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The Spartans savor their fifth-straight crown. DelVal boys win, with WVW second.
Bria Edwards of Hazleton Area wins the 500 freestyle in Saturday’s District 2 Class 3A swimming championships at the CYC pool in Wilkes-Barre.
Pete G. Wilcox/the times leader
WILKES-BARRE – As the Wyoming Valley West girls’ team celebrated behind the starting blocks of the Wilkes-Barre CYC’s natatorium, it had finally begun to set in.
The Spartans had won their fifth-consecutive District 2 Class 3A swimming championship.
Wyoming Valley West found it tough to win, fighting through upsets in several key events Saturday, but still gathering up enough points to withhold Friday’s lead.
“I’m just ecstatic,” said Wyoming Valley West’s Laura Tucker, who finished second in the 100-yard backstroke (1:03.40) and swam a leg on a record-breaking 400-yard freestyle relay (3:43.55) with teammates Ashley Tudgay, Alexandra Mazaleski and Sara Labashosky. “We were all down a bit as a team and not sure we could pull it out; but, to have this record, we’re all just so happy.”
Wyoming Valley West scored 335 points to claim the 3A girls’ title. Abington Heights (228), Williamsport (225), Delaware Valley (201), Hazleton Area (185) and Scranton (88) trailed.
Delaware Valley won the Class 3A boys’ title for the second-straight year with 338 points. Wyoming Valley West (225) finished second, followed by Williamsport (205), Abington Heights (195), Hazleton (187) and Scranton (113).
The Spartan girls 400 relay broke a six-year-old record set by Wyoming Valley West in 2002, set two years previous to when Wyoming Valley West’s district winning streak began.
Wyoming Valley West led by 67 points heading into Saturday’s competition, but head coach Frank Tribendis still wasn’t taking anything for granted.
“There were a lot of surprises for us today,” said Tribendis. “This one isn’t any more or less exciting than the others.”
Tribendis has won countless Wyoming Valley Conference and District 2 championships throughout his 28-year head coaching career, but says each one is still like the first.
“Once you lose that nervousness, that excitement,” he said, “it’s time to hang it up.”
In addition to Tucker’s second in the 100 back, Labashosky (5:40.71) scored a second-place to Hazleton’s Bria Edwards (5:38.92) in an exciting 500-yard freestyle.
With her goal time of 5:45 scrawled on her hand in ink, Edwards – the seventh seed in the event – came seemingly from nowhere to overtake Labashosky over the last 100 yards for the win. Edwards didn’t even know that she had won the event until she saw her time and place on the leader board after her finish.
“I just wanted to medal,” said Edwards. “I didn’t think I was any faster than sixth. I heard my coach yelling to go faster and I didn’t know why.”
Wyoming Valley West senior Lindsay Adams (1:09.30) also had a bittersweet second-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke to Abington Heights’ Megan Gibbons in a record-breaking time of 1:07.39. Just over a year after Adams underwent surgery to remove her gallbladder, Tribendis wasn’t sure the senior would be able to return to the pool.
“She put up a fantastic time,” he said. “We didn’t think she would be back to that form.”
Gibbons broke Adams’ record in the event, set two years ago, of 1:08.16.
The Spartans weren’t without highlights to their day, though.
On the boys’ side, Joe O’Hara (54.70) picked up his second gold medal in the 100-yard backstroke by a convincing margin over Delaware Valley’s Nicholas Zazula (56.76) and Steven Papandreou (57.16).
“I just did what I came in to do,” said O’Hara. “Honestly, my backstroke (time) wasn’t where I wanted it to be. I’ll have another chance in two weeks.”
David Hovey will make the trip to the PIAA State Championships with O’Hara. Hovey (1:00.58) won the 100-yard breaststroke to earn his ticket to Bucknell University in Lewisburg for the state meet.
Wyoming Valley West sprinter Matt Morris will have to wait to see if he will qualify on time, though.
Morris finished second to Delaware Valley’s Jamie Grennan who, for the second day in a row and second year in a row, broke his own record in the 100-yard freestyle.
Grennan swam a 46.56 to break his previous record of 46.99.
“I was just trying to make up for (Friday),” said Morris, who finished the 100 free in 48.55. “I thought I could come close to one of my best times. I’m not upset with the results. Every time we (Morris and Grennan) race, we get the best for our money.”
UP NEXT:
WHAT: Class 3A PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships
WHEN: March 12-13
TIMES: Preliminaries 8 a.m.; Finals and consolations 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Kinney Natatorium, Bucknell University, Lewisburg
ON THE WEB: www.piaa.org/swimming/