Lock Haven Swims Past Jersey Shore

In the summer of 2010, the Jersey Shore swim team soundly defeated Lock Haven (then called the Mill Hall Muskrats) 10-0.  While despair and frustration could have set in, the Lock Haven swim community started to rebuild the program by investing into its future with swim lessons and stroke clinics.  While the following summer was another thumping, 9-1, it was apparent the youth movement was in full swing as times, strokes, and turns improved.  Last summer, the gap had almost vanished as Lock Haven was able to win four age groups to Shore’s six. 

 This past Thursday night, Lock Haven was able to showcase their investment into their youth as they swept the younger age groups (8-and-unders and the 10-and-unders) in both the girls and boys on route to a 7-3 win.

The girls 12-and-under
get set for the start of the 50 yard
backstroke.  Shore’s Jordon O’Connor
(third swimmer from the bottom)
went on to win the event.

 

 Lock Haven’s 10-and-under boys 39-11 over Jersey Shore was accomplished by the group winning 6 of 8 events.   It didn’t seem to matter what swimmer was inserted into the relays as they easily captured both.  The opening 200 yard medley relay of Leisher Gugino, Tyler Cygan, Elijah Persun, and Owen Persus won with a time of 1:22.87 over Shore’s Caleb Moore, Joshua Smith, Alex Butzler, and Lake Merryman.  It was almost a completely different set of swimmers in Lock Haven’s winning 200 yard freestyle relay with William Straley, Parker Orndorf and Jack Drouin joining Elijah Persun. 

In between those relays, Lock Haven dominated several events by taking the three top scoring spots. E. Persun, O. Persun, and Gugino in the 25 yard freestyle; E. Persun, Cygan, and Gugino in the 50 yard freestyle; and O. Persun, Cygan, and Orndorf in the 25 yard breaststroke finishing 1-2-3 respectively.

A clean sweep of all the individual events was prevented with Shore’s Butzler capturing the 100 yard individual medley (IM) and butterfly and Dylan Kitchen taking third in the 25 yard breaststroke.

 It was just the exact opposite with the girl’s 12-and-unders where Jersey Shore captured both relays and 4 out of the 6 individual events. Teammates Allison Panczyszyn, Jordon O’ Connor, Taylor Fleming, and Sam Keegan were able to string together fast enough times to capture both relays.  In between, Fleming and Panczyszyn took 1-2 in the 100 yard IM and Keegan and Panczyszyn the top two spots in the 50 yard breaststroke. 

The closest race of the evening took place in the 50 yard freestyle as Keegan and Lock Haven’s Emma Persun raced to the finish line with Persun out-touching Keegan by 1/100s of a second.

 

Jersey Shore lost to Selinsgrove earlier in the week, 6-4, and looks to getting back on the winning track with a meet against Williamsport on Saturday (6/29).
Age group scores can be viewed here and meet results can be viewed here

 

Shore’s Elizabeth Osborn races down the pool in the
14-and-under 50 yard freestyle.