SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — The Cumberland Valley boys swimming team started off its day with a win in the 200 medley relay, posted a Mid-Penn record in the 200 individual medley, and wrapped up its day at third in the Mid-Penn conference.
The Eagle girls, meanwhile, posted a fourth-place finish behind a huge performance from Kayla Barone in the 200 free and a solid day overall.
The No. 4 Trinity boys and No. 5 Carlisle girls rounded out the top FIVE team performances on the first day of the Mid-Penn championships Friday from Cumberland Valley’s home pool — Day 2 action starts at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Cumberland Valley’s Jacob Deckman posted a Mid-Penn record time on the boys 200 IM, finishing in 1:53.01 to highlight an action-packed day from his home pool. Hershey’s Ben Bauchwitz held the previous record in the event, a 1:54.23 mark set in 2011.
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“I knew I wanted to if I could,” Deckman said, apparently referencing an inside joke. “I am (satisfied with the time). I kind of wanted something a little faster, but we’re not really shaved — we’re not tapered that much, so that time going into our big meet, which is districts, is pretty exciting.”
His teammate, Jack Dengler, meanwhile had a huge day as well, posting what his coach, Michael Gobrecht, said was a personal best (23.35) in the backstroke segment of the boys medley relay. Cumberland Valley would go on to win that relay in 1:36.51.
“I’ve really been working on my backstroke a lot this week,” Dengler said.
Dengler later tied for second in the boys 100 butterfly — both State College’s Jordan Hillsley and Dengler finished in 53.16.
“I couldn’t see him in the pool,” Dengler said, “but I had my friend Jordan Wyant (Trinity) next to me and he gave me that courage to finish that last twelve-and-a-half yards.”
The winner of that 100 butterfly? The Red and White’s own Matt Zappe, who posted a time of 52.08 to bring home the gold for the Eagles.
Matt Zappe (lane 5) and Jack Dengler (lane 2) of @CVSDeagles take 1st and 2nd in 100 butterfly pic.twitter.com/F1vwwlSLyY
— Dave (@davebarth15) February 13, 2016
“I’m extremely happy with that,” Zappe said. “After we got the first medley relay I felt really strong during that. Throughout the (100 butterfly) race I just kept building — I felt good the entire time. I felt him next to me, and I just wanted to bring it home. It definitely gives me confidence (going into districts).”
On the Cumberland Valley girls side, Barone took more than four seconds off her season PR to win the 200 free in 1:53.71. She edged a couple of standout Hershey girls in the process in the impressive win.
Boiling Springs sets school mark in relay
The Boiling Springs boys had a solid performance on Day 1 of Mid-Penns, notching a sixth-place finish.
Dillon Knaub, Alex Scheetz, Peter Greenbaum and Billy Webber put up a school-record time of 1:40.05 in the 200 medley relay to place fourth in a third heat that featured teams like State College, Hershey, CV and Central Dauphin.
In the final race of the day, those same four nearly beat the school record again, this time in the 200 free relay. The Bubbler crew posted the school’s second-best mark in the event with a 1:29.16 finish.
Trinity boys win 200 free relay, place 4th overall
The crew of Wyant, Andy Snyder, Alex Diaz and Lucas Haywood had a good lead in the 200 free relay coming into the final lap, but a late push from Hershey’s Chris Paymer nearly caught the Shamrock crew at the finish.
Hershey nearly overtakes but @THSRocksSports hangs on to win boys 200 free relay pic.twitter.com/eaez1QdZQC
— Dave (@davebarth15) February 13, 2016
Trinity held on to win by a tenth of a second with a time of 1:28.06 in the thrilling final race of the first day of Mid-Penns.
Haywood posted a fifth-place finish (22.31) in the 50 free and Wyant notched fourth in the 100 fly (53.68) to boost their team to a No. 4 finish.