PIAA Girls’ Swimming: Marian’s Strucko 10th in 200 IM prelims
The Schuylkill Haven girls' 200 freestyle relay of Nikki Domermuth, Cali Stauffer, Teagan Wehr and Hope Stauffer pose at the Lane 1 block prior to competing Wednesday at the PIAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University. The Hurricanes were 28th in 1:45.33 (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
LEWISBURG — It was a rough morning for the Schuylkill League girls’ swimmers competing at the PIAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
Marian’s Lydia Strucko was the only swimmer to place in the top 16 of her event and return for the night session after finishing 10th in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:10.00.
Blue Mountain’s Sage Kaplafka came close, just missing the consolation finals by finishing 17th in the 50 freestyle in 24.95. Schuylkill Haven freshman Hope Stauffer was 25th in the same event in 25.26.
Wednesday featured competition in the 200 medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay. The Class AA girls’ diving championships are slated for Wednesday afternoon, with the girls’ consolation finals and championship finals beginning at 4:35 p.m.
For a recap of how the Schuylkill League boys’ fared Wednesday, see related story.
The Schuylkill League’s three girls’ relay teams that were in action Wednesday morning all struggled to equal or better their District 11 times.
The Tamaqua quartet of Kate Behun, Savannah Wilson, Audrey Nattress and Ava Jones was 26th in 1:58.26, an increase of 2.11 seconds over their seed time of 1:56.15. The Blue Raiders were hoping to break the school record of 1:55.05.
The Blue Mountain 200 freestyle relay squad of Alayna Hensel, Julia Crossen, Isabella Lafko and Sage Kaplafka was 24th in 1:44.98, an increase of 1.70 seconds from their district championship time of 1:43.28.
The Schuylkill Haven 200 freestyle relay of Teagan Wehr, Cali Stauffer, Nikki Domermuth and Hope Stauffer was 28th in 1:45.33, adding 2.03 seconds to their District 11 runner-up time of 1:43.30.
“I don’t have any seniors on that team. So this year was a good learning point for them,” Tamaqua coach Jen Paisley said of her relay. “They got all the nerves out and they’ll be ready to go for next year. Hopefully we’ll see bigger things from them next season.
“I think a lot of today was nerves that they’re trying to get over. Hopefully next year once they see what the atmosphere was like today, see what this meet was like and that they belong here with all these other fast kids, we’ll see them calmer and faster next year.”
