Shore YMCA Swimmers Break Records At Meet

Jersey Shore's 8-and-under girls were recognized before the start of the Central Pennsylvania YMCA Swim League championship meet last Sunday at the Williamsport High School pool for their undefeated regular season dual meet record.

Shortly afterward, they showed the crowd why they dominated the season.  The girls were seeded third in the opening medley relay behind two Bloomsburg Barracuda teams. Shore's relay squad - which featured Jordon O'Connor, Isabelle Griswold, Natalie Charnego and Taylor Fleming - had the lead initially but fell to second during the butterfly leg. Fleming stole the lead from Bloomsburg on the last lap, allowing the Bullfrogs to finish the race with a victory in a time that broke the meet record.

Jersey Shore's head coach Patty Kennelley used those four hard in the individual events that followed with good results. Griswold finished second in the 25-yard backstroke to East Lycoming's Cassandra Gee by 12/100s of a second, while teammate Fleming had an equally close race in the 50 freestyle, finishing 14/100s of a second behind Bloomsburg's Emily Keyser.

By the end of the morning session, Kennelley had spent the eligibility of those swimmers and had to create another strong foursome for the final freestyle relay. Depth has never been a problem for this age group and her team of Allison Moore, Stephanie Steinbacher, Meaghan Keegan and Maegan Sorgen won easily by more than 2.5 seconds.

Shore's next age group, the 10-and-under girls, had some record-setting performances. Emma Butzler captured wins and new championship meet records in the 50 butterfly and 100 freestyle. She also won the 50 backstroke. Butzler capped off her morning's events by assisting her teammates of Sam Keegan, Riley Markey and Ashlyn Wool in winning the 200 freestyle relay in 2 minutes, 19.46 seconds.

Jersey Shore's 8-and-under boys' 100 freestyle relay of Tycen Whitman, Aaron Baker, Caleb Moore and Alex Butzler finished first over Lock Haven's quartet of Parker Orndorf, Paul Shimko, Sean Sprague and Tyler Cygan.

Jersey Shore’s Taylor Poretta comes off the wall on her breaststroke turn to swim the last leg of her race.  Photo courtesy of Kim Poretta

The afternoon session, which consisted of the older kids, showcased some strong swims for Jersey Shore. Lindsay Dudek, in the 15-and-over grouping, clinched the 100 yard butterfly while teammate Bethann Schwoyer edged Bloomsburg’s Annissa Fink by one second in the 100 yard freestyle for the win.

Jersey Shore’s Lindsay Dudek heads for open water on route to a win in the 100 yard butterfly.  Photo courtesy of Kim Poretta

Olivia Edler had to work hard to get her win in the 200 yard medley. From the start, she struggled to stay within striking distance of Sunbury’s Grace Kline. It was only until the final freestyle leg that she surged down the stretch to claim the lead by 4/100s of a second.

Lock Haven YMCA had a strong showing in the younger age groups, and after the first session of the day, the 10 and Under boys were sitting in 3rd place overall. The younger boys had some great swims, with almost everyone dropping time across the board. Tyler Cygan took 3rd overall in the 100 IM with a season best swim! Paul Shimko celebrated his first ever YMCA Championships meet by finishing 4th overall in the 25 freestyle!

For the older group, Benjamin Jones captured 2nd place in the 500 freestyle with an overall time of 5:59.89, a lifetime best in the event. Lock Haven added two to their list of district qualifiers. Nolan and Ethan Dale qualified in the 50 freestyle and the 50 breaststroke respectively. They will join Michelle Haftl at the West District meet on March 12th-13th.