Will State College swimming get another District 6 crown? Local teams gear up for events
State College swimming is at the precipice of repeating its success, looking to win back-to-back District 6 championships for both the boys and girls teams.
Both teams won the Mid-Penn Championships for the 2022-23 season and are looking to continue marching toward a PIAA Class 3A state championship. First, the Little Lions need a boost from its best swimmers at this weekend’s District 6 championships, and Jade Castro is up to the task.
The Auburn commit won both the 100-yard individual medley (53.92) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:03.32). She’s continued to be the team’s strongest swimmer with a 9.47 power index, per Swimcloud’s metrics — ranking fourth in Pennsylvania. While she’s led her squad, she’d be the first to rave about her teammates’ abilities in the pool and their sisterhood.
“If I could name the whole team, I would,” Castro said. “I know Molly Workman, Madison Watschke, another one of my little sisters — Kelly Brownstead. She’s got a huge legacy being a Brownstead and she’s ready to fill those shoes. Ditta Kowalik — she’s really putting in a lot of hard work this season and my little sister Quinn (Castro) she’s hopefully contending for a District title this year.”
Watschke is part of the new guard of State College’s girls swim team as a sophomore. She soaked in knowledge from the seniors during her first-year season, parlaying that into a second-place finish in the 100-yard breastroke (1:05.50) and a fourth-place finish in the 200-yard individual medley (2:08.12). She believes that her growth as an individual, along with more leadership from the current crop of seniors, will also help the team as a whole.
“It’s nice because we get to take what we learned from the seniors last year and use that to grow,” Watschke said. “Now we have new seniors to look up to and new relays. It’s just fun to grow with each other, see each other mature and to have new people to look up to as well.”
First-year State College girls swimmer Molly Workman finished first in the Mid-Penn Championships in the 50-yard freestyle (23.22) and the 100-yard freestyle (50.85). The daughter of former Kentucky swimmer Jaime Siegele and State College head coach Aaron Workman, she’s impressed both of her parents during her early career.
“It’s interesting when you coach your daughter,” Aaron Workman said. “We leave everything at the pool, which is fun. She is just an extremely coachable kid and if there’s some sort of direction or a change or even a push, ‘I need you to do this a little better,’ she here’s that and immediately applies it. This year has been so much fun because she’s actually already doing things that her mom was doing in college. There’s a little bit of competitiveness from those two as far as swimming goes.”
While already having competed at a high level at an early time in her career, Molly Workman expects higher marks at her next event.
“It is fun knowing that I wasn’t rested for the last (event) and thinking what I could do with more rest and how much faster I can go,” Molly Workman said. ”It would be really fun to try to win and break some new meet records.”
State College boys swimming
Shawn Erdley fought through injuries at the beginning of the season. The senior maintained his composure, was named a captain of the boys team and continued on to have a strong season. Now the Florida Southern commit has two first place finishes in the Mid-Penn Championships in the 100-yard breaststroke (58.62) and the 200-yard individual medley (1:55.36).
He’s since reflected on his time at State College, appreciating all of the small moments that have made it special.
“It’s been awesome,” Erdley said. “I’ve loved every year that I’ve swam here so far. It’s been great having awesome teammates along the way and I’m excited for what’s to come.”
Sam Huggins finished first in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:36.21 and second in the 200-yard freestyle in 1:41.54 during the Mid-Penn Championships. He’s currently ranked No. 13 in the state in points with 678.55 and the leading point scorer for the Little Lions on the boys side.
“I want to make it to states and place well there,” Huggins said. “I just want to get my best times and meet my goals.”
State College will compete in the District 6 Class 3A Swimming Championships, while Bellefonte and Penns Valley are set to compete in the District 6 Class 2A Championships this weekend. The diving events are scheduled to begin at noon Thursday at State College Area High School. Swimming events will begin on Friday at Penn State’s McCoy Natatorium and commence on Saturday.
Events
- Girls 200 Medley Relay AAA
- Boys 200 Medley Relay AAA
- Girls 200 Medley Relay AA
- Boys 200 Medley Relay AA
- Girls 200 Freestyle AAA
- Boys 200 Freestyle AAA
- Girls 200 Freestyle AA
- Boys 200 Freestyle AA
- Girls 200 IM AAA
- Boys 200 IM AAA
- Girls 200 IM AA
- Boys 200 IM AA
- Girls 50 Freestyle AAA
- Boys 50 Freestyle AAA
- Girls 50 Freestyle AA
- Boys 50 Freestyle AA
- Girls 100 Butterfly AAA
- Boys 100 Butterfly AAA
- Girls 100 Butterfly AA
- Boys 100 Butterfly AA
- Girls 200 Freestyle Relay AAA
- Boys 200 Freestyle Relay AAA
- Girls 200 Freestyle Relay AA
- Boys 200 Freestyle Relay AA
- Girls 1-meter Diving AAA
- Boys 1-meter Diving AAA
- Girls 1-meter Diving AA
- Boys 1-meter Diving AA
- Girls 100 Freestyle AAA
- Boys 100 Freestyle AAA
- Girls 100 Freestyle AA
- Boys 100 Freestyle AA
- Girls 500 Freestyle AAA
- Boys 500 Freestyle AAA
- Girls 500 Freestyle AA
- Boys 500 Freestyle AA
- Girls 100 Backstroke AAA
- Boys 100 Backstroke AAA
- Girls 100 Backstroke AA
- Boys 100 Backstroke AA
- Girls 100 Breaststroke AAA
- Boys 100 Breaststroke AAA
- Girls 100 Breaststroke AA
- Boys 100 Breaststroke AA
- Girls 400 Freestyle Relay AAA
- Boys 400 Freestyle Relay AAA
- Girls 400 Freestyle Relay AA
- Boys 400 Freestyle Relay AA
