The Northampton varsity swimming and diving team traveled North on Thursday, Feb. 8, for a dual meet against Stroudsburg High School. In the second-to-last meet of the high school season, Northampton bested Stroudsburg with a boys team score of 58-36 and a girls team score of 66-26. This most recent win adds to a winning season for both teams.

The meet began with a Northampton sweep of the 200 medley relay. For the girls team, the relay squad of Brenna Caley, Ava Keenan, Gigi Esteban and Gabriela Oswald claimed a decisive win. The boys relay team of Josiah Hippert, Ryan Franke, Logan Saylor and Stephen Carrasco also took first by a wide margin. The girls team also took first in the 200 freestyle relay event with the team of Sophia Pina, Brenna Caley, Ava Aulisio and Olivia Kuhns.

In the first individual event of the meet, Northampton took first in both the boys and girls 200 freestyle events. Ava Aulisio placed first for the girls with a time of 2:18.78, and Ethan Brobst was first to the wall for the boys with a time of 2:03.54. Other first-place wins for the girls included Gigi Esteban in the 100 butterfly, Gabriella Oswald in the 100 freestyle and a first in the 500 freestyle for Ava Keenan. For the boys team, Northampton’s Ryan Franke claimed two first place finishes in both the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke events. Logan Saylor took first place in the 500 freestyle event, and teammate Josiah Hippert placed first in the 100 backstroke.

Northampton ended the meet just as it began with a sweep of the 400 freestyle relay event. The girls relay team of Caley, Esteban, Olivia Kuhns and Sophia Pina took first and the boys team of Hippert, Nick Isaac, Tobias Scott and Franke also claimed first.

Northampton travels to Liberty High School for the official last meet of their 2023-2024 regular season this Wednesday. It’s a contest that was delayed due to weather.

In other news this week, Northampton’s diving team had a strong showing at the East Penn Conference League Diving Championships held at Parkland High School on Saturday, Feb. 10.

Brothers Alex and Andy Szeplaki claimed gold and silver medals, respectively. Northampton’s Bella Kish took the bronze, placing third for the girls team and Northampton’s Sam Hayes placed 6th for the boys.

Northampton’s head diving coach, Todd Lerch, has frequently said, “No matter how they dive, I’m always just so proud of them.” but with such a solid end to a great season, Coach Lerch is particularly proud of his diving squad this year.