WILLIAMSPORT – Both Athens and Towanda swim teams competed Wednesday and Thursday at the District IV Swimming Championships at Williamsport Area High School, giving it their all against other teams from the district.
The Wildcats men's team was NTL's top finisher during the two-day tournament, taking second place with a total of 324 points. Towanda finished seventh as a boys team with 95 points. Central Columbia took first place overall with 364 points.
On the women's side, Athens placed 6th with 183 points. Danville took the top spot on the women's leaderboard with 410 points.
In the boys competition, the Athens 400-yard relay team of Ethan Hicks, Eli Hicks, Ronelle Ankam and Brayden Pettit performed in the final event of the meet, winning with a school-record time of 3 minutes, 24.91 seconds. If they finish first, they will qualify for the state championship.
“The players have worked really hard there. (We're) really excited,” Athens coach Mark Keister said. “We knew we had the top seed and expected to do well. We wanted to play it safe, but everyone was aiming for a school record. In the end, they beat it by two seconds. They were really excited and the momentum was building all night.”
In the 100-yard backstroke, Pettitte placed third in 55.95 seconds, with teammate Josh Leonard eighth in 1:05.63. In Towanda, Nolan Deacon placed ninth with a time of 1:08.41.
Ryan Gorman placed fifth in the 100-yard breaststroke in Athens with a time of 1:10.91, the highest finish. The Wildcats' Ty Rezak and Aiden Oldroyd finished 9th and 13th in 1:13.98 and 1:24.94, respectively.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Athens' Jacob Shores was ninth in 5:46.88, and teammate Austin Quattrini was 12th in 6:09.46. Towanda's Alex Lantz placed 11th with a time of 6:07.17.
Ethan Hicks also won a silver medal in the 100-yard freestyle, taking second place with a score of 49.89. Ankam, Eli Hicks and Gorman were seventh, eighth and ninth with times of 52.58, 52.66 and 53.64, respectively. The Black Knights' Brenick Lane and Deacon placed 18th and 20th with times of 1:00.50 and 1:03.85.
The Athens 200-yard freestyle relay, consisting of Eli Hicks, Gorman, Ankam and Ethan Hicks, placed second with a time of 1:32.36. Towanda's team of Deacon, Lantz, Eric McGee and Lane placed him seventh with a time of 1:49.57.
Towanda's 400-yard freestyle relay team of Lane, Deacon, McGee and Lantz placed sixth with a time of 4:04.95.
On the first day, Hicks also earned a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.67. Eli Hicks was ninth in 23.72 seconds. Oldroyd finished 18th with a time of 27.41 seconds, sandwiched between Towanda's Lane and McGee, who finished 17th and 19th with times of 26.57 and 27.45.
In the 100-yard butterfly, Leonard was fifth for Athens with a time of 59.35 seconds, and Dominik Muzik was ninth with a time of 1:07.22. Pettit had a strong performance in the men's 200-yard individual medley, finishing fourth with a time of 2:04.22.
In the 200-yard freestyle, Athens' Ankam was sixth in 2:01.56 and Shores was eighth in 2:08.04. Quattrini was 14th with a time of 2:21.59. Lantz, of Towanda, placed 11th with a time of 2:13.44.
The Athens 200-yard medley relay team of Pettit, Lezak, Leonard and Gorman took fourth place with a time of 1:48.96. Towanda's team of Braden Pratt, Xander Pratt, Hudson Wheaton and Kenneth Karl placed seventh with a time of 2:47.63.
On the girls' side, Evelyn Panek led Athens in the 100-yard freestyle, placing eighth with a score of 58.83, and Elizabeth Denlinger placed 11th with a score of 59.77. Kayla Marshall placed 24th in 1:07.49.
In the 500-yard freestyle, Athens' Emily Marshall placed seventh with a time of 5:53.81 and 6:01.67, and Grace Cobb placed eighth. Elizabeth Talada finished 13th in 6:17.12.
Olivia Thompson placed seventh in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 1:07.85. In the 100-yard breaststroke, the Lady Wildcats' Madeline Henderson placed 14th in 1:28.29. The Athens 400-yard freestyle relay team of Thompson, Emily Marshall, Panek and Denlinger took third place with a time of 3 minutes, 57.51 seconds.
On the first day, Cobb placed eighth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2:13.61. Emily Marshall was 10th with a time of 2:14.65 and Talada was 13th with a time of 2:20.71. Denlinger placed eighth in the women's 200-yard individual medley with a time of 2:36.75, while Henderson and Maryrose Virtue were 14th and 16th with times of 2:46.06 and 3:13.84.
Panek also won bronze in the 50-yard freestyle, finishing third with a time of 26.05. Thompson was ninth with a score of 27.85, and Caitlin Leonard and Kayla Marshall were 16th and 20th with scores of 28.86 and 30.36, respectively.
Leonard and Birch were 14th and 15th in the 100-yard butterfly with times of 1:19.78 and 1:41.48. The Wildcats 200-yard medley relay team of Kayla Marshall, Henderson, Leonard and Talada placed seventh with a time of 2 minutes, 16.83 seconds.
The PIAA State Swimming Championships begin March 13 at Bucknell University.
