Maddoc Watkins of dallas won the 200 free on Friday, setting a new District 2 championship record with a time of 1:40.23.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
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Dallas’ Peyton Stauffer celebrates her win in the 200 free with teammate Olivia Thomas.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary swimmers celebrate after winning the 200 medley relay. The team of Jack Heisler, Zhantore Akylbekov, Harry Feng and Kevin Yang took gold.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
Maria-Lucia Pirore of Dallas come out of the starting block in the 200 medley relay on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
MMI Prep’s Woobie Kupsky broke his own District 2 record in the 200 IM with a time of 1:51.32 on Friday.
Fred Adams | For Times Leader
PLAINS TWP. — As has been the case for the past four years, Maddoc Watkins and Woobie Kupsky’s stiffest competition were their former selves.
Both the Dallas and MMI Prep seniors rewrote their own records Friday at the District 2 Class 2A Boys Swimming Championships. Each of them entered the Wilkes-Barre Area Natatorium with more than 10-second advantages on the heat sheet.
They both answered the question, not of whether they would break their record, but by how much. Watkins erased his 200 free record, and Kupsky lowered in 200 IM mark.
After the first day of district swimming championships, Dallas leads both the boys and girls swimming standings with sights on repeating their district title runs. The Mountaineers slightly hold a five-point edge over a surprising Tunkhannock boys’ squad. Dallas tops Scranton Prep by 41 points in the girls’ race.
The final day of competition resumes Saturday morning at 11 a.m.
Watkins led the field by a pool’s length in resetting his 200 free record. He won with a time of 1:40.23, defeating Dallas’ Jacob Hoegen’s by 12.21 seconds. Watkins ousted his own district record by two-tenths of a second.
“I felt powerful through my first 100,” Watkins said. “I just had to put my head down and give everything I had in the last half. I was hoping to get under 1:40 but I have a chance to get it at states.”
With his eyes on repeating his PIAA championship later this month, Kupsky beat his own mark by 36-hundredths of a second. The Hawaii-bound senior finished in 1:51.32. Admitting he felt a dose of exhaustion, Kupsky fell short of his season-best time by 13-hundredths of a second.
“To be honest, it didn’t feel too good,” Kupsky said. “I was pretty tired after the fly, and I didn’t rest much this year. I was still pleased to break the district record. I need to work on getting more rest and being more confident.”
Wyoming Seminary’s Zhantore Akylbekov continued his near-unstoppable run at district competition. The Kazakhstani senior overcame setbacks from a wrist injury to secure a 100 butterfly win in 51.5 seconds.
“It’s amazing,” Akylbekov said. “It’s truly one of the best feelings in the world. I absolutely love it. The wrist injury decreased my performance. It’s OK. There are many races to go. The wrist injury changed my outlook on life.”
He teamed with Jack Heisler, Harry Feng and Kevin Yang to win the 200 medley relay in 1:39.84.
Dallas senior Artem Smagin came through with an upset win in the 50 free. Smagin out-touched Tunkhannock’s Josh Gaudet by the same difference he trailed on the heat sheet — 16-hundredths of a second — to win with a time of 22.06 seconds.
“Today I felt really good,” Smagin said. “I woke up with a mindset to win. I was prepped to get that first place. I messed up off the wall, but I hope I can fix that at states.”
The Wyoming Valley Conference swept all six boys swimming events. They closed out the sweep with the Mountaineers’ 200 free relay squad of Smagin, Watkins, Jacob Hoegen and Nico Wilk clocking in at 1:29.4.
Tunkhannock was propelled by Josh Gaudet, William Lupinski and Aidan Edwards claiming second through fourth place in the 50 free.
Gonzales, Stauffer carry Dallas to first
Juniors Lydia Gonzales and Peyton Stauffer put Dallas well on the path to a third consecutive district title with a first-place finish in their individual races.
Separated by just two-hundredths of a second on the heat sheet, Gonzales won by more than four seconds in the 200 IM. She dropped 6.61 seconds off her season best to touch the wall in 2:04.12. Gonzales won her fourth individual district race of her career.
