Whitehall’s boys swim team led Pottsville, 78-77, heading into the final event of the meet when Gary Marrucci, Andrew Deutsch, Gabe O’Brien, and Aaron Stinner won a do-or-die 400 free relay to clinch a Zephyr boys team 86-83 victory over the Tide on Dec. 22 at Whitehall.

“We came together, and we won it,” said Stinner, the Zephyrs’ anchor. “It was totally adrenaline. I could feel the energy from the entire pool as I dove in. Everyone was going crazy, and that’s what I needed. It woke me up, and I went in, and I felt good.”

The winning Whitehall foursome’s time was 3:47.07. Pottsville’s relays took second and third place in 3:51.99 and 4:48.77, respectively, but not enough points for the Tide to take the team win.

O’Brien, Kenny Dai, Stinner, and Ian Thomas opened the boys side of the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay in 1:53.31.

Deutsch won the 200 freestyle in 2:06.66, and Stinner went on to win the 200 IM in 2:04.67, just 1.56 off Daniel Jablonski’s school record set in 2018.

“I was really close today,” Stinner said. “My race felt really good, but eventually, I’ll throw on a tech suit and try and go for that record.”

Thomas took first place in the 100 butterfly in 56.36, and Stinner won a second individual in the 100 free in 49.99.

Dai, Thomas, Marrucci, and Deutsch just missed first place in the 200 free relay won by Pottsville’s Zach Ott, Vincent Prestileo, Noah Bevan, and Xander Hirsch in 1:39.74 to Whitehall’s 1:40.67.

Thomas swam to his second individual win in the 100 breaststroke in 1:04.27.

“The Pottsville meet has usually been close for years,” said Whitehall head swimming coach Pete Rile. “We have come down to that last relay with boys a number of times. It goes back and forth. We haven’t necessarily done that combination (of 400 relay swimmers) yet this year. We kind of gear the relays based on what we know of the other team and what we’re trying to do in terms of getting times for districts.”

Pottsville’s girls were 107-61 winners over Whitehall’s girls team.

Neave Doyle won two individual events for the Zephyrs: the 50 free in 28.43 and the 100 free in 1:03.32.

“I could see [Pottsville’s Madison Wright] out of the corner of my eye, and I kept seeing her so close to me, so I kept kicking as fast as I could and moving my arms as fast as I could,” Doyle said. “The people cheering always helps a lot.”

Also winning individual events for the Zephyr girls were Ryann Giedl in the 500 free in 7:23.12, and Kelly Wallitsch in the 100 backstroke in 1:15.76.

“When we look at it across the board, we are still kind of feeling things out with the girls,” said Coach Rile. “We’re seeing some butterfliers coming through, some 500s, and we’re still trying to focus on getting our backstrokers and breaststrokers down, so we have competitive meets for us coming up.”

The Zephyrs will ring in the new year with a home meet against Freedom on Jan. 4.

“[That] will be a good meet for both boys and girls,” Rile said.