LEWISBURG — Freshmen aren’t supposed to do what Sam Kieffer has been doing in the pool.
Most swimmers must experience a state meet once or twice before they can stand on the medal podium at the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium.
Not Kieffer. He qualified for the finals of the 500-yard freestyle at Saturday’s second and final day of the Class 2A boys championships, then swam a 4:46.53 in the night session to put a sixth-place medal around his neck.
“It feels pretty good,” said Kieffer, of Manheim Central. “I think it’s nice knowing that all my teammates, friends and competitors really helped and pushed me to get this medal.”
Kieffer also earned a second swim in the 200 free on Friday, overcoming adversity in the process. After adding a second to his seeded time and nearly not making it out of the prelims, Kieffer bettered both his seed and prelim times to drop two seconds and place 12th overall.
His swims on Saturday were similar. He fell behind early in the preliminary race before swimming a 55.92 in the final 100 yards of the 500 free, placing him safely into the finals with a fifth-place finish. His prelim time was 4:45.97, shattering his previous personal best by almost four seconds.
“It was a pretty intense race,” Kieffer said about his prelim race. “I was really just trying to push myself and do the best I can.”
Throughout the 2A championships, Kieffer has demonstrated an ability to overcome adversity — a rare trait for a freshman.
“It’s all about the comeback,” Kieffer said after his consolation swim on Friday. “It’s how you just take control of the situation and embrace it.”
“He’s a very mellow kid,” Manheim Central coach Heather Fittery said. “He just kind of comes in and does his thing, which is great to see as a freshman.”
Kieffer’s final time was slightly worse than his preliminary time, but still almost three seconds below his time at the District Three meet. As a freshman, he was the only 2A male swimmer to qualify the finals across both days of the event.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” he said. “I think it’s a great experience being a freshman and being able to go to states, especially placing too.”
Just missing evening swims
Two Lancaster-Lebanon League participants just missed making the consolations. Cocalico placed 17th in the 400 free relay, while Garden Spot’s Zach Delgado also placed 17th in the 100 free.
Cocalico’s relay squad of Nic Guthridge, Andrew Seprinski, Evan Zeni and Logan Sensenig finished in 3:20.84, just .33 of a second behind 16th-place Bishop McDevitt. Delgado earned a time of 48.52, .18 of a second slower than Riverside’s Ryan Turner.
Two other L-L swimmers participated in the 100 free. Donegal’s Colton Houck slipped seven places to 20th, finishing in 48.66, and Annville-Cleona sophomore Danny Trate finished 32nd with a time of 50.95.
Elsewhere in the preliminaries, Pequea Valley’s Ethan Wanner placed 25th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.56 while Collin Cheslock of Northern Lebanon placed two spots behind in the same event, finishing in 1:01.88.
