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DALLAS TWP. — On paper, the meet wasn’t supposed to come down to the final relay. But there they were with Dallas’ 24-meet winning streak in jeopardy.
But with the Mountaineers’ all-star cast on the blocks, any chance for a blemish on the Mountaineers’ ranks was soon diminished.
Dallas (8-0 WVC) stayed atop the Wyoming Valley Conference girls swimming and diving standings with a 99-87 victory over Holy Redeemer Tuesday. The Mountaineers boys remained in a four-way tie for first place with Wyoming Valley West, Berwick and Hazleton Area thanks to a 102-65 ousting of the Royals.
“I knew (the girls) were going to be close but that’s a little closer than I thought it was or would have liked it to be,” Dallas coach Romayne Mosier said. “Redeemer has some depth and some numbers. I knew breaststroke was going to be an injury so I tried to move some things around to get some points.”
Swimming outside of her comfort zone, Dallas’ Abby Zolner kicked things off by turning a neck-and-neck race into a blowout victory over the final half of the 200 free. In a dead heat, Zolner outraced Kayla Kruk by 3.54 seconds in the last 100 yards for a 2:03.14 victory. Her teammate Lauren Finnegan provided valuable points out of the No. 6 lane with a second-place finish in the race. Zolner also won the 500 free.
“A lot of the way we train is to race the back half like (Zolner) did,” Mosier said. “If you watch most of the race, you could see where our swimmers gained ground in the back half. Sometimes they don’t win them but they gain.”
Holy Redeemer picked up points in a thrilling diving event. Riley Williams trailed heavily after a lackluster third dive that earned her only 4.5 score. Williams nailed her final two of the six dives to total a 215.1 score. Her fifth dive logged her two 7s and a 7.5, and she clinched the win with a solid final dive of all plus-6 scores. Dallas’ Maddy Ross missed the finish of her fifth dive and finished second to Williams by just .45 points.
The Royals made things interesting with a Kruk win in the 100 free with a 57.09 second finish. Anah Bozentka came away with an exciting third-place finish in the 500 free over Joy Nave by just eight-hundreths of a second.
“It was the second half; we had a tough first half there,” Holy Redeemer coach Jack Port said. “Then we really came strong in the second half. We picked up the pace here and there, and I was really impressed by that. I was impressed when they faced adversity, they responded.”
As expected, the 100 breast went in the Royals’ favor to set up the deciding 400 free relay. Holy Redeemer’s Emily Blaum charged in the second half to register a 1:15.23 first place.
“She works so hard in practice,” Port said. “She deserved it. I’m really proud of her. It was a great race for both swimmers. It was good to see her. She’s had a really tough week last week. She has come back and responded really well today.”
The 400 free relay saw Dallas’ heavy hitters of Zolner, Melinda Ratchford, Finnegan and Annalise Cheshire do their jobs with a first-place time of 3:54.64.
Dallas also had first-place finishes from Krista Vivian in the 200 IM and Madison Hurst in the 100 fly. Cheshire dominated the field for the top result in the 100 back and 50 free.
Mosier said she impressed to see dropped times from Nave in the 50 free and 500 free. Nave clocked in at 28.47 seconds and 6:01.79, respectively.
“She actually had some drops in times today in the 500 free and 50 free,” Mosier said. “Even though she wasn’t in the top three, she was impressive because she’s been working really hard at it. She was at a standstill and she stepped it up today.”
On the boys side, Dallas notched a win from Tony Caravaggio in the 200 free and Porter Luksic in the 100 breast. Jared Krawetz made a name for himself by sprinting to a pair of top finishes in the 50 free and 100 free over all-stars Nick Dubinski and Connor Thole.
“They did very well,” Mosier said. “Being down three boys because of some injuries and other things at meets, we were still able to pull out some wins over teams like Tunkhannock that have divers. They work hard and they want to do well and be successful. That shows in the way they race.”
Dallas faces off against undefeated Wyoming Valley West in a highly anticipated boys race next Wednesday.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Valley West 108, Hazleton Area 78
Chelsea Mackiewicz (50 free, 100 fly), Clare Winton (200 free, 500 free) and Alexis Ivanitch (100 free, 100 breast) all scored two individual wins for the Spartans while also competing on two first-place relay teams apiece.
Hayley Sanko won the 200 IM for the Cougars while Abby Schneider took first in the dive.
BOYS SWIMMING
Valley West 125, Hazleton Area 55
Logan Flugel led the Spartans with wins in the 200 IM and 100 fly on top of helping the Spartans to two of their relay victories. Maxim Kowalski won the 200 free and 500 free.
Jordi Soto took first in diving for the Cougars.
