To say that senior Daniel Bonge was inexperienced when it came to the sport of varsity swimming might be an understatement. Bonge was a two-year member of Salisbury’s soccer and basketball teams, but was approached by a friend to come out for a different sport.

“I didn’t think swimming was going to be an option for me, so I tested out other sports,” said Bonge. “But Mahlon [Reihman] came up to me and brought me out to it, and I found success and a love for it. It didn’t burn me out. I was always hungry for better times, so it was something I wanted to pursue.”

Bonge and tennis standouts Leandra Roelker and John Yurconic II were honored last Thursday afternoon in the Salisbury High School library as the trio signed college scholarships to continue their academic and athletic careers next fall.

Bonge will be attending Rider University. Roelker will be playing tennis at West Chester. Yurconic is heading to Lafayette College.

Rider was one of, if not the first school to reach out to Bonge. He quickly set up a visit and in about a month’s time knew where he wanted to go.

“Going through in recruiting I didn’t have too many options because I came into it so late,” said Bonge. “It wasn’t until after swimming at states and posting some good times that I filled out something on a national college recruiting website, and the coach from Rider contacted me in April. We set up a visit and I just fell in love with the small campus and family-oriented feel of the team.”

Bonge won the state gold in the 100 butterfly. He also placed second in the 400 freestyle relay. He was a district champion in the 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay and 400 free relay in 2017, as well as the 100 fly and 400 free relay in 2016.

Bonge will major in sport psychology.

Yurconic was also multi-sport athlete, excelling in tennis as well as soccer, where he was a four-year member of the program.

He was a starting defender on the district championship team this past fall, but has also been making an impact on the tennis courts. This season he finished 24-0 in singles as the number one player in the lineup, earning Colonial League First-Team honors on his way to district gold.

“It was a great experience here at Salisbury to be able to play and win in two sports,” said Yurconic. “To finish off my career with district titles is just a special feeling.

“The goal was to win it all this year because I’ve come so close in years past, but lost to some better players. Going undefeated was a reasonable goal and I’m very happy I was able to achieve that.”

For the last month, Yurconic has been training for the PIAA 2A state tournament, which begins Friday in Hershey. He reached that plateau by beating his teammate and cousin Mason Groff last month in the District 11 title match. Those two cousins had won district doubles titles the past two years, but after taking this year’s singles crown Yurconic was not eligible to play in doubles.

At states, Yurconic will be squaring up against Jess Hampton of Bedford, the first-place finisher out of District 5.

The next step will be to College Hill, but that wasn’t always going to be the case.

“Originally Lafayette wasn’t my first choice,” said Yurconic. “I visited in September, but was interested in other schools. Then I came on an official visit in January and met the coach and team. It really clicked for me. The head coach was actually the first coach I had when I started playing tennis at four years old, so I already had that connection.”

Yurconic plans on studying engineering.

It’s been a few months since the end of Roelker’s career at Salisbury. She was a District 11 semifinalist in the Class 2A singles and doubles tournaments in October.

The Colonial League First-Team All-Star finished 2017 at 17-1 in singles, and was named the league’s Tennis Sportsmanship Award recipient.

“Our team seemed to always be in the ‘rebuilding process’ even in my eighth grade year I think they won one match,” said Roelker. “So it’s been a good feeling knowing we have had some success here the last couple of years. We were one of the top teams in our league and district this year and that is a great accomplishment.”

Roelker and a fellow classmate were the only freshmen to come out for the team three years ago. But they wanted to make an impact and change the culture of the program. Mission accomplished. She was also a four-time team MVP.

“It was an amazing feeling to end our careers accomplishing the goal that we set out for,” said Roelker. “Our team did so well this year and has come a long way.”

Roelker will now prepare for the fall season as a college freshman at West Chester.

“I really loved the atmosphere and coach at West Chester,” said Roelker. “She is really going to make you work hard, and that is really the kind of coach that I was looking for. I want to continue to get better and work hard. The team was so welcoming and they were fun to be around. I wanted to get out into a bigger school. It had everything that I was looking for.”

Roelker decided on West Chester in April. She will be studying biology with a focus in pre-med.