HS roundup: State College girls’ swimming places 3rd at PIAA Championships, and more

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The high school winter sports postseason continued this past week with the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships and District 6 wrestling’s team championships.

Centre County schools came back from the swimming championships with a combined two silver medals and five other podium finishes.

Bellefonte, Penns Valley and State College combined for the seven podium finishes with the Little Lions taking both silver medals. State High competed in the Class 3A championships on Saturday, while Bellefonte and Penns Valley competed in the 2A championships on Friday.

“Overall, we definitely exceeded expectations. We swam great,” State College co-head coach Aaron Workman said. “... The atmosphere was great. (The swimmers) were laughing, they were having a good time. It was good to see them excited to be in that situation again.”

Jade Castro took home an individual silver medal in the 100-yard backstroke and joined Mackenzie Pagett, Maddy Koehle and Colleen Adams to earn the silver in the 200-yard medley relay.

Both second-place finishes also set school records for the Little Lions, a feat Castro also accomplished with her seventh-place podium finish in the 100-yard butterfly.

Koehle and Pagett rounded out the podium finishes, coming in seventh and eighth place, respectively, in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“The goal was to sneak a couple breaststrokers in there, but they did get top eight, they podium-ed, which was great,” Workman said.

The Little Lion girls’ performance earned them a third-place finish in the 3A team standings with 114 points.

Penns Valley earned its own podium finish when sophomore Maggie Delaney finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“She went out and swam her best and had a good time,” Penns Valley head coach — and Maggie’s mom — Stephanie Delaney said. “We were expecting her to drop some time so I don’t know that it was a surprise (for her to finish fourth). … She was seeded 10th and went to fourth. It was a good improvement and we were happy.”

Delaney was joined at states by teammate Anna Butler as the team’s lone representatives, with Butler finishing 16th in the 50-yard freestyle.

“She had a really strong race,” Stephanie said. “Her time was not off from how she was seeded. She went and really had a good race. It was her last race of her career, so she was excited about that. (It was) bittersweet, of course, but I think it was a great way for her to end her high school career.”

Bellefonte earned a podium finish of its own when Kiaha McCool finished eighth in the 100-yard backstroke for the team’s top result of the day.

Here’s what else happened from March 15-21:

Swimming

State College: State College swimmers participated in the PIAA Class 3A Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School. Here’s how they placed: The relay team of Jade Castro, Mackenzie Pagett, Maddy Koehle and Colleen Adams finished second in the 200-yard medley; Adams was 10th in the 200 freestyle; Maddy Koehle 14th in the 200 IM; Ally Koehle 14th in the 50 freestyle; Castro seventh in the 100 butterfly; the relay team of Castro, Kelly Brownstead, Ally Koehle and Adams was 13th in the 200-yard free; Ally Koehle 15th in the 100-yard free; Adams 12th in the 500-yard free; Castro second in the 100-yard backstroke; Maddy Koehle was seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke; Pagett was eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke; the relay team of Zachary Lambert, Shawn Erdley, Garrick Zheng and John Brownstead was 14th in the 200 medley; John Brownstead 10th in 200 freestyle; Erdley 15th in the 200 IM; John Brownstead 15th in the 100 butterfly; the relay team of Lambert, Tyler Uhlig, Erik Witt and Zheng was 16th in the 200 freestyle; Uhlig 13th in the 500 freestyle; Uhlig 15th in the 100 backstroke; Erdley 14th in the 100 breastroke; and the relay team of John Brownstead, Lambert, Zheng and Uhlig was 12th in the 400 freestyle.

Bellefonte: Bellefonte swimmers participated in the PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at Cumberland Valley High School. Here’s how they placed: The relay team of Kiaha McCool, Natasha Hoffman, Katelyn Packer and Kate Rarrick finished 13th in the 200-yard medley; Rarrick was 14th in the 500 freestyle; McCool was eighth in the 100 backstroke; the relay team of McCool, Finley Musser, Rarrick and Hoffman finished 13th in the 200 freestyle and Harry Horner finished 15th in the 200-yard freestyle.

Penns Valley: Penns Valley had two swimmers participate in the PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships on Friday at Cumberland Valley High School. Maggie Delaney finished fourth in the 100-yard breaststroke, while Anna Butler finished 16th in the 50-yard freestyle.

Wrestling

Bellefonte vs. State College: Bellefonte defeated State College 31-30 on Thursday to claim the District 6 Class 3A team title. Earning wins were: Bellefonte’s Garrett Choates at 106 pounds (forfeit), Bellefonte’s Aidan O’Shea at 113 (fall in 3:12), Bellefonte’s Lane Aikey at 120 (13-0 maj. dec.), State College’s Owen Woolcott at 126 (fall in :32), State College’s Eric Weaver at 132 (10-4 dec.), State College’s Pierson Manville at 138 (forfeit), Bellefonte’s Jude Swisher at 145 (18-2 tech. fall in 5:09), State College’s Carter Weaverling at 152 (fall in 1:11), Bellefonte’s Ethan Richner (13-1 maj. dec.), State College’s Lance Urbas at 172 (fall in 4:51), Bellefonte’s Ethan Rossman at 189 (6-2 decision), State College’s Nick Pavlechko at 215 (8-1 decision) and Bellefonte’s Addison Shawley at 285 (5-2 dec.).

Bellefonte: Bellefonte beat Central Mountain 31-28 on Tuesday in the District 6 Class 3A team semifinals. Earning wins for the Red Raiders were: Garrett Choates at 106 pounds (5-0 dec.), Aidan O’Shea at 113 (fall in 1:34), Lane Aikey at 120 (9-1 maj. dec. ), Jude Swisher at 138 (10-0 maj. dec.), Ethan Richner at 106 (fall in 1:54), Ethan Rossman at 189 (18-3 tech. fall in 5:30) and Addison Shawley at 285 (4-1 dec.).

Penns Valley: Penns Valley fell 34-31 to Glendale on Tuesday in the District 6 Class 2A team semifinals. Earning wins for the Rams were: Hayden Yearick at 120 pounds (fall in :52), Ty Watson at 132 (fall in 1:53), Nate Long at 138 (forfeit), Dristen Wolfe at 152 (12-0 maj. dec.), Cole Felker at 172 (3-2 dec. in UTB2) and Ben Sharer at 285 (fall in 5:15).

Bald Eagle Area: Bald Eagle Area fell 36-33 to Forest Hills on Tuesday in the District 6 Class 2A team semifinals. Earning wins for the Eagles were: Lucas Fye at 106 (forfeit), Coen Bainey at 120 (6-4 dec.), Cooper Gilham at 126 (fall in 3:45), Drake Hoderman at 132 (fall in 1:37), Brady Proctor at 189 (forfeit) and Matthew Knepp at 215 (forfeit).

This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 12:25 PM.