GIRLS SWIMMING
Dallas 99, Holy Redeemer 87
200 Medley Relay — 1. HR (McKenna Zeller, Emily Blaum, Emily Easton, Corrine Smith) 2:01.84, 2. DAL, 3. HR; 200 Free — 1. DAL Abby Zolner 2:03.14; 2. DAL Lauren Finnegan, 3. HR Kayla Kruk; 200 IM — 1. DAL Krista Vivian 2:27.8, 2. HR Easton, 3. DAL Kathleen Brown; 50 Free — 1. DAL Annalise Cheshire 25.42, 2. HR Blaum, 3. HR Smith; Diving — 1. HR Riley Williams 215.1, 2. DAL Maddy Ross, 3. HR Haily Yakimowicz; 100 Fly — 1. DAL Madison Hurst 1:07.28, 2. HR Zellar, 3. DAL Hannah Thomas; 100 Free — 1. HR Kayla Kruk 57.09, 2. DAL Finnegan, 3. DAL Melinda Ratchford; 500 Free — 1. DAL Zolner 5:36.73, 2. HR Easton, 3. HR Anah Bozentka; 200 Free Relay — 1. DAL (Cheshire, Ratchford, Finnegan, Zolner) 1:43.22, 2. HR, 3. HR; 100 Back — 1. DAL Cheshire 1:04.47, 2. HR Zeller, 3. DAL Hurst; 100 Breast — 1. HR Blaum 1:15.23, 2. DAL Vivian, 3. HR Carissa Wozinski; 400 Free Relay — 1. DAL (Zolner, Ratchford, Finnegan, Cheshire) 3:54.64, 2. HR, 3. DAL
Valley West 108, Hazleton Area 78
200 Medley Relay — 1. WVW (Lauver, Mackiewicz, Ivanitch, Brittain) 1:59.44; 2. HAZ; 3. WVW; 200 Free — 1. WVW, Clare Winton 2:10.51; 2. HAZ, Maggie Yannes; 3. WVW, Elizabeth Wood; 200 IM — 1. HAZ, Hayley Sanko 2:25.79; 2. WVW, Paige Williams; 3. WVW, Felicia Brittain; 50 Free — 1. WVW, Chelsea Mackiewicz 26.44; 2. WVW, Ehena Lauver; 3. HAZ, Megan Llewellyn; Diving — 1. HAZ, Abby Schneider 190.35; 2. HAZ, Cassie Longazel; 3. HAZ, Nicole Dietrich; 100 Fly — 1. WVW, Mackiewicz 1:05.70; 2. HAZ, Sanko; 3. WVW, Williams; 100 Free — 1. WVW, Alexis Ivanitch 57.63; 2. WVW, Brittain; 3. HAZ, Morgan O’Hara; 500 Free — 1. WVW, Winton 5:47.88; 2. HAZ, Yannes; 3. HAZ, Mattea Palma; 200 Free Relay — 1. WVW (Hoffman, Ivanitch, Lauver, Winton) 1:49.45; 2. HAZ; 3. WVW; 100 Back — 1. WVW, Wood 1:09.17; 2. HAZ, O’Hara; 3. HAZ, Nicole Miller; 100 Breast — 1. WVW, Ivanitch 1:11.30; 2. HAZ, Llewellyn; 3. HAZ, Alyssa Platukis; 400 Free Relay — 1. WVW (Mackiewicz, Winton, Brittain, Wood) 4:12.94; 2. HAZ; 3. WVW.
BOYS SWIMMING
Dallas 102, Holy Redeemer 65
200 Medley Relay — 1. DAL (Mikail Krochta, Porter Luksic, Troy Reinert, Jared Krawetz) 1:45.99, 2. HR, 3. HR; 200 Free — 1. DAL Tony Caravaggio 2:00.47, 2. HR Colton Smith, 3. DAL Frank Weaver; 200 IM — 1. HR Adam Mahler 2:11.12, 2. DAL Krochta, 3. HR Austin Smith; 50 Free — 1. DAL Krawetz 22.88, 2. DAL Luksic, 3. HR Nicholas Dubinski; Diving — None; 100 Fly — 1. HR Mahler 56.54, 2. DAL Reinert, 3. DAL Brogan Stec; 100 Free — 1. DAL Krawetz 50.4, 2. HR Connor Thole, 3. DAL Ryan Spears; 500 Free — 1. HR CSmith 5:26.4, 2. DAL Caravaggio, 3. DAL Weaver; 200 Free Relay — 1. DAL (Spears, Stec, Weaver, Caravaggio) 1:43.49, 2. HR, 3. DAL; 100 Back — 1. HR Thole 58.53, 2. DAL Krochta, 3. DAL Reinert; 100 Breast — 1. DAL Luksic 1:03.07, 2. Dubsinki, 3. DAL Issa Dahdal; 400 Free Relay — 1. DAL (Krawetz, Reinert, Krochta, Luksic) 3:31.9, 2. HR, 3. DAL
Valley West 125, Hazleton Area 55
200 Medley Relay — 1. WVW (Zaneski, Fluegel, Rosencrans, Zawatski) 1:47.81; 2. WVW; 3. HAZ; 200 Free — 1. WVW, Maxim Kowalski 1:54.18; 2. HAZ, Seth Platukis; 3. WVW, Zach Whibley; 200 IM — 1. WVW, Logan Flugel 2:09.83; 2. WVW, Zac Rosencrans; 3. HAZ, Paul Flowers; 50 Free — 1. WVW, Ivan Volynets 24.09; 2. WVW, Josh Zawatski; 3. WVW, Brent Wilbur; Diving — 1. HAZ, Jordi Soto 161.20; 2. WVW, Lucas Talley; 100 Fly — 1. WVW, Fluegel 55.38; 2. WVW, Stanley Zaneski; 3. WVW, Volynets; 100 Free — 1. WVW, Zawatski 52.91; 2. HAZ, Platukis; 3. HAZ, Emmanual Castro; 500 Free — 1. WVW, Kowalski 5:09.14; 2. HAZ, Flowers; 3. WVW, Whibley; 200 Free Relay — 1. WVW (Rosencrans, Lybolt, Wilbur, Kowalski); 2. HAZ; 3. HAZ; 100 Back — 1. WVW, Zaneski 1:02.99; 2. WVW, Wilbur; 3. HAZ, Benjamin Sabatos; 100 Breast — 1. WVW, Rosencrans 1:08.22; 2. WVW, Jared Lybolt; 3. WVW, Ayuto Sakai; 400 Free Relay — 1. WVW (Kowalski, Fluegel, Zawatski, Zaneski); 2. HAZ; 3. WVW.
