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By STEVE SEMBRAT steves@leader.net
Sunday, March 16, 2003 Page: 1C
UNIVERSITY PARK – Winning medals and setting records aren’t the only ways
to stand out at the PIAA Swimming & Diving Championships.
Wyoming Valley West on Saturday showed that improving times and achieving a
personal best does it too, although not as noticeably.
The Spartans once again had the only District 2 medalist for a top-six
finish in the Class 3A competition, as senior Shana Welch placed fourth in the
100-yard freestyle. Yet, she was just as proud of the 23rd-place 400 freestyle
relay she anchored on the final day of swimming at the McCoy Natatorium on
Penn State’s main campus.
The reason for that was Valley West was at its best in that event, as
Welch, senior Megan Panowicz and sophomores Sally Kaminski and Erin Lehman
dropped nearly 4 1/2 seconds from their seed time to finish the event in
3:45.63. Individually, Welch sparkled just as brightly, turning in her best
time in the 100 freestyle in preliminaries.
“That was incredible for us to drop nearly five seconds” in the relay,
Welch said. “It’s also something you can share with your teammates because
you have to work together to achieve it. It’s a really good experience.”
Welch has already taken part in the two fastest 50 freestyle events in the
history of the PIAA girls meet, the most recent taking place on Friday when
she finished third to Parkland junior Jessica Lewis and Hatboro-Horsham junior
Kelsey Morrissy. Lewis holds the 3A meet record in that event, having broken
the mark set by Morrissy last year.
Lewis broke her second record of the competition on Saturday, eclipsing one
of the longest-standing records at the state meet. Her time of 50.21 seconds
during preliminaries of the 100 freestyle nipped the mark of 50.27 set by
Melanie Morgan of Gateway in 1988.
Welch, who was seeded 11th in the event based on her winning time of 53.42
from the District 2-4 Class 3A regional championships, finished third in
preliminaries behind Lewis and Morrissy with a personal-best 51.74.
Lewis won in the finals, Morrissy was second, and State College junior
Molly Crispell nipped Welch to take third.
“I was hoping to do better,” Welch said. “I guess that I can never
settle for less than the best, but you take what you can get.”
She wasn’t the only Spartan to go home pleased with her performance, as the
200 medley relay team of Kim Perzia, Welch, Lehman and Kaminski turned in its
fastest time of the season.
“As a coach, it’s a relief because you feel that you got the kids to
perform,” said Valley West coach Frank Tribendis. “Otherwise, you start to
wonder if what you’re doing is working.”
He said that in the 400 freestyle relay, “one person thought she didn’t do
well enough, but they all had their best splits.”
The other District 2 swimmer who stood out in 3A competition on Saturday
with a significant drop from a seed time was Abington Heights freshman Kate
Rovinsky. She placed 23rd in the 100 breaststroke, knocking more than one
second off her winning time from the district meet two weeks ago.
“She did a great job,” Tribendis said. “That was one of the fastest 100
breaststrokes (fields) ever and she could have been intimidated, but she went
out and performed.”
A list of top six finishers and all District 2 competitors can be found on
Page 4C.