UNIVERSITY PARK - Four local swimmers from Indian Valley and Lewistown Area high schools attended the PIAA Districts 6-9 swimming and diving competition that began Friday at Penn State's McCoy Natatorium.
"The roar of the crowd was insane," Indian Valley sophomore Mason Dible when describing his initial reaction.
Never having competed at high school districts before, the local athletes looked around in surprise when the swimmers crowded around the pool in support of their relay teams for the first event. By the end of the tournament, the swimmers were able to show improvement and in some cases swim their best of the year, although none met the rigid qualification to advance to the state meet.
"It was awesome and a great experience for our young swimmers," Lewistown swim coach Nancy Craig said. "Our athletes
performed very well. I expect them back to districts next year, hopefully making the podium."
Those placing in the top six medal at the district meet, with the top two finishers advancing to states.
Tough competition and being new to swimming districts didn't sway Indian Valley athletes Mason Dible and freshman Owen Welch, nor Lewistown freshmen Kylie Miller and Avery Craig. The four qualified for districts as unattached swimmers at Huntingdon's high school swim meets.
"This was the fastest pool I've been in," Dible said. "Everyone's performance was outstanding,"
Proving his point, Dible swam his best time ever in both the 50- and 100-yard freestyle events. Dible bettered his time in the 50 free to 24.49 seconds, good enough to place 15th out of 42 swimmers. On Saturday, he shaved off more than a second on his 100 freestyle, advancing 17 places from his seed to place 15th overall with a time of 56.12.
Also swimming personal bests in both of his events was Indian Valley's Welch.
"My goal was to improve my times overall. I was pleased with my performance along with my teammates," Welch said.
Advancing six places to 24th in the 200 yard freestyle event, Welch skimmed more than five seconds off his entering ime to finish at 2:12.44. In the 100-yard breaststroke event on Saturday, he swam a 1:15.81, advancing four places from his seed to place 21st out of 33 swimmers.
"The team atmosphere made for a fun meet." Welch said.
"I love this pool - it's my favorite by far and my favorite meet out of the season," Craig said of his experience at his first high school district meet. "My fly time was the best overall so I'd say that was pretty good."
Craig placed 12th in the 100-yard butterfly, finishing at 1:03.54, trimming more than a second off of his best time. He also placed 32nd in the 100-yard freestyle with time of 58.61.
Miller swam the 200-yard freestyle on Friday and the 100-yard backstroke on Saturday.
"Even with not feeling too well, the pool was great and the experience was even better," Miller said. "I also met a lot of people who gave me a lot of great tips to improve myself."
Miller cut almost a second off of her backstroke to place 15th with a time of 1:12.82 and placed 23rd in the 200 freestyle at 2:23.68.