Despite his performance at last season's state swimming meet, which included two top-15 finishes, Salisbury sophomore Mahlon Reihman thought his ceiling would be much higher a year later.

Reihman, one of six Falcons participating in states, cemented one of the top performances of any Lehigh Valley swimmer at last week's PIAA Swimming and Diving Class AA Championships at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium.

The sophomore secured gold in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:40.92 on Wednesday, the first day of the Class AA event. He then came up just short of another gold, finishing in second place in the 100-yard freestyle (47.09 seconds) on Friday evening.

"I knew I definitely had the potential to do much better," Reihman said. "I had to prove to myself that I could."

Reihman, who edged out West Allegheny's Jarod Kehl by .01 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle, was on the other side of the finish the next day. Mars Area's Francis Folz topped Reihman in the 100-yard freestyle by .06 seconds.

While two gold medals was his goal going into his last event, Reihman's finish in the 100-yard freestyle capped a remarkable season for himself, as well as the Falcons as a team in states.

"It's definitely bitter being on that end of the line and losing by that slim of a margin," Reihman said. "I gave it everything I had. I dropped time and Francis dropped time. We both had a great race.

"It's definitely nothing to be complaining about. Going into this race, I definitely had hopes that I could bring home another gold, but there's nothing to be disappointed about with silver.

Salisbury placed 11th as a team with 67 points, the highest of any District 11 team.

The Falcons' duo of divers Denny Bonner and Tyler Keller, after producing successful seasons in the Colonial League and District 11, continued that success at the state level.

Bonner, a senior, cemented his career with a second-place finish in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 463.30. His total was nearly 14 points more than the third-place finisher, but Trinity junior Bradley Buchter ran away with the gold medal with a state-record score of 642.50.

"It was like near impossible," Bonner said. "So I didn't even think about trying to beat him.

"I really wanted to finish second. I felt like that was the best I could do. I was really pumped that I achieved it."

Keller, a sophomore, placed sixth with a score of 412.60. He has spent the last two seasons looking up to Bonner, and has learned a lot from the state runner-up.

"It was awesome," Keller said. "I wasn't expecting it. I hit most of my dives today that I normally don't hit."

"I know that he [Keller] is going to keep getting better and better," Bonner said.

The Falcons' 400-yard freestyle relay team of Reihman, Danny Bonge, Ben Wiener and Gavin Carey placed 22nd in the preliminary round.

Quaker Valley topped the boys' Class AA standings with 174 points, followed by Bloomsburg (140) and Trinity (122). On the girls' side, Villa Maria Academy led the way with 267 points. Gwynedd Mercy Academy (155) and York Suburban (131) came in second and third, respectively.