Whitehall’s swimming team opened its season with a meet against Liberty last Saturday, and although it was not a regularly scheduled meet for either team this year, it gave the Zephyrs and Hurricanes a jump on the 2018-2019 season, and all times did count toward district qualifying times.

Whitehall senior and captain Dan Jablonski had two first place finishes, one in the 50 free with a time of 23.21, and one in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.79.

“The 50 free, it was a decent time but there was something with the starter, and they took forever to start, so I lost some momentum there but otherwise, I was OK with my time,” said Jablonski. “I had swum the breaststroke in the medley relay earlier, so I had a basis to go off of, and I did pretty well for where I wanted to be.”

Jablonski, Michael Nguyen, Sebastion Solarte, and Connor Barnes placed second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:53.87.

Kevin Gaton, Barnes, Ahmed Hamada, and Brandon Deutsch also took second place in the 200 free relay with a time of 1:51.42.

Solarte came in third in the backstroke with a time of 1:06.40.

In the 400 free relay, Jablonski, Solarte, Hamada, and Nguyen placed second with a time of 3:48.64.

“We only have 10 boys this year ... Because this is Liberty, we can play around with events, and Coach Rile likes to have everyone swim every event by the end of the season, so with the off meets, we can swim them how ever we want,” Jablonski said.

Rachel Dolan had a third place finish in the 200 IM with a time of 2:38.99, and Kallie Lyle placed second in the 500 free with a time of 5:59.56.

In the 200 free relay, Martha Giletto, Lyle, Maddie Kutney, and Patricia Bartosh came in second with a time of 1:52.70.

“I like leading off because then you can get a good time and start off the relay on a good foot,” Giletto said.

Giletto, who is a senior and a captain, also led off in the 400 relay which placed second with Maddie Kutney, Lyle, and Lindsay Solderitch in 4:07.51.

“We have good numbers this year, and the girls who are here want to be here and are working hard,” said Giletto. “I’ve been dreaming about this since my freshman year, but it’s more to guide the team, and pick them up, encourage them, be a leader. It’s nice because that’s what’s been given to me for three years, so it’s nice to give it back to the underclassmen and freshmen, give them some wisdom and help them in the right direction.”

Rachael Alulis placed third in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:16.03, and Ella Holmes was third in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:03.79.