DEFOREST, WILLIAMS PACE ATHENS AT DAY 1 OF D4 CHAMPIONSHIPS; BOTH TEAMS IN FOURTH PLACE
By: Tim Birney / March 2, 2022 / Photo: Tim Leonard
WILLIAMSPORT — Juniors Chris DeForest and Taegan Williams had the top
performances for Athens in Day 1 at the District 4 Swimming & Diving
Championships, leading both the boys and girls teams into fourth place
at the midway point.
“We had some very good races and fast
swims,” said Athens coach Mark Keister. “Most of our swims are finishing
at or better than seed times.
“We are excited to see our
swimmers do tomorrow,” added Keister. “We have swimmers in every event
for Day 2, and some events have multiple swimmers. It should be a lot of
fun.”
BOYS
DeForest had a trio of top-four finishes on Day 1.
DeForest
finished second in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.17 seconds, and freshman
Josh Leonard was 16th in 28.71 seconds. He finished fourth in the
100-yard butterfly in a time of 58.83 seconds, and Leonard was 10th in
1:07.84.
DeForest teamed with junior Ethan Denlinger and
freshmen Ethan Hicks and Ronel Ankam to finish third in the 200-yard
freestyle relay in a time of 1:50.46.
Hicks and Ankam teamed with
fellow freshmen Ryan Gorman and Leonard to finish fifth in the
200-yard medley team in a time of 1:58.01.
Junior Ethan Denlinger finished sixth in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:02.78, and junior Joe Blood was 12th in 2:29.2.
Central
Columbia leads the team standings with 210 points, while Lewisburg is
second with 157 points, Danville is third with 134, and Athens has 133
points.
GIRLS
Williams had a pair of third-place finishes, and junior Taylar Fisher had a pair of top-six finishes to pace the Lady Wildcats.
Williams finished third in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:03.8, and sophomore Grace Cobb was 11th in 2:21.62.
Williams
teamed with Fisher, senior Brooke Kopatz, and sophomore Emily Marshall
teamed to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of
1:50.46.
Fisher finished sixth in the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:28.86, and Kopatz was ninth in 2:37.32.
Junior
Macaria Benjamin finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of
1:17.61, while Marshall was ninth in 1:18.44, and freshman Elizabeth
Talada was 11th in 1:38.34.
Senior Hannah Walker finished 14th in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 30.89 seconds.
Athens
sits in fourth place after Day 1 with 129 points, well behind
powerhouse Danville, which leads the team standings with 257 points.
Central Columbia is second with 156 points, and Bloomsburg is third with
146.
Day 2 action begins at 6 p.m.
About the Author
Tim Birney
Tim Birney is the founder / owner of River Road Media Group. He was born and raised in the Valley, graduating from Waverly High School in 1984.
Birney earned an Associate's Degree in Journalism from SUNY Morrisville in 1986 and a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism / Public Relations from Utica College of Syracuse University in 1988. He began his newspaper career at The Daily Review in Towanda in 1989, before moving on to The Evening Times in 1995. He spent more than 10 years at the Times, the last four as Managing Editor.
River Road Media Group includes five sites in "The Sports Reports" family that cover 24 school districts in five counties: Valley Sports Report (launched Aug. 10, 2009), Tioga County (NY) Sports Report (Aug. 13, 2018), and Northern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 31, 2020); Northern Tier West Sports Report (March 15, 2021) Southern Tier Sports Report (Aug. 16, 2021).
