UNDEFEATED: Boys swim to first PAC title in a decade
Boys swimming team celebrated a PAC victory Boyertown hasn’t had in ten years.
The Gallery Room in the Boyertown YMCA echoed with cheers from excited parents and students as senior Nolan Benner swam the last stretch of the 400-yard freestyle relay, leading the Boys’ Swimming team to victory on Thursday night. He couldn’t have done it without his team mates, especially Owen Miller, Noah Vivian, and Connor Stoudt, who all swam with him in the final event.
Nolan participated in two relay wins, winning the 100-yard freestyle and tying neck-and-neck with OJR’s Dalton Fink, who he hugged in a show of good sportsmanship after the race.
“We came in prepared, we all tried to get our minds right beforehand. We all had our roles established to be able to win,” Nolan said. “It feels amazing to win the PAC with one of the smallest teams in the league.”
Owen, who swam a pool record of 50.97 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly, is proud of the team. Owen also won the 200-yard freestyle and participated in the 200-yard medley win.
The Bears had a narrow win of 90-80 following the previous win of only two points against Spring-Ford.
The boys celebrating their victory against Owen J. Roberts for the Division title.
The girls’ team put up a formidable fight, with a final record of 8-2 and Gabby McKee setting a pool record of 1:55.48 time in the 200-yard freestyle.
“This swim season has definitely been one of the best out of my four years of being on the BASH swim team,” senior Hannah Shaner said. “It was the first year that the team as a whole came together and bonded and it made quite a difference. My quote for this swim season is, ‘A united team is a winning team.’ Swimmers stand alone on the block, but when they have their team behind them supporting them, the opportunities are endless.”
Angie Nelson won the 100-yard backstroke, while Gabby McKee won the 100-yard butterfly. Another win for the boys include Justin Morris in the 100-yard backstroke.
The meet concluded with the Senior Recognition of twelve of the swimmers, a significant portion of the team.
“Next year is going to be real tough since so many boys are graduating, but we have a bright future with a lot of kids coming up,” Nolan said.
Senior Nate Zimmerman, the “Gator,” was at first nervous leading up to the meet.
“I was very nervous because it was one of the biggest meets we will have all year,” Nate said. “It feels great, everyone worked their butts off this year. We deserved it. We all knew what we wanted, and we were willing to do whatever it took to get it.”
The title of “Gator” was passed onto Noah Vivian before Nate made a special announcement, asking senior Maddy Tyson to Prom. The girls’ swimmer said yes, giving a sweet conclusion to the night.
Watch a highlight of the Senior Recognition below.
Jocelyn is a graduate of BASH. She served three years in the CUB and she previously wrote for the East Observer. She was in many clubs, such as SADD, Stage...
Allie Howe is a senior at BASH. She writes for the sports section. She is a fan of the Philadelphia Flyers, Baltimore Ravens, Penn State Nittany Lions,...
