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Red Raider swimmers save the best for last

By Kenny Varner

UNIVERSITY PARK – What a way to end a swim meet.

In the final event of the 2015 District 6 Class AA/AAA Swimming and Diving Championships, the Bellefonte boys and Huntingdon 400-yard freestyle rely found themselves separated in their seed time by just 2/10s of a second.

As the lead swimmer stood on the stand waiting for the buzzer to sound to start the race, all eyes were on the two.

From the very beginning to the very end of the race, the Bearcats and Red Raiders changed positions numerous times before Bellefonte anchorman Colton Schnars was able to edge out Huntingdon’s Nick McKim solidifying their lead in the overall team category and also a place at states, finishing with a time of 3:20.37 while Huntingdon was a close second with a time of 3:21.16.

The team consisted of Grey Rockey, Patrick Scordato, Finn Nixdorf and Schnars.

Bellefonte also did well overall on the boys side, taking the top spot in the teams standings.

In the girls 400-yard freestyle medley, the team didn’t pick up the victory but lowered their best time to 4:32.47 from its previous 5:05.70. The time was good enough for 7th place.

“Both the boys and girls 400 relay team did phenomenal. They we way under their top time,” Serena Pfaff said. “I am just so proud of everybody. They gave it their all. There were a lot of races that were it came down to who was the better swimmer and they all pulled it out. They put it all in the pool and that’s where it stayed.”

Bellefonte’s girls’ team battled strongly but finished with a ninth place finish in the overall team standings.

On the girls side, the Red Raiders opened the day with the 100-yard freestyle, Katelynn Walker finished the even picking up a 19th place finish with a time of 1:10.10.

The grueling 500-yard freestyle was a tough one for most. Kailee Klimek toughed it out and finished with a 13th place time of 6:44.83.

Miranda Fedor picked up the girls first win of the day, with that coming in the 100-yard backstroke. Her time of 1:02.42 was good enough to secure a top spot over second place finisher Chelsea Gregley from the Greater Johnstown Area. Teammate Ashley Morris finished 15th with a time of 1:17.49.

Bellefonte’s final individual event was the 100-yard breaststroke. Fellow Mountain League competitor from Penns Valley, Megan Duck finished first with a time of 1:11.30 while Bellefonte got an 18th – and 20th-place from Katelynn Walker and Leah Yates who finished with times of 1:25.47 and 1:31.33, respectively.

On the boys side, Grey Rockey gave Hollidaysburg swimmer all that he could take before going onto to a 46.93 victory. Rockey placed a very close second with a time of 49.46. Teammate Finn Nixdorf finished with a time of 51.58.

Patrick Scordato proved that slow and steady could win the race, especially the marathon 500-yard freestyle event, finishing with the top spot with a score of 5:09.57. He was almost 10 seconds better than St. Jospeh’s Peter Forstmeier who finished with a time of 5:19.42.

Colton Schnars continued to shine on the second day, especially in the 100-yard backstroke, winning the event with a time of 51.39. Bellefonte teammate Josh Brumgart finished in 16th place with a time of 1:17.52.

In the final individual event of the night, Chance Foster and Brian Feldman finished second and third with time of 1:04.66 and 1:06.55, respectively.

Bellefonte will be sending a large group to Bloomsburg for the state competition starting March 11th.

 

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