LEFT IT ALL IN THE POOL
LEWISBURG — Nobody wants to feel they could have done more when competing in the biggest meet of the year.
Fortunately, 17 area swimmers didn't leave their coaches with that feeling following the first day of the PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships.
Many improved upon their qualifying times from the District 4 meet, and all four finalists improved their preliminary times on Wednesday.
For Danville's Jimmy Zhang, his performance landed him a fourth-place medal in the 100 butterfly with a new school record (51.45 seconds), while Bloomsburg's Chase Moore captured the eighth-place medal in the 200 IM (1:57.41).
Danville coach Danielle Sticklin sensed that something good would happen with how Zhang looked during warmups and later verified her feelings.
"Jimmy's always kind of low-key, and when I asked him how he was doing, he said 'not too bad' and that's good for him," Sticklin said. "When he dropped his time and seeding today, that made him feel good, and everything clicked. It carried over into tonight's swim."
Moore's teammate Grayson Reck placed 12th in the 200 free (1:47.1) despite a tick up in his preliminary timing (1:48.13). Danville's girls 200 freestyle relay team — consisting of Izzy Marks, Maya Hasenbalg, Zoe Czech, and Olivia Hummel — suffered the same luck, finishing 16th (1:43.25), but slightly improving on their morning time (1:43.48).
"I think what happens when they get to the finals is they truly believe they belong there," Sticklin said about the locals all dropping times. "They can calm down and just go about swimming because they aren't nervous about trying to cut."
Hungry for more
Moore and Reck were feeling upbeat heading into the finals despite missing qualification for a third event by .3 seconds. The duo, making up half of the Panthers' 200 free relay team, won their heat in 1:33.04 but placed 18th. Along with Hunter O'Neal and Oliver Petters — in which both of their spansat states ended — they also finished 27th in the 200 medley relay (1:45.62) pool.
"I think that while heartbreaking, it was heart-lifting because Hunter and, really everybody in general, had a good swim," Bloomsburg coach Nick Maday said. "They went from 28th to 18th. Their spirits were high in general and rode it into tonight's finals."
Maday says the duo's success will only have them hungrier for more today as Moore swims the 100 breast and Reck competes in the 100 back.
That hunger for more will undoubtedly be left with Moore's and Reck's teammate Lucy Diehl, who missed the 200 IM (2:15.4) cut by 1.54 seconds. She competes in the 100 free and is a member of the Panthers' 400 free relay team today.
"Her main goal was dropping time from Districts and that's what she did," Maday said. "Getting that close was heartbreaking. We can look forward to tomorrow and know there's room for improvement."
That was the motto throughout the first day at Bucknell. Samantha Fagan finished 32nd in the 200 free (2:04.32), but Maday says it was a learning experience for the sophomore, making her first trip to states.
Sticklin had the same attitude with an Ironmen team she says is "one big happy family," having three sets of sisters qualify.
One set, Maya Hasenbalg and Leah Hasenbalg, swam in the 200 medley relay that finished 24th (1:57.59). The only local diver, Marks, placed 21st (120.8 points), but she gained a lot of insight from the experience.
"She went in with it with lower expectations. She just started to dive as a freshman. This is all new for her," Sticklin said about the sophomore. "She nearly made the first cut, which showed her that she can come to a big meet and do better."
A positive takeaway
Central Columbia's Connor Morgan turned in his third-best time in the 200 IM. The 2:03.36 posting, unfortunately, was less than 3 seconds shy of qualifying for the finals, but Morgan wasn't one to hang his head.
"He was seeded at 24th, and he finished 22nd. He finished two seeds better, and that's a positive," Central coach Dan Noss said. "Unfortunately, for this year, Connor is the only boy making it, and he's used to swimming in relays. Overall, I think he had a good swim [Wednesday], and we're happy with how he did. I think that will be positive going into [this morning's] swim."
It also helps that today's event, the 500 free, is Morgan's stronger of the two races. Oh, and any nerves he had should be out of the way. Even though Morgan is no stranger to swimming at the state meet, having qualified every year since his freshman year, it's natural for a young athlete to still get them at the biggest stage.
"He's been doing a lot of swimming between high school and the YMCA lately so that he may have been a little tired between that," Noss said of Morgan adding more than a second to his seeding time. "He may have been nervous, but he didn't show that. This is his fourth year of going to states, so he has the experience. He's looking forward to the 500."
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