With their win over Moravian Academy last Tuesday, the Whitehall girls swim team proved that their success this season is no stroke of luck.

It’s been a testament to their depth, the true embodiment of what it means to be a team. Their 89-81 victory over the visiting Lions demonstrated their continued ability to rise to every challenge, whether it’s someone setting a personal record to secure points during a meet, or another swimmer shaving valuable seconds in their leg of a relay, paving the way to victory the next meet. It’s been a combined effort that’s allowed them to

While the girls notched their tenth win of the season, head coach Pete Rile noted that the day was a bit bittersweet. He expected the girls would have a bit of an edge, mitigating the damage by their top-notch swimmers with their depth. That proved to be the case.

“Wherever we knew they had some strength, we knew that we could back it up by going two, three, four, and at least even them out,” said Rile.

Rile said that they were aided by some excellent swims, notably Lexi Prentice in the 200 and 500 freestyle races. He said that she dropped about 15 seconds in the 500, and another six or seven in the 200. He said that her ability to lower her times toward the end of the season when they’re not trying to accomplish that yet.

“She really just swam the races of her life,” said Rile.

They also had three district qualifiers as Lindsay Solderitch, Nic Martinovic and Madelyn Kutney all qualified for the tourney. Solderitch qualified in the breaststroke, finishing in 1:16.60. Kutney added another race, this time the 200 freestyle (2:09.23), while Martinovic qualified in the 100 freestyle (53.09).

He said that with three meets remaining, they’re making a big push to get as many swimmers into the district tournament as possible.

While Kutney and Solderitch were individual winners for the girls, the 200 freestyle relay team consisting of Solderitch, Kutney, Emily Thomas and Sabrina Kidulic combined for their other win, finishing in 1:54.76.

But it was the girls’ ability to consistently finish among the top three that propelled them to victory as Lexi Bartosh, Ella Holmes, Rachel Dolan, Neave Doyle, Kayla Yandrasitz, Thomas, Prentice, and Emily Haggerty were among that group whose efforts got them the victory.

The boys were hampered by the absence of two of their best swimmers as Sabastian Solarte and Brandon Deutsch were out of the mix. Still, Rile said that the boys gave a valiant effort as Connor Barnes, Kenny Dai, Justin Lesperance, Abraham Tabarani, Alberto Cervoni and Martinovic all racked up points for the Zephs.

But they fell short in the end, losing 88-82 to the Lions.

He said that with boys nearly overcame the point differential created by not having a full squad, and in fact, “swam a little over their heads.”

He said he was proud of the effort by both the boys and the girls.

Rile said that currently just two boys and two girls have qualified for districts, yet they’ve continually come out on top during the season as both squads have winning record. He said that they’ve been able to pick each other up, make up for mistakes, and fill in holes.

“That’s what we’ve been able to do all year,” said Rile.