Log In


Reset Password
LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Graver earns two District 11 medals

Julia Graver came away from this past weekend’s District 11 Swimming Championship with two medals as both girls and boys swimmers competed for medals and a potential spot in the PIAA Swimming Championship later this month at Bucknell University in Lewisburg.

Graver, who is a junior, picked up a fourth-place medal Friday in the 200-yard freestyle event and followed that up with another on Saturday when she again placed fourth in the 100-yard backstroke. Graver competed in two different events last year, placing seventh in the 200-yard individual medley and ninth in the 100-yard breaststroke.

“I had a good race [in the 200-freestyle], so I was excited to be swimming again [Saturday] and I came in just looking to do my best,” said Graver after the 100-yard backstroke event. “I never really did backstroke before this year, so I thought I was just going to go out and have fun with it. I always thought there was a chance I could be up here, but it turned out to go better than I planned this year.”

The top four swimmers in each event receive medals with the gold medalist getting an automatic trip to states. Other top swimmers have to wait to see whether their times were fast enough to get a bid-in appearance at states and that’s where Graver and other Falcon swimmers stand right now.

Junior Eliza Wiener had two seventh-place finishes in the 200-yard IM and the 500-yard freestyle, while freshman Ella DeFazio placed eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke. Paige Gibbons, a junior, was 14th in the 50-yard freestyle and 17th in the 100-yard freestyle, while senior Olivia Hoeing finished 19th in the 100-yard butterfly.

In relays, Wiener, DeFazio, Hoeing and Graver combined for a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay event. Leila Clutter teamed with Wiener, Graver and Hoeing for a sixth-place finish in the 200-yard freestyle and Abigail Christman, Clutter, Gibbons and DeFazio were on the 400-yard freestyle team that placed seventh.

On the boys side, Shane Artis finished seventh in the 500-yard freestyle and was 11th in the 100-yard backstroke. Artis was also part of the relay team that also featured Carver Moyer, Jackson Kamp and Nicholas Jewell, placing ninth in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

The Salisbury girls team came in sixth in the team standings and the boys finished ninth. Blue Mountain High School won the team competition in both the boys and girls competitions.

PRESS PHOTO BY NANCY SCHOLZJulia Graver took fourth place in two individual events at the District 11 Swimming and Diving Championships.