LEWISBURG — Cocalico’s Logan Sensenig looked up to the scoreboard at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
One thing was clear: The Eagles had dropped time in the 200-yard freestyle relay. What wasn’t clear was if that time would be good enough for them to swim in the final Friday night during the first day of the PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships.
The 14th-seeded Eagles dropped just less than seven-tenths of a second off their seed time of 1:30.11, but Sensenig, the anchor leg, still couldn’t be sure his team would advance; there was still one more preliminary heat to go with the Eagles in sixth place.
“My first thought was that we dropped,” Sensenig said. “The fact that we dropped was exciting, then we realized how much we dropped.”
As it turned out, just two teams in the final heat placed above Cocalico, giving the Eagles’ team of Nic Guthridge, Andrew Seprinski, Evan Zeni and Sensenig the eighth and last spot in the evening’s final with a time of 1:29.42.
“About five minutes later, we realized we made finals,” Sensenig said. “What happened next was a blur.”
In the final race, the Eagles took home eighth-place medals in 1:29.60. The time, though slightly above their preliminary time, still was a drop from their seed time.
“Nothing’s guaranteed in this meet,” Sensenig said. “Nobody can take this away from us.”
Zeni also swam in the preliminaries of the 200 free, placing 29th in 1:51.80.
L-L duo advances to 50 free consolations
There were five seeded Lancaster-Lebanon League swimmers in the 50 free, more than any other event at the four-day meet. Two of them — Donegal freshman Colton Houck and Garden Spot senior Zach Delgado — placed well enough in the preliminaries to earn spots in the consolation final.
Houck, who was seeded seventh, was disappointed not to have made the final. Still, he was pleased to have earned an evening swim in his first trip to the PIAA meet.
“I got a little bummed out after my first race; I wanted to make finals,” Houck said. “I’m glad I got to be in the (evening swim).”
Delgado, however, was pleased with his preliminary finish of 16th. After all, it was his final chance to advance out of the prelims in the event.
“I’m grateful to be here,” Delgado said. “It’s a great experience to have.”
Houck won the consolation race in 21.79 to place ninth; Delgado finished in 22.26 to place 15th.
Three other L-L swimmers were in the preliminaries of the event. Cocalico’s Guthridge tied for 22nd in 22.48, Annville-Cleona sophomore Danny Trate was 27th in 22.73, and Manheim Central’s Bryce Garber was 28th in 23.13.
Barons’ Kieffer sneaks into 200 free consolations
Despite adding more than a second to his time from the District Three meet, Manheim Central’s Sam Kieffer was able to hold onto the final consolation spot in the 200 free.
Kieffer, who came in seeded 12th, bounced back in the consolation final, bettering not only his prelim time (1:48.51), but also his seed time (1:47.35) to place 12th in 1:46.34.
“It’s all about the comeback,” Kieffer said. “It’s how you just take control of the situation and embrace it.”
Kieffer also was part of both Barons’ relay squads that competed Friday. The 200 medley relay was 25th in 1:44.63 and 200 free relay was 23rd in 1:32.72.
Elsewhere in the preliminaries, Northern Lebanon’s Carter Cheslock finished 20th in the 100 fly in 54.17, while Pequea Valley’s Ethan Wanner placed 28th in the 200 IM in 2:06.22.
The PIAA Class 2A Swimming and Diving Championships will conclude today at Kinney Natatorium.
