LEWISBURG — On Day 1 of the PIAA Class 3A Swimming Championships, Franklin County swimmers collected 3 medals.
Amir Tasker
Waynesboro’s Eve Phillips was the highest finisher, taking fourth in the girls 50 freestyle. In the morning prelims, Phillips bested her seed time (23.36 to 23.43), which was the third-best time in the prelims. In the final, Phillips posted a time of 23.37. State College’s Molly Workman won in 22.44.
Chambersburg’s boys had a good day, with four swimmers making the A or B final. The Trojans sit in 10th place in the team standings with 37 points.
“We have another full day tomorrow with four individuals and a relay that can also score big,” Trojan coach Chad White said. “It would be awesome for another top-10 finish, but we’re going to have to get after it tomorrow.”
In the first event for Chambersburg, the 200 freestyle, Alex Kaczmark was seeded 8th and Amir Tasker 9th. In the prelims, Tasker produced a 1:39.72, for the third-best time, and Kazcmark had 1:41.20, which put him in 12th.
In the B final, Kaczmark was second with a better time of 1:40.42 to move him up to 10th place, while in the A final, Tasker swam a time of 1:40.58 and placed 7th.
In the 100 butterfly event, Kaczmark was seeded 5th and Cristian Pong was seeded 10th. In the prelims, Pong bettered his time to 50.00 and got into the A final, while Kaczmark came in at 50.25, the 10th-best time.
Cristian Pong
In the finals, Pong placed 8th in 50.06, and Kaczmark posted the same time to place 10th.
White said, “We had a pretty good first day. Amir and Cristian getting a medal in the A finals is a great honor and it was fun to see them rewarded for their dedication.
“Alex just missed making finals in both if his races, but came back at night and executed two great races.”
The Trojans also competed in the 200 freestyle relay. Seeded 15th, Chambersburg’s team of Tasker, Kaczmark, Ethan White and Pong recorded a time of 1:26.94, which was good for 20th place.
“The relay was a little off what we thought they could do,” coach White said, “but it was very difficult for Alex and Cristian getting less than 10 minutes of rest after their 100 fly races.”
For the Chambersburg girls, Margot Ritchie was the only competitor on Friday. She was seeded 29th in the 200 freestyle, but her prelim time of 1:56.30 moved her up to 21st place.