LEWISBURG — Friday’s gold rush, which included outstanding swimming performances from the Jia sisters as well as the 200-yard freestyle relay, has the Hatboro-Horsham girls chasing a second straight PIAA 3A title.
Sophomore Annie Jia rode to two gold medals and helped her sister, senior Kathy Jia, achieve a one-two in the 200 IM. The duo also swam for Hatboro’s first place finish in the 200 free relay, which propelled the team into third place in the team standings after day one at Bucknell University.
“We have four really strong girls and we’re blessed to have that,” said Hatters coach Kip Emig. “The 200 IM started us tonight.
“That was a tough decision, pitting sisters against each other,” Emig said with a smile, “but I’ll tell you what – Kathy’s a great swimmer. And Annie was Annie.”
The Hatters were preparing well for the second day, which could culminate in another medal swim for the Jia sisters and the Hatter 400 Free Relay.
In the 3A boys, La Salle leads the field with 122.5 points, with North Penn in second place with 104.
The Hatter Girls are in third place (112), behind North Allegheny (138) and State College (118).
“We’re fighting with some other teams now and hopefully – we need a few breaks,” said Emig. “Since we only have four girls, we need a few breaks. But we’ll see what happens. I’m pretty proud of the girls.”
In that 200 IM, Annie Jia stormed to a National Federation honor of 2:00.42 while Kathy sped to an impressive 2:01.08.
“Two sisters one and two – that’s something special,” said Emig.
Annie Jia had a quick turnaround but was undaunted to take the gold in the 100 Fly in a pool record 52.64. That broke a 14-year-old record (52.99) set by Hershey’s Katie Nolan in 2009.
Sarah Parker’s fourth place finish in the 50 Free (23.39) gave the Hatters an extra kick.
North Penn’s Mason Potts (third) and La Salle’s Noah Lubinski (fifth) receive their state medals for the 100th butterfly. (Kev Hunter/MediaNews Group)
North Penn makes a push – Madeline Faikish’s third place finish in the 200 Free (1:49.49) helped the Knights finish sixth in the team standings.
North Penn ended day one well, pounding to a 1:36.96 in the 200m free relay with a team of Layla Robey, Emma Raser, Faikish and Sarah Poach.
The NP boys started the States with a third-place finish in the 200-meter relay when a foursome of Mason Potts, Nevin Shaw, Nathan Rawa and Jadyn Manning put it together for a 1:32.88.
Danny Dunigan finished fifth in the 200 Free (1:40.14) for the Knights; Aidan Faikish was fifth in the 200 IM (1:52.90); and Mason Potts moved up to third in the 100 fly (49.61).
Teams from the region packed a hard-fought 400 free relay as La Salle (1:24.82), Owen J. Roberts (1:25.47) and North Penn (1:25.57) finished third, fourth and five occupied.
Explorers in Position – La Salle scored in all but one event on Friday, starting with a fourth-place finish in the 200-medley relay (1:33.36).
La Salle (third), Owen J. Roberts (fourth), North Penn (fifth) and Hatboro-Horsham (seventh) receive their 400 free relay state medals. (Kev Hunter/MediaNews Group)
This foursome of Aidan Schnapf, Radek Cohen, Noah Lubinski and Peter Williamson turned the ignition, and Gabriel Cowart (1:39.97) and Schnapf (1:41.22) followed with fourth and seventh places in the 200 Free.
Alex Sleptsov was seventh in the 200 IM (1:54.47) and Lubinski was fifth in the 100 Fly (50.01) for the Explorers.
Regional Forces – Downingtown East’s Alexa Fulton, also of District One, raced to a gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 22.68 seconds on Friday and also anchored the 200m relay in a fourth-place consolation final (11th overall) . Fulton has a strong shot at another gold on day two in the 100 Free.
Spring-Ford’s Ashley Gutshall got off to a strong start on Friday to finish seventh in the 50 Free (23.68). She will also compete in the 100 Free on Saturday.
Methacton’s Madison Wimmer earned a medal for eighth place in the 200 Free, hitting the wall in 1:52.93.
Another Pioneer Athletic Conference standout, Phoenixville’s Kenzie Padilla, moved up to third place in the 100 fly in 55.08.
