The Northampton Area High School varsity swimming and diving team closed out their 2024-2025 season with a double win against Liberty High School on Monday, February 10, in a meet that was rescheduled due to impending winter weather. With this double win, both the girls and boys complete a winning season with a final season record for the boys at 11-2 overall. The girls finished the season with a 9-4 record.

The opening event of the evening, the 200-yard medley relay events for the boys and girls, garnered a second-place finishes for both teams, but as the contest turned to individual events Olivia Kuhns claimed the first Northampton victory of the night with a win in the girls 200-yard freestyle event. The boys were bested by Liberty in the 200 freestyle but collected points for a second, third, and fourth place finish, with sophomore Logan Saylor in second, followed closely by junior Nicholas Isaac and freshman Henry Schoenenberger.

Northampton continued to gather points, if not first place finishes, with the girls’ 200-yard individual medley event where Toni Bubier, Elizabeth Sponsler, and Sophia Kostik took third, fourth, and fifth place. The boys secured their first individual win of the night as Nate Scheirer rocketed to victory in the boys’ 200-yard individual medley event, with Brody Warner and Ethan Brobst following in a very close second-third place finish. The 50 free events belonged to Liberty, with Northampton’s Sophia Pina and Tobias Scott both finishing third for Northampton in the girls and boys, respectively.

The competition then turned to the 6-dive event where Northampton’s Bella Kish secured a first-place finish for the girls with a final score of 220.35 and Northampton’s Alex Szeplaki sprang to first place for the boys with a score of 279.45

Turning back to individual swim competition, Northampton’s Amelia Sommons achieved a third-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly for the girls, and Tobias Scott finished the event in second place for the Northampton boys. Olivia Kuhns grabbed her second first-place finish of the evening in the girls’ 100-yard freestyle event, and Northampton’s Josiah Hippert soared to first with a district championship qualifying time and a decisive win in the 100-yard freestyle event for the boys.

One of the most exciting finishes of the evening for Northampton came with the 500-yard freestyle. Senior Ava Keenan swam a strong second place race for the Northampton girls, and the Northampton boys gave spectators a thrill with a fight for the finish between Northampton’s Schoenenberger and Saylor. At the completion of this grueling 20-lap event, Schoeneberger just edged out Saylor for the win by a mere fraction of a second, with both boys completing district championship qualifying times of 5:08.62 for Schoeneberger and 5:08.64 for Saylor.

Turning to the mid-meet 200-yard freestyle relay event, the Northampton team of Gabriella Oswald, Sophia Pina, Olivia Kuhns, and Toni Bubier placed first for the girls while the boys’ relay teams grabbed second, third, and 4th place in the event. Northampton achieved a pair of 2nd place finishes in the 100-yard backstroke events, for Sommons (for the girls) and Hippert for the boys. And in the last individual event of the evening, Nate Scheirer grabbed his second 1st place finish for the boys in the 100-yard breaststroke, where the Northampton girls saw senior Gabriella Oswald take second.

In the final event of the night, the 400-yard freestyle relay, Northampton pulled out two first-place finishes, with the girl’s team of Sommons, Keenan, Pina, and Kuhns taking a decisive win over Liberty and the boys’ team of Scott, Saylor, Schoeneberger, and Isaac also clinching first for the boys.

With the regular season behind them, the Northampton squad now turns their focus to preparations for district championships, with several Northampton swimmers qualifying for the event. Districts will be held from Feb. 28-March 1 at Parkland High School.