States Results

  • States 2015

    Over the past five days, a team of eight swimmers represented Northern York at the 2015 PIAA State Swimming & Diving Championships at Bucknell University.

    AA Girls States Team - sophomore Rachel Eby, junior Gabby Lodovici, senior Jenn Strine and junior Cait Weeden
    AAA Boys States Team - seniors Bryce Carroll, Josh Clarke, Cory Poe and Peter Wheat

    It was an honor just to have qualified for States and be recognized as the very best among high school swimmers and divers in the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  Full results can be found at http://piaa.org/news/details.aspx?ID=3254

    For most swimmers from around the state, who had to shave and taper for their District meet, in order to do well there and have a chance of qualifying for States, it's challenging to try to re-train and re-taper in order to perform well again at States ten or so days later.  As a result, the majority of the times recorded at States are normally slower than the swimmers' entry times from Districts.  It was certainly the case again this year.

    Our eight Northern competitors held their own, achieving, over ten morning prelim swims and two evening swims:

    * Six Career Best Times! ....and a number of times that were either the 2nd or 3rd fastest of their career!
    * Five All-State Honorable Mention honors - Josh in the 200 Free and Gabby, Rachel, Jenn and Cait in the 400 Free Relay!
    * One new School Record - Cory for his flat start 50 Free time of 22.00 in his leadoff leg of the Boys 200 Free Relay!

    Jenn Strine got things started in the AA meet very early on Wednesday morning in the 200 IM when she swam her first individual event at PIAA States and posted a 2:21.57 and finished 29th.

    Also in her States debut in an individual event, Cait Weeden then recorded a 1:01.70 in the prelims of the 100 Fly.  Cait's time allowed her to capture 24th place.  She was seeded 30th coming into the meet.

    The Girls 200 Free Relay team of Gabby, Rachel, Jenn and Cait finished with a time of 1:43.69, which was good for 17th place.

    On Thursday morning, it was Gabby's turn to compete individually, when she swam the 500 Free for the second year in a row at States.  She posted a time of 5:22.45 and improved on her seed by going from 24th to 22nd.  Gabby's States time of 5:22.45 was almost three seconds faster than her States time in 2014.

    Jenn was up next on Thursday in her second individual event, the 100 Breast.  She swam a 1:09.61 and finished 21st.

    The four girls teamed up again on Thursday morning in the final event of prelims, the 400 Free Relay.  They swam well, recording a 3:43.74, resulting in the team finishing in 12th place and earning a spot in the Consolation Finals that evening!  Thursday evening, in the last swim of their season and of Jenn's high school career, they swam even faster!  Their time of 3:42.97 was even quicker than their time at Districts and was made possible by four gutsy swims.  Their 12th place in the Consolation Finals earned the four girls All-State Honorable Mention recognition.  Congratulations girls!  It was a great way for the girls States Team to end an exciting season and week.

    On Friday morning, the AAA meets got underway, with Josh kicking things off in the 200 Free.  His prelim time of 1:42.62 was good enough to earn him the 13th place spot in the evening Consolation Finals.   That evening Josh swam even faster, posting a 1:42.23 and improving on his seed with a 12th place finish and All-State Honorable Mention honors!

    Later Friday morning, the four boys teamed up in the prelims of the 200 Free Relay.  Cory got things off to a very fast start when he led off with a time of 22.00 for the first leg.  As noted above, Cory's time was fast enough for a new School Record, lowering Jared Haley's mark.  Bryce, Peter and Josh finished off the relay with some of the fastest splits of their careers, resulting in a time of 1:28.40 and an 18th place finish.

    On Saturday, Josh was our first competitor again, this time in the 100 Free.  He posted a time of 47.95 and finished in 23rd place.

    The final swim of the morning - the 400 Free Relay - turned out to be the final swim of the meet, the season and - for our four senior boys - their high school swimming careers.  Cory led it off again and then Bryce, Peter and Josh brought it home.  Their final time of 3:14.70 was good enough to earn them 19th place in the state among all the AAA boys teams.  An achievement of which they should be proud.

    The achievements of this past week on the biggest stage in Pennsylvania brought to a close the 2014-15 Northern Swimming & Diving Season.


    My sincere thanks to a number of people that made our trip to States possible and more positive...

    • Mrs. Bowers for arranging for our transportation that worked just fine this year, with no smoking belts :-)
    • Mr. Schwille for paying for the hotel rooms for the swimmers and coaches and for bringing Coach Taliani and Trump up so you could both cheer us on on Friday!
    • Mr. Wilson for transporting the Boys Swimming Team to Bucknell on Thursday and the National Anthem singers on Friday evening.
    • The Booster Club for funding our meals throughout the week.
    • Coach Taliani for covering the Boys practices on Tuesday and Wednesday and for coming up to Bucknell to cheer us on.
    • Coach Eby for being there with us every minute of every day and helping coordinate everything - transportation, meals, warmups, deck passes, more meals, more transportation, getting splits, etc., etc., etc.   We simply couldn't have done it without you.
    • The loyal Northern fans for being in line and in the stands VERY early to "represent" Northern.  Please know how very much it meant to us to see you there in the stands...again.
    • To my wife, Eleanor, for helping with transportation and ordering and picking up meals and for being in the stands faithfully following and cheering on our swimmers and for continuing to give me good advice and support.
    • Last, but not least, to Coach Ahearn who, due to some health challenges, was unable to join us at Bucknell.  We couldn't have done what we did at States without your hard work and dedication throughout the season.  We know it was difficult for you to not be on deck with us, but we felt your presence, particularly through your very thoughtful gift bags for each of the swimmers.  Get well!!!

    We have a great deal for which to be thankful and to celebrate, which we'll be doing at Liberty Forge beginning at 4:00 PM on Saturday, March 28th.

    I look forward to seeing you there and sharing good memories.

    Thanks for another GREAT season!

    Sincerely,

    Coach Resser