The Northampton varsity swimmers advanced to PIAA District XI AAA championships two weekends ago with five varsity swimmers participating in individual events at the championship meet. An additional 8 swimmers joined their teammates to participate in the relay events.

Serving as a solid culmination to the 6-5 seasons for both the boys and girls teams, the championship meet began as all in-season dual meets have, with the 200 medley relay.

Northampton senior Ava Gower was joined by junior Brenna Caley and sophomores Gabriella Oswald and Ava Keenan for the event. The team placed 7th out of 14 teams. For the boys team, the 200 medley relay team of junior Jacob Ladd, and sophomores Aiden Kuntz, Gabe Gower, and Ethan Brobst placed 9th out of 14 teams.

In individual events, Ava Gower placed 11th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:28.56. Gower also placed 16th in the 100 butterfly event, one of only two Northampton swimmers to qualify in two events in districts. Sophomore Ava Keenan placed 16th in the 200 Freestyle event and sophomore Gabriella Oswald placed 15th in the 100 freestyle.

On the boys team, junior Ryan Franke placed 8th in the 100 backstroke event with a time of 56.45, dropping almost a second off this seed time of 57.35. Franke also placed 13th in the 200 freestyle. Sophomore Ethan Brobst placed 16th in the 200 individual medley.

In the girls 200 freestyle Relay, Northampton’s A. Gower, Oswald, and Caley were joined by senior Hannah Krywonis for an 8th-place finish overall. For the boys 200 freestyle relay, the team of Franke, Brobst, and Isaac was joined by senior Bryce Torres for a 9th-place finish.

In the last event of the championship meet, the girls 400 freestyle relay team of Caley, A. Gower, Keenan and Oswald placed 9th while the boys relay team of Franke, Isaac, Torres, and Brobst also claimed a 9th place finish.

“They did a great job overall with most of the swimmers holding their best times at champs,” boasted Northampton head coach Cullen Mentzell. “It was great for several of these swimmers to compete as 10th and 11th graders and get a feeling for what it was like to be at champs. What a great experience for them.”

Northampton’s varsity swimming and diving season was not over yet, however, as Northampton diver Boden Burkhart traveled to Bucknell University last weekend for the PIAA states championship diving meet. Burkhart placed 2nd in the District XI AAA championships and is seeded 7th in the state championship meet for the AAA division overall. He finished 18th at the event.

Burkhart was the first NHS diver to attend the PIAA states championship for the AAA division since 2011 when Cassandra Hanely represented Northampton.

Looking back on a solid season for both the swimming and diving squads, Mentzell has nothing but positive things to say about the effort and performance of the team.

“Overall, it was a great season in terms of the number of swimmers we had come out and the results we achieved. They made a ton of progress the year,” said Mentzell. “Our newer swimmers kept improving all season and with many members of the team returning next year, I’m already looking for forward to what next season will bring.”