“I was just trying to stay ahead in the fly,” Gonzales said. It was awesome to see my time, considering that I was struggling to get my 200 IM down. That was the best time so far, even faster than my states time.”
Facing stiff competition between her teammate Olivia Thomas and Scranton Prep’s Tessa Mangan, Stauffer jetted past them for a 1:57.81 victory in the 200 free. Thomas beat out Mangan for second place, despite training by more than two seconds heading into the championships.
“We have been talking about going first and second at districts for so long,” Stauffer said. “We knew it was going to be a tight race. We were getting it together. Everything is better with a teammate.”
Together, Gonzales, Stauffer and Thomas joined with Maria-Lucia Pirore to close out the session with a 200 free relay gold medal. The Mountaineers garnered first with a time of 1:40.54.
“Relays are very pumped,” Gonzales said. “Everyone is very excited going into it. We knew it was going to be a very tight race. It was exciting to be the anchor and watch everyone get great times and watch the gap close. I felt great to be the anchor and close the deal.”
H.S. BOYS SWIMMING
District 2 Class 2A Championships
TEAM STANDINGS — 1. Dallas (DAL) 157, 2. Tunkhannock (TUN) 152, 3. Wyoming Seminary (SEM) 87, 4. Scranton Prep (SP) 61, 5. Holy Redeemer (HR) 57, 5. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 57, 7. Dunmore (DUN) 49, 8. Lake-Lehman (LL) 39, 9. Elk Lake (EL) 22, MMI Prep (MMI) 16, 11. Pittston Area (PA) 15, 12. Wyoming Area (WA) 8, 13. Western Wayne (WW) 7, 14. North Pocono (NP) 4
200 MEDLEY RELAY — 1. SEM (Jack Heisler, Zhantore Akylbekov, Harry Feng, Kevin Yang) 1:39.84; 2. TUN (Aidan Mislvey, William Lupinski, Andrew Lance, Aidan Edwards) 1:40.72; 3. SP (Ben Kessler, Lukas Iannone, Noah Lynch, Liam Ong) 1:43.41; 4. DAL (Kevin Basaglya, Josh Gross, Landon Daney, Noah Dunbar) 1:52.14; 5. WAL (Grady Hearn, Christian Vargo, Ware Stuckey, Michael Passenti) 1:56.49; 6. HR (Chris Dutko, Johnny Fredericks, Max Filchak, Kacey Miller) 1:56.77
200 FREE — 1. DAL Maddoc Watkins 1:40.23, 2. DAL Jacob Hoegen 1:52.54, 3. WAL Ware Stuckey 1:53.42, 4. TUN Jayden Baltrusaitis 1:55.23, 5. TUN Christopher Brayden 1:55.49, 6. LL Jack Kashatus 1:56.3
200 IM – 1. MMI Woobie Kupsky 1:51.32, 2. SP Lukas Iannone 1:57.1, 3. DUN Luke Healey 2:02. 4. SP Liam Ong 2:08.58, 5. DAL Landon Daney 2:11.39, 6. SEM Jack Heisler 2:13.28
50 FREE – 1. DAL Artem Smagin 22.06, 2. TUN Josh Gaudet 22.22, 3. TUN William Lupinski 22.97, 4. TUN Aidan Edwards 23.27, 5. HR Max Filchak 23.67, 6. EL Cohen Farrell 24.33
