a fun experience competing with my teammates, and enjoying my last meet with my sister and the other seniors,” said freshman Lizzy Martinko.
For the seniors, it was a great experience to end their high school swimming careers.
Julia Balulis enjoyed swimming in Bucknell University’s Pool because of how different it felt, “It was very exciting to experience an overnight meet because I’ve never been in one before. It was awesome to swim in Bucknell’s pool because it was so much different than anywhere I had swam before. Seeing all the super fast swimmers from all over the state was also exciting.”
“It felt great to go to states my senior year. I had made it my goal my freshman year to go to states so it was definitely a satisfying moment to qualify. It was definitely fun to see all of the teams from the Schuylkill League,” said senior Elena Martinko.
