Call it sports logic or just a stereotype, but the expectation at most athletic championships is that the freshmen will need time to adjust to the biggest events.
But don’t apply that logic to Manheim Central’s Sam Kieffer. The freshman took a gold and silver medal during last weekend’s District Three swimming championships.
Yes, years of club experience probably helped Kieffer in the biggest meet of the winter so far, but the most important thing to him was being in the distance events.
“I would say it feels similar to an event I’d do in a club meet because the typical club event has longer distances,” Kieffer said. “I like the longer distances.”
Who wouldn’t, after winning the boys 2A gold medal in the 500-yard freestyle with a 4:49.42 and a silver medal in the 200 freestyle with a 1:47.35, both personal bests.
Not that Kieffer was the only local freshman to succeed at the district meet. Warwick’s Brody Reber won the 3A 500 freestyle with a 4:37.86 and was third in the 100 butterfly with a 50.16.
Donegal freshman Colton Houck didn’t win any events, but did get the silver in both the 2A 50 and 100 freestyles, with times of 21.60 and 47.84, respectively.
There were no L-L freshmen gold medal winners in the girls meet, though Penn Manor’s Dru Landis was second in the 3A 200 freestyle with a 1:52.69 and third in the 500 freestyle with a 5:05.23.
What can stop Addison Elliott?
There’s winning, there’s winning when expected and there’s winning when you’re not given the best circumstances.
Addison Elliott did all the above when she took the gold medal in the 2A 100 backstroke last weekend. The Lancaster Catholic junior has repeatedly reset her own school record in the event all winter, and as the top seed with an entry time of 56.81, there was no question she was the favorite.
Somehow, she managed to post that exact time, 56.81, to win the event. When the state meet comes up this week at Bucknell University, Elliott hopes to improve that mark.
“It’s very important,” Elliott said. “I’d like to get down in the low 56s. I was sick last week so I missed a couple practices.”
That’s right — Elliott did not have the ideal buildup to the district meet and still won the gold medal by 1.55 seconds over Sam Kill of East Pennsboro.
Knopsnyder steps up for Ephrata, L-L
Out of 44 swimming events at districts, L-L athletes won a combined seven gold medal. That’s a solid showing, but not overwhelming, and may be why some L-L swimmers found themselves rooting for rival schools when their teammates weren’t involved.
“I just really think it makes everyone happy, especially for the L-L League, because Berks County has been insanely good,” Ephrata’s Ava Knopsnyder said.
Wilson won the 3A girls title and Schuylkill Valley took the 2A crown, backing up Knopsnyder’s observation. But she did all she could to earn the L-L respect.
Knopsnyder was the only L-L swimmer to win two gold medals and the only local to top the medal stand in Friday’s session when she won the 200 IM with a 2:04.22, and then she won the 500 freestyle on Saturday with a 4:57.68. That was the only sub-5:00 time in District Three all winter.
In both wins, the junior led wire-to-wire. As she said after the 500 victory, “My mindset is to go out right now.”
She took the same approach in the 400 freestyle relay, putting Ephrata in front with a 52.25 opening-leg split. Had she done that in the 100 freestyle — in which she did not compete — that would have been worth a fourth-place medal. The Mounts finished fifth with a 3:40.91.
