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By Scott Franco
sfranco@altoonamirror.com
Swimmers from seven area high schools will converge on the Penn State University Natatorium this Friday and Saturday with a trip to the state championships on the line.
Altoona and Hollidaysburg will compete at the District 6 3A championships, while Cambria Heights, Central Cambria, Huntingdon, Northern Cambria and Tyrone will take part in the 2A championships. Both sessions start at 2 p.m.
In the Class 3A field, Hollidaysburg enters the event with several swimmers and relay teams receiving top 3-seeded status. Maddie Clapper is seeded second in the 50-yard freestyle and third in the 100 butterfly. The boys 200 medley relay team (Conor McKeirnan, Will Tyndall, Alex Gehringer and Dane Holtz) is seeded second as well as the 400 freestyle team (Matt Stiffler, McKeirnan, Gehringer and Tyndall). McKeirnan is seeded third in the 100 freestyle. Gehringer competed at states last year as a junior.
"We are seeded well in the relays," Hollidaysburg coach Deb Solomon said. "We look forward to a very competitive meet and some very fast swims."
Hollidaysburg's girls 200 medley relay team (Allison Black, Clapper, Claire Sauerland and Shanon Campbell) is seeded third as is the girls 200 freestyle relay team (Taylor Hileman, Brooke Smith, Audrey Westley and Victoria Grigg) and the 400 freestyle relay team (Clapper, Grigg, Black and Campbell).
Altoona received a No. 2 seed in the boys 200 freestyle relay (Rusty Focht, Nathan Shoeman, Brady McCarthy, Nathan Lawhead).
"As always, I feel we are ready to swim extremely competitive this weekend," Altoona coach Andy Smearman said. "All of our district athletes have worked very hard to get to this point in the season and have big goals and expectations going into this meet."
In the Class 2AA field, Huntingdon's Haley Goldstone is the top seed in the 50 freestyle. A sophomore, Goldstone competed at states last season. She is also seeded second in the 100 freestyle.
"We are very hopeful to have some swimmers moving on to the state meet," Huntingdon coach Melanie Varner said. "This could include both boys and girls, which we have never done before, so that would be great."
Goldstone is part of a strong Huntingdon contingent headed to districts. Zeb Fowler is seeded first in the 50 freestyle while teammate Andrew Edwards is seeded second. The boys 400 freestyle relay team of Matias Berger, Ben Atherton, Fowler and Edwards are seeeded first. Atherton is seeded second in the 200 freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle. Mallory Woodward is a No. 3 seed in the 100 backstroke. The boys 200 freestyle relay team (Berger, Atherton, Fowler and Edwards) is seeded third as is the girls 200 medley relay team (Woodward, Haley Goldstone, Allison Goldstone and Nora Tietjens).
"With the number of swimmers we have seeded in the top 6, we hope to see lots of swimmers on the podium," Varner said.
Tyrone has several seeded swimmers going into the meet. Fiona McConnell is a No. 3 seed in the 100 breaststroke as is teammate Jacob Decker in the 100 backstroke. The boys 200 medley relay team (Decker, Blake Slobodnik, Matt Lenze and Austin Quinn) is also a No. 3 seed.
"We have some very good seeds this year with many of our swimmers in the top 6-8 range," Tyrone coach Tom Getz said. "As usual, I expect personal bests and would hope that we get numerous swimmers into the top six and on the podium. We will need some outstanding swims to get some to states, but the kids have it in them."
For Northern Cambria, Jenna Grove is seeded third in the 200 freestyle.
"I believe Jenna Grove has a shot in the 200," Northern coach T.J. Mullen said. "I am confident that our girls will drop time and exceed their personal best times. I am also looking for a strong performance from our boys, short-numbered as they are are, but they will work hard."
Cambria Heights has a No. 3 seed in the form of Sarah Petry, Morgan Schreyer, Maddi Dzurko and Morgan Watt. The group consists of two freshmen (Dzurko, Petry) and two sophomores (Watt, Schreyer).
"We expect our girls relays to place," Heights coach Megan Hall said. "Our best chance at states is our girls 200 freestyle relay. We are very happy with all of our swimmers this season and we are looking forward to building upon that for next year."
Central Cambria does not have any swimmers seeded in the top three, but that doesn't mean the Red Devils lack any kind of expectations this weekend.
"I am expecting to see some great swims from this group," Central Cambria coach Kate Kalwanaski said. "After graduating 16 swimmers last year, our district team took some big hits. This year's group has stepped it up to get it done."
Below is a list of area swimmers who will be competing for their respective schools this weekend:
ALTOONA
Christina Brunette, Joseph Fanelli, Rusty Focht, Brittney Fouse, Becca Gallace, Joshua Hollopeter, Iris Kauffman, Dylan Kratzer, Jules Kratzer, Nathan Lawhead, Elizabeth Manely, Jared Markel, Brady McCarthy, Kayla Rosas, Nathan Shoeman, Kiersten Smith, Monica Yost
CAMBRIA HEIGHTS
Adam Bobak, Katherine Cox, Alex Diamond, Maddi Dzurko, Sarah Petry, Morgan Schreyer, Caleb Sunseri, Neil Sutton, Morgan Watt.
CENTRAL CAMBRIA
Cooper Gil,ey, Connor Dubuque, Quintin Helsel, Ty McBreen, Nate Kuntz, Isaac Haycisak, Seth Farabaugh, Michael Surma, Katie Harrison, Kayla Connor, Brittany Ribblett, Katlyn Novitski, Cassandra Gabrielson, Megan Orange, Sidney Gilkey, Chelsea Novitski, Grace Gerlach, Kendra Fox, Danika Polka.
HOLLIDAYSBURG
Allison Black, Aidan Bouchard, Robert Burns, Shanon Campbell, Madison Clapper, Alex Gehringer, Zachary Grabill, Parker Grigg, Victoria Grigg, Nick Helsel, Taylor Hileman, Averie Holtz, Dane Holtz, Lauren Imler Seth Lowey, Conor McKeirnan, Gage Paul, James Roberts, Claire Sauerland, Brooke Smith, Matt Stiffler, Will Tyndall, Audrey Westley
HUNTINGDON
Betn Atherton, Jacob Atherton, Luke Atherton, Matias Berger, Madi Buckley, Nick Buckley, Andrew Edwards, Carolann Edwards, Kaitlyn Ewing, Zeb Fowler, Katie Freeberg, Allison Goldstone, Haley Goldstone, Julian Groenendaal, Colby Grubb, Max Hosler, Zane Kazmarski, Maddie Langenbach, Marshall Lowe, Jaelyn Mitchell, Alexis Ritchey, Savannah Swartz, Nora Tietjens, Mallory Woodward.
NORTHERN CAMBRIA
Kaitlynne Jones, Lindsey Prasko, Cassidy McCall, Maddie Farabaugh, Courtney Wholaver, Liz Mattice, Sarah Tibbott, Jenna Grove, Rayna Buza, Sydney Miller, Shane Salvia, Mike Delosh, Angelo Carub, Jorden Wise,
TYRONE
Cate Baran, Mae Decker, Fiona McDonnell, Anastasia Slobodnick, Bryce Bauer, Matt Beam, Jules Collet, Jacob Decker, Nick Delbaggio, Brendan Kowalski, Matt Lenze, Carter Maceno, Qustin Quinn, Blake Slobodnick