The swim team participated in the WPIAL swimming championships on Fedurbaru 29 and March 1 at Trees Pool. Both teams had good swims at the WPIAL championships. The girls placed 7th overall. Starting the first day of the medley relay Izzy Hough, Matilda Price, Hannah Carasia, and Kate Wolford placed 13th. Destini Homan placed 13th in the 200 free. Maggie Elder placed 18th in the 200 IM. Hannah Carasia placed 21st in the 50 free. Lauren Bell placed 2nd in the 100 fly. And to end their first day, the girl’s 200 freestyle relay with Elder, Homan, Carasia, and Bell finished 5th.
The boys also had a successful first day at WPIALs. The medley relay with Jace Pedicone, Andrew Cheung, David Klunk, and Heinrich van der Westhuizen placed 12th. Patrick Cratty Placed fourth in the 200 freestyle. Chris Heese placed fifth in the 200 IM. Charlie Thomson placed fourth in the 50 freestyle. The boys finished off the first day with second place in the 200 freestyle relay with Thomson, Heese, Pedicone, and Cratty.
Lauren Bell started the second day of the WPIAL championships with a second-place finish in the 100 freestyle. Destini Homan placed 17th in the 100 back. Maggie Elder placed 9th in the 100 breaststroke. Finally to end the girl’s day the 400 freestyle relay placed fourth. The relay included Elder, Homan, Carasia, and Bell.
The second day for the boys they started with Charlie Thomson placing 5th and Patrick Cratty placing behind him in 6th in the 100 freestyle. David Klunk placed 29th in the 500 freestyle. Chris Heese placed 4th in the 100 breaststroke. And to close out their day the boys placed second in the 400 freestyle relay.
After an impressive performance at WPIALs, the wildcats were ready for the PIAA State Championships.
Lauren Bell has been a leading member of the team this season. She swam the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle relay, 100 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relay. She said, ¨We’ve practiced hard 6 days a week and put in the effort for every set. Lauren Bell is looking forward to making her name known at such a big meet. Bell said, ” I’m mostly looking forward to the state meet. My seeds this year are definitely the highest they’ve been and I’m excited to swim fast and place this year.¨
Hannah Carasia, who has made a vital impact this year, notes her team’s hard work. She said, ¨Our team has worked extremely hard this season by training in and out of the pool, and many of us swim year round.¨ Carasia swam both girls’ relays and contributed lifetime best splits.
The girls competed in the 3A competition on March 13-14. The boys competed in the 2a competition on March 15-16. Both meets were held at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The meets finals were streamed on PCN (Pennsylvania Cable Network).
Lauren Bell started off the competition by swimming the 100-yard fly. She finished 13th in the state with a competitive time of 57.10 seconds. Shortly after Bell and her teammates Elder, Homan, and Carasia competed in the 200 freestyle relay. The team was originally seeded 14th but after an impressive prelim swim they found themselves in the final heat. The GLHS relay ultimately finished 8th in Pennsylvania.
On the second day, Lauren Bell competed in the 100-yard freestyle. Bell finished 14th with a time of 52.39. And the 400 freestyle relay finished 14th overall.
On the first day of the 2A boys competition, Patrick Cratty led the charge. Cratty started with a 7th-place finish in the 200 free. Cheese then followed with a 9th-place finish in the 200 IM. Charlie Thomson finished 10th in the 50 free. Finally, the boy’s 200 freestyle relay finished 4th with Heese, Cratty, Pedicone, and Thompson.
The boys also had a successful second day of competition. Thomson and Cratty both were able to make it to the final in the 100 freestyle with Cratty finishing 13th and Thomson finishing 16th. Heese then finished with a 10th-place finish in the 100 breaststroke. The 400 freestyle relay finished it all out with a 6th-place finish. The relay included Heese, Cratty, Pedicone, and Thompson.
The team is very proud of their overall performance this season but is already training for next season.