100 BUTTERFLY – 1. SEM Zhantore Akylbekov 51.5, 2. DAL Nico Wilk 55.48, 3. DUN Anthony Bonavoglia 55.87, 4. TUN Andrew Lance 56.79, 5. HR Max Filchak 56.84, 6. SP Noah Lynch 59.27
200 FREE RELAY — 1. DAL (Artem Smagin, Maddoc Watkins, Jacob Hoegen, Nico Wilk) 1:29.4; 2. SEM (Zhantore Akylbekov, Jack Heisler, Kevin Yang, Harry Feng) 1:29.46; 3. TUN (Josh Gaudet, Aidan Edwards, Jayden Baltrusaitis, William Lupinski) 1:29.87; 4. DUN (Luke Healey, Lucas Urban, Simon Madore, Anthony Bonavoglia) 1:36.52; 5. WAL (Christian Vargo, Grady Hearn, Ware Stuckey, Michael Passenti) 1:38.47; 6. LL (Andrew Morris, Connor Runquist, Aiden Gallagher, Jack Kashatus) 1:38.52
H.S. GIRLS SWIMMING
District 2 Class 2A Championships
TEAM STANDINGS — 1. Dallas (DAL) 198.5, 2. Scranton Prep (SP) 157.5, 3. Elk Lake (EL) 101, 4. Wyoming Seminary (SEM) 78.5, 5. Lake-Lehman (LL) 75, 6. Holy Redeemer (HR) 48, 7. Wallenpaupack (WAL) 41.5, 8. Valley View (VV) 33, 9. Wyoming Area (WA) 32, 10. MMI Prep (MMI) 13, 11. Mid Valley (MV) 11, 12. Dunmore (DUN) 8
200 MEDLEY RELAY – 1. SP (Sophia Galko, Eva Kaszuba, Rebecca Oakes, Tessa Mangan) 1:53.47; 2. DAL (Maria-Lucia Pirore, Erika Doran, Audrey Haydu, Sarah Gauntlett) 1:55.51; 3. SEM (Ava Bednar, Trinity Kong, Ellie Scullion, Eva Blaum) 1:57.69; 4. LL (Hannah Kuhar, Allison Vitanovec, Karissa Legaspi, Carlee Monko) 2:01.08; 5. VV (Gabby Zurn, Molly Hubal, Sarah Naylor, Reilly Sprague) 2:05.19; 6. HR (Olivia Davis, Carley Glaser, Arden Brunn, Katie Schelll) 2:05.8
200 FREE – 1. DAL Peyton Stauffer 1:57.81, 2. DAL Olivia Thomas 1:59.37, 3. SP Tessa Mangan 1:59.57, 4. MV Cambria Guman 2:10.26, 5. EL Hannah Howell 2:10.48, 6. LL Mollie Kuhar 2:13.2
200 IM – 1. DAL Lydia Gonzales 2:04.12, 2. MMI Mary Kate Kupsky 2:08.84, 3. DAL Erika Doran 2:14.38, 4. SP Ella Schofield 2:16.49, 5. SEM Abigail Ryu 2:24.22, 6. LL Allison Vitanovec 2:27.23
50 FREE – 1. EL Brynn Warriner 25.53, 2. DAL Audrey Haydu 25.84, 3. SP Eva Kaszuba 26.04, 4. SP Marin Purcell 27.03, 4. SEM Eva Blaum 27.03, 6. SP Mackey Muha 27.25
100 BUTTERFLY – 1. SP Rebecca Oakes 1:01.82, 2. SP Sophia Galko 1:01.95, 3. DAL Maria-Lucia Pirore 1:03.64, 4. EL Alison Grosvenor 1:05.66, 5. SEM Trinity Kong 1:05.89, 6. LL Karissa Legaspi 1:05.9
200 FREE RELAY — 1. DAL (Peyton Stauffer, Olivia Thomas, Maria-Lucia Pirore, Lydia Gonzales) 1:40.54; 2. SP (Eva Kaszuba, Ella Schofield, Sophia Glako, Tessa Mangan) 1:42.73; 3. EL (Brynn Warringer, Hannah Howell, Chelsea Grosvenor, Allison Grosvenor) 1:44.39; 4. WAL (Kaci Hackett, Delany Donavan, Samira Feller, Zoee Stuckey) 1:51.36; 5. HR (Olivia Davis, Arden Brunn, Katie Schell, Carley Glaser) 1:51.62; 6. SEM (Abigail Ryu, Faith Stoshak, Christina Olsen, Ellie Scullion) 1:52.21