The Parkland swimming program hosted and participated in the Cedar Crest Classic Invitational last Saturday at Parkland High School.

The invitational featured a six-team field that competed in preliminary and final swims. The event provided the Trojans with a stern test and late-season evaluation of their squad before postseason competition

One Parkland swimmer who almost always passes any test is Kayla Johnson, who won the 50-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. Johnson also won gold as a member of the 200-yard freestyle relay team featuring Claire Weaver, Sophia Cerimele and Madison Roseman.

Another foursome featuring Ashley Settle, Johnson, Cerimele and Weaver also swam well in finishing second in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Sada Fleischaker aided the Trojan cause by finishing second in the 500-yard freestyle race.

“We look forward to watching Sada develop her breaststroke so that she can compete with the other breaststrokers for a district title,” said coach Robert Robitaille.

On the boys’ side senior Luke Willard took fifth in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly. Teammate Nicholas Zaffiro finished in the fifth spot in the 100-yard freestyle race.

Earlier in the week on Feb. 1, both the Trojan girls and boys teams downed East Stroudsburg South. The girls rang up a 113-54 victory, while the boys took care of business 106-60. Just like in the Cedar Crest Classic, the foursome of Settle, Johnson, Cerimele and Weaver tore up the competition, winning the 200-yard medley relay. Cerimele won the 200-yard freestyle and Weaver the 200-yard IM.

Roseman continues to impress the Parkland swimming community by showing her swimming prowess as an underclassman. She won the 200-yard freestyle race by nearly four seconds over the second-place finisher. Another up-and-coming swimmer is Mackenzie Platt, a freshman, who won the 100-yard freestyle.

“Madison is a sprint specialist with the ability to do the breaststroke,” Robitaille said.

The relay team of Anshul Dadyyapally, Marcus Moreef, Danneel Khais and Eric Linchuk took the 200-yard relay, while teammate Gabriel Krizel won easily the 200-yard freestyle competition.

“Marcus is a hardworking athlete that we are excited to see development from,” the coach said. “Eric is a hard worker who is always trying to improve.”

Willard stood tall when he won the 200-yard IM, while Zaffiro took first in the 50-yard freestyle.

Parkland is scheduled to compete in the Flips of Fury diving competition Feb. 12 at Parkland High School. Later in the month Trojan swimmers looking to secure a district qualifying time will appear Feb. 25 at the Last Chance Meet at Emmaus High School before District 11 competition.

The District 11 Championships are scheduled for March 4-5 at Parkland. District diving championships are slated for Feb. 26 at Emmaus High School.