The Blue Mountain boys' and girls' swim teams pose after sweeping the 2024 District 11 team titles (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

There’s a scene in the movie Major League II where Indians manager Lou Brown addresses his team in the locker room.

“All right you guys, listen up. We won a game yesterday. We win today, that’s two in a row. We win one tomorrow, that’s called a winning streak.”

Winning streaks are a cool element of sports. The longer they stretch, the more we become interested. The longer they stretch, the more they become historic. When those streaks come to an end, it’s a major event.

That can be on an individual level, like Cal Ripken’s MLB record of 2,632 straight games played from 1982-98 for the Baltimore Orioles, or a team level, like the Boston Celtics’ eight consecutive NBA championships in the 1960s or the Kansas City Chiefs’ recent pursuit of three straight Super Bowl victories.

The Blue Mountain boys’ and girls’ swim teams are on quite a streak. At the Schuylkill League level, the Eagles girls have won 112 straight dual meets and recently claimed their 11th consecutive league crown. The Blue Mountain boys have been nearly as dominant, with 72 straight league dual-meet victories and the past seven team titles.

At the District 11 level, Blue Mountain has been equally as successful, sweeping the past six boys’ and girls’ Class AA team championships.

It’s an impressive, dominating run that has featured a bevy of Eagles claiming individual and relay gold medals, seen Blue Mountain advance roughly 7-8 kids to the PIAA Swimming Championships on a yearly basis and included multiple Dennis McGinley Award MVP performances from Hannah Magdeburg (2021-23) and Noah Powers (2023-24).

“Winning district titles for boys and girls over the years is a testament to all the hard work and dedication from the swimmers, divers, coaching staff, parents and athletic department,” Blue Mountain coach Pete Sarnes said. “This ‘streak’ is not just about the titles, it is about how the team comes together when it counts the most and competes at the highest level, pushing beyond what they thought was possible.

“We are so lucky to have such an amazing team year after year. To see that kind of effort from this team each year is why we coach!”

Those team streaks will be tested at this weekend’s District 11 Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.

For the first time since 2014, Colonial League powerhouse Southern Lehigh will compete in the Class AA boys’ meet after being in Class 3A the past five enrollment cycles. The Spartans don’t have the star power like the Eagles have in two-time state champion Powers, but they have tons of depth, which results in team points that pile up as the meet progresses.

Allentown Central Catholic also possesses a talented boys’ lineup, meaning it could be a three-team race for the boys’ title.

On the girls’ side, Blue Mountain will be challenged by last year’s runner-up, Saucon Valley, which is led by 2024 Dennis McGinley Award winner Julia Cort.

There are several storylines surrounding this weekend’s district meet, but the two team races will be at the forefront. Sarnes says Blue Mountain is ready.

“We have been focused on districts since the start of the season,” Sarnes said. “We know how hard it is to win a district title and this will be one of the hardest.

“We know that past success does not guarantee future success, so they approached this season with more determination as a team than ever.”

T102 Sports Now’s Kornacki

Josh Zelinsky, a member of Pottsville’s 2018 District 11 championship team, joined the T102 Sports Now staff this winter and has been assisting in our swimming and diving coverage.

A teacher at Pine Grove Area Elementary School, JZ is a number-cruncher who even in his high school days would be able to break down the District 11 team races and make accurate predictions.

So, I asked Josh to do his best impression of NBC’s election predictor Steve Kornacki and offer his opinion of this year’s District 11 team races:

GIRLS: The girls’ race will be a two-team race for the district championship. Blue Mountain starts the meet with 62 points thanks to the stellar performance by its divers at the District 11 Diving Championships this past weekend. Saucon Valley is the other team that has a shot at the district crown as Julia Cort and Angelina Dechert are strong swimmers for Saucon Valley. Blue Mountain is my favorite but keep an eye out for Saucon Valley.

Zelinsky’s top four teams: 1) Blue Mountain, 2) Saucon Valley, 3) Salisbury, 4) Tamaqua

BOYS: Blue Mountain has been dominating District 11 AA swimming since 2019, however, this season its run could come to an end. For the first time since 2014, Southern Lehigh will be at the AA meet. It is hard to call a favorite, because it is going to be a very close meet. I have it being a six-or-less point difference between Blue Mountain and Southern Lehigh. The battle for third and fourth will be a close one as well between Pottsville and Allentown Central Catholic. Thanks to Pottsville’s great performance in diving this past Saturday, I have Pottsville securing third place in the team championship, and Allentown Central Catholic fourth.

