Red Raiders swimmers working toward common goal
By Dave Conard Sports Editor Coatesville Times.com
Coatesville junior Jesse Jordan competed in four events against the Vikings, finishing second in the 50 freestyle.
COLLEGEVILLE—Through out the rigors of a high school swimming season there are bound to be days where you either have off day or have take to the water while being a little weary from the exhausting practice and meet schedule.
As the Red Raiders battled Ches-Mont swimming league foe Perkiomen Valley, from the outset it was obvious it was going to be one of those days as the boys dropped the league meet to the Vikings by a tally of 111-73 meeting the same fate as the girl’s who fell by a count of 108-68.
“I think we were a little but tired today,” said Coatesville head coach Dave Morris.
”During the season you have to choose meets where you go for it and others when you just got to do the best you can with what you have in the tank. Everything is part of the plan in working toward districts and states.”
The Red Raiders got out of the gate fast as the boy’s 200-yard medley relay team of Trevor Gordon, Steve Brown, Logan Schul and Hunter Mountain finished second with a time of 1:45.16, while Gordon and Tyler Brown finished second and third in the 200- yard freestyle with time of 1:52.25 and 155.93 respectively to propel Coatesville to an early lead in the meet.
“We have to keep working,” said Gordon whose personal goal is qualifying for districts in the 200 and 500 freestyle, “We have to practicing on our times and exchanges to work toward qualifying for districts and states, we had a pretty good swim today but there is still room to improve.”
Red Raiders senior Steve Brown won the 100 butterfly at Perkiomen Valley with a time of 55.13.
Coatesville junior free styler Jesse Jordan has been struggling with a bout of biscuits in both shoulders, but it would have been difficult to tell as she had a busy afternoon. Jordan swam in four events, finishing second the state qualifier Ashley Dix in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 26.13 and helped push the girl’s 400-yard freestyle relay team
to a second place posting a time of 4:11.95, swimming the anchor leg.
“It’ been tough, I don’t get to practice as mush as I would like,” said Jordan, who set a new PR two weeks ago at Franklin and Marshall College. “As swimmer we are always working on out best times, all season is a trial to qualify for districts. I really want to get to states this year as well, so I am always working on dropping my time. “
The Red Raiders claimed second and third place on the girl’s side of the docket in diving as Amanda Rovito and Savannah Madonna posted score of 133.55 and 130.55 respectively, while Vince Macolino battled for the win but finished second for the boys with a score of 147.85.
“We have a couple of meets coming up where we let them loose and really go for it,” added Morris. “ We just have to choose our spots and make sure the means justify the end of being in districts and states.”
In pother meet highlights in the girl’s – 200-yard freestyle, senior Elizabeth Riepnicks placed fourth with a time of 245.56, meanwhile senior Steve Brown recorded a second place finish in the same even with a time of 2:09.76, finishing slightly ahead of team mate junior Logan Schul who tapped the wall with a time of 2:12.30.
Coatesville diver Savannah Madonna claimed third place against the Vikings.
