'STOGA SWIM AND DIVE

Swim Meet - Conestoga v. Ridley - 1/9/20

The Conestoga Swim and Dive teams were back in the pool on Thursday night at Ridley.  They were simply dominant, literally winning every swim event showing their depth up and down the lineup.

The boys started fast in the Medley Relay, with A Relay starter Jack Hughes handing off to Ishau Jiang while Ryan McDonough and James Manion for the “B” squad matched their pace, which had both squads half a pool length in front.  Stanley Kim and James Hughes closed the win for the A Team while Miles Whitaker and Noel Park brought home 2nd for the killer Bs.

In the 200 Free, Raymond Welgosh and Mantas Sevelis were neck and neck for 50, but Welgosh extended in the 2nd half to win while Sevelis was in a battle for 2nd.  Closing strong, Sevelis got the Silver while Aspen Malstrom came in 4th.  It was then a three way Stoga shootout in the 200 IM, with Christopher Ivory using a strong breaststroke leg to outpace Dennis Koh who took second, with Aidan Brown getting a touch out (by .01) to earn 3rd.

After the diving break, it was sweep city for Stoga again.  Steven Graver, Whitaker, and Andrew Zhang went 1-2-3 in the 100 Fly, before Park, Koh, and James Johnson put up the same result in 100 Free.  Then Brown left no doubt about the victor in the 500 Free, leading coast to coast with teammate Mantas Sevelis taking silver.

An exciting Stoga battle in the 200 Free Relay saw Gary Wang use a big turn to hand over a body length lead to Jack Semmer who maintained the gap over their teammates Johnson and Matt Pawlow.  Luke Nagel started to reel in James Manion in the 3rd leg, setting up Stanley Kim to touch out Andrew Zhang for the comeback win.

Stoga went 1-2-3 again in the 100 Back, with Jack Hughes setting the pace and cruising to the win over Christopher Ivory and Jack Reinhart, before Welgosh dominated the 100 Breast going 1.03.94 to win by more than 10 seconds.  Malstrom took 3rd.

In the final event, Jiang, Kim, Manion and Graver used a strong final leg from Graver to win the 400 Relay, while Yash Ray battled from behind to anchor Michael Orsulak, Whitaker, and Park to silver.

Final Score:  Conestoga 135, Ridley 50

The results were similar on the girls side, with most of the excitement coming from battles between teammates and swimmers striving for personal bests. 

Kalie Whitaker and Lucy Wydeven were even after the backstroke leg of the 200 Medley relay, before Adriana Bertolotti took over from Whitaker and built a lead that Lily Robinson and Keira Haas turned into gold.  Meanwhile Wydeven’s teammates Lilly Shui, Emma Galef and Sarah Park were in a battle with Ridley for 2nd, with Park holding on in the anchor leg for the silver.

Alyssa Totoro, Naomi Furman and Madi Ritzenthaler were in a close 1-2-3 battle halfway through the 200 Free, before Furman powered through the last 100 to win with Totoro comfortably in 2nd and Ritzenthaler 3rd.  In the 200 IM, Galef, Natalia McGlaughlin, and Shui were out front after the butterfly leg, and it looked like a freshman battle between Galef and McLaughlin after backstroke.  But Sophomore Shui made up ground in breaststroke to get even and outpaced her younger teammates in the free leg to take gold, with Galef 2nd and McGlaughlin fading to 4th.

After Whitaker touched out Louise Hay in the 50 Free, with Ayala Miller capturing bronze, the swimmers took a break to watch Phoebe Hutton and Jamie Semmer go 1-3 on the boards.

Then it was the girls turn to visit Sweep City, with Keira Wiley touching out Bertolotti to win the 100 Fly, with Anna Baker getting bronze, before Furman, Ava Collin, and Elle Wenstrup swept the 100 Free.

There was drama in the 500 Free, but it wasn’t for first or second.  Delaney Burns won easily and Keira Haas similarly cruised to silver.  But the battle for 3rd went stroke for stroke the last 5 laps, with Samantha Verrelli not only touching out her Ridley opponent for 3rd, but also smashing the 6:00 barrier for the first time at 5.59.73 and earning a Centrals qualifying time.  Congrats Sam!

Lily Robinson turned a tight race into a big lead in the 200 Free Relay, taking over from Burns and handing off a lead that Laganelli extended and Totoro closed out for the win.  It was a three team battle for 2nd before the Ridley foursome touched out Miller, Claire Newhall, Ella O’Shea and Park for 2nd. 

Collin and Shu iwent stroke for stroke down the stretch in the 100 Back, with Collin finishing stronger for the win by a half second.  Lily Robinson then dominated the 100 Breast, before attention turned to the closing event, the 400 Free Relay.

In a 1-2 Stoga battle, Hay, Wydeven, Burns and Laganelli nipped Bertolotti, Bakker, Joyce Fung and Galef to close out the meet. 

Final Score:  Conestoga 140, Ridley 46