Jersey Shore eases past East Lyco, 8-2

The 50-meter freestyle event is often called the glamour event of swimming because it is fast with close finishes.  An explosive dive off the block starts the race followed by powerful kicks as swimmers reach top speed in a matter of seconds. No need to conserve energy in this race as it is over shortly after it starts. This was exemplified this past Saturday at the Jersey Shore High School pool where the 50 freestyle events provided some exciting races between the Jersey Shore Bullfrogs and East Lycoming Electric Eels.

Jersey Shore’s 18-and-under Maddi Thompson cruises to a win in the 100 meter freestyle.

"Whether the kids are younger or older, I try to drill into their heads that the 50 free is an all-out sprint," Jersey Shore head coach Patty Kennelley said. "Having a good start, turn and finish is going to help them win the race. Lately, we have been doing a lot of one-way sprints so that they can work on their starts and focus on having a strong finish. We have also incorporated more sprinting workouts to help them realize that not just the 50 is a sprint, but also the 100."

Pam Niditch of East Lycoming's 12-and-under girls out-touched Shore's Olivia Edler by 87/100 of a second for first. Edler didn't have much breathing room for second as she just finished 56/100 of a second ahead of teammate Gabbie Moore. The next race swung to the Bullfrogs as Jacob Butzler barely beat East Lycoming's Justin Geary by 28/100 of a second for the win in the 12-and-under boys.

The 14-and-unders had some close races also in the 50 freestyle. Shore's Hannah Runtas and Courtney Breon were tying for the top spot as the two were neck-and-neck the entire distance. It was Runtas that was able to create a little space right at the end as she was able to out-touch Breon by just 4/10 of a second. There was little question on the winner on the boys' side as Jersey Shore's Tyler Sheets won handily. The question was for second place. Only 18/100 of second separated East Lycoming's second-place finisher, Dan Shulick, from Shore's Cullen Berfield.

The 18-and-under girls couldn't be any closer as Jersey Shore's Jamie Mason and the Eels' Karen Schulte furiously tried to grab the lead down the stretch. Both touched the wall at the same time at 30.64 seconds.

The excitement was a little more subdued in the 10-and-girls' 50 freestyle race as Shore's Hanna Stemler easily won the event. Her age group was also able to capture the other two freestyle events as Sam Keegan and Stemler went 1-2 in the 100 freestyle. Keegan was also part of the 200 free relay with Riley Markley, Ashlyn Wool and Emma Butzler that won by over 36 seconds. Teammates Emma Schoonmaker, Lehman Trynity, Cheyenne Gansell, and Allison Panczyszyn were able to cruise into third place. The girls went on to win the age group 48-26.

It came down to the final relays for both 8-and-under age groups to pull out wins. The boys, down by a point, were able to squeak out a first-place finish in the 100 freestyle relay by 69/100 of a second to end the day with a 28-26 win.

The girls were down by six points going into their final relay, but a 1-2-3 finish pushed them over the top, 38-34.

Jersey Shore went on to win the meet 8-2. The team's final dual meet is against the Sunbury YMCA on Saturday.