Zelinsky’s top four teams: 1) Southern Lehigh, 2) Blue Mountain, 3) Pottsville, 4) Allentown Central Catholic

Schedule / Tickets

The District 11 Swimming Championships begin at 2:45 p.m. Friday with Class AA competition in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay. Doors open for spectators at 2 p.m.

Saturday, competition begins at 10 a.m. with races in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay. Doors open for spectators at 9:15 a.m.

Tickets cost $7 (plus applicable fees) for each session and must be purchased online at www.districtxi.hometownticketing.com. Spectators ages 65 and older are admitted free with proof of age.

The link to tickets for Friday’s meet can be found here: https://districtxi.hometownticketing.com/embed/event/984

District 11 Trivia

Blue Mountain’s Powers is the current District 11 Class AA record-holder in the boys’ 50-yard freestyle at 20.72, which he set last year.

Powers is one of five Schuylkill League swimmers to currently hold a District 11 record. Can you name the other four?

Top seeds / Defending champions

The Schuylkill League garnered 13 of the 22 top seeds for this weekend’s district championships.

A list of the top six swimmers in each event, seeded by time, accompanies this story. You can find the complete list here:

https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2025/02/27/hs-swimming-district-11-class-aa-championship-seedings/

On the boys’ side, Powers is seeded first in the 50 freestyle (20.52) and 100 freestyle (45.75) and is a member or the Eagles’ top-seeded 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay teams. Teammates Porter Sarnes (4:55.81) and Liam Magdeburg (5:07.78) are 1-2 in the 500 freestyle, while Marian’s Michael Strucko is No. 1 in the 200 free (1:50.80) and 100 backstroke (53.70).

Powers is the defending champion in the 50 free and 100 free, while Michael Strucko is the defending champion in both of his events. Blue Mountain won all three relays last year.

On the girls’ side, the Tamaqua 200 medley relay, Schuylkill Haven 200 freestyle relay and Blue Mountain 400 freestyle relay are each seeded No. 1 after winning Schuylkill League gold in those events Feb. 15.

Marian sophomore Lydia Strucko is tops in the 200 IM (2:12.61) and 100 backstroke (58.63), while Tamaqua’s Savannah Wilson (1:07.34) will look to defend her district title in the 100 breaststroke. Lydia Strucko captured gold in the 200 IM last year.

Blue Mountain’s girls won both the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relays last year.

Storylines

The team races are the top storyline of the weekend, but there are others. Here’s some things to watch:

** Record watch — It’s Noah Powers’ last trip to districts and the University of Virginia-bound senior could break both his own 50 free mark of 20.72 and the 100 free record of 45.87 set by Jon Anderson’s Salisbury in 2014. I expect another dominating performance.

** Relay rotations — Relays are seeded based on their best times from throughout the season. Most of the time, that team’s top four swimmers set that seeding time.

At districts, however, most of the team’s top swimmers will compete in two individual events and two relays. Which relays some of the big names at the meet — for example, Powers, Cort, ACC’s Nick Janis, Blue Mountain’s Sage Kaplafka, Schuylkill Haven’s Hope Stauffer, Pottsville’s top swimmers — compete in could drastically change the medal chances for some schools … and greatly affect the team race.

*** Diving impact — Josh touched on it earlier, but the Blue Mountain girls enter the weekend already with 62 points based on the performances of District 11 diving champion Hailey Scheuer and teammates Shyanna White, Kamryn Moran and Ana Oettl. The Pottsville boys enter with 35 points after Adam Klinger was first and Colin Kline fourth.

How those points affect the team race will be an interesting dynamic.

Trivia Answer

Panther Valley’s Alyssa Vavra, Marian’s Kristen Shickora, Marian’s Danny Berlitz and Mahanoy Area’s Jake Hillibush join Powers as current District 11 record-holders.

Vavra holds the marks in the 200 IM (2:01.50, 2006) and 100 breaststroke (1:03.18, 2006), while Shickora is tops in the 50 freestyle (23.58, 2007) and 100 backstroke (55.24, 2007).

Berlitz owns the records in the 200 IM (1:49.81, 2019) and 500 freestyle (4:30.41, 2019), with Hillibush setting the standard in the 100 breaststroke (58.78, 2023).

Can Powers add another to his list? We shall see.