D-11 Girls’ Swimming: Eagles win 7th straight team title; Strucko, Wilson garner gold
The Blue Mountain girls' swim team poses with the District 11 Class AA championship trophy after winning its seventh straight team title Saturday at Parkland High School (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
ALLENTOWN — It was a golden day for Schuylkill League girls’ swimmers Saturday at the District 11 Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.
Blue Mountain won its seventh straight Class AA team championship, defeating Saucon Valley by 82 points, 321-239. The Eagles capped their team title by winning the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Individually, Marian’s Lydia Strucko captured gold in the 100 backstroke and Tamaqua’s Savannah Wilson repeated as the champion of the 100 breaststroke.
The girls’ 400 freestyle relay was a thrilling race from start to finish.
The Eagles’ victory did not come easy as Saucon Valley and Schuylkill Haven put up a fight. Blue Mountain was able to forge a big enough lead for senior Sage Kaplafka to hold off Saucon Valley’s Julia Cort and Schuylkill Haven’s Hope Stauffer and punch the Eagles’ ticket to states.
The Blue Mountain quartet of Alayna Hensel, Julia Crossen, Isabella Lafko and Kaplafka clocked in at 3:49.01. That same foursome won the 200 freestyle relay Friday.
“We were more comfortable coming into the race after winning the free relay (Friday),” Kaplafka said.
Saucon Valley finished second in 3:50.53 and Schuylkill Haven’s relay of Teagan Wehr, Cali Stauffer, Nikki Domermuth and Hope Stauffer finished third at 3:50.61.
Strucko went 2-for-2 in individual golds over the two days by winning the 100 backstroke Saturday. She took first in the 200 IM on Friday.
Strucko’s time of 57.21 was 6.05 seconds faster than Mahanoy Area freshman Lillian Brown, who took second.
“I’m pretty content with my time right now,” Strucko said. “I’m not rested so I’m hoping to see some drops at states.”
The 100 breaststroke saw Wilson get out to a fast start and never look back to repeat as District 11 champion in the event. Her time of 1:06.22 was 2.62 seconds faster than second-place Olivia Amorim of Salisbury.
“I broke our team record again” Wilson said. “I was just trying to focus on myself and after the first 50 I kind of figured that I had it.”
Blue Mountain’s Hensel and Marian senior Zoe Katona finished third and fourth.
Brown also earned silver in the 500 freestyle, claiming her first-ever individual district medal. She touched with a time of 5:37.58, dropping 1.26 seconds off her seed time.
Blue Mountain senior Julia Crossen was trailing for most of the race, but a late push saw her pass Allentown Central Catholic’s Addie Kehoe-Huck to place third in a time of 5:45.56.
“I was definitely nervous going into it because that girl was next to me,” Julia Crossen said. “I wanted to beat her and I wanted to get a good time. I was next to her (Friday) in the 200 free and she beat me, so I came in even more determined.”
Just like the 50 free Friday, the 100 freestyle was just as exciting.
Kaplafka and Hope Stauffer both swam a great race, but the Blue Mountain senior just out-touched Stauffer for third, with Kaplafka going 54.05 and Stauffer being clocked in 54.35. The race was won by Saucon Valley’s Julia Cort, who broke the district record in the event with a time of 51.98 seconds.
Cort was also named the Dennis McGinley Award winner as the meet’s outstanding girls’ swimmer for the second straight year.
