Bellefonte have strong opening day in the pool

By Kenny Varner
- Tweet
- Pin It
Updated: February 28, 2015

By Kenny Varner

UNIVERSITY PARK – Day one of the 2015 District 6 PIAA swimming and diving championships proved to be a strong one for the Bellefonte swimming team as they brought their A-game to the table, notching record times, advancing swimmers to states and swimmers posting personal bests.

In the first boys event, the 200-yard medley relay consisting of Patrick Scordato (junior), Chance Foster (junior), Colton Schnars (junior) and Grey Rockey (junior) finished in first place with a time of 1:41.56. In the beginning, the Red Raiders held onto a solid second but it would be the combination of the final two swimmers Schnars and Rockey that clinched the wins finishing with individual times of 23.21 and 22.39, respectively.

Schnars not only placed first in the relay but captured a first in the 100-yard butterfly capturing a new meet record in the process of 51.14. He crushed former record holder Mitchell Smith who finished with a 52.26.

Andrew Kaschalk finished sixth with a time of 59.69 while his teammate Brian Feldman placed seventh with a finishing time of 1:01.07.

“They were really on top of it today. I am proud of them and they are heading to states,” Bellefonte coach Serena Pfaff said.

The boys weren’t finished quite yet as Rockey took the top spot in his individual event, the 200-yard Freestyle.

He finished with a top time of 1:52.74. His splits in the race were a consistent 25.14, 28.83, 29.54 and 29.23. He outlasted Ligoneer Valley swimmer Sam Maust by almost three seconds.

Red Raider teammate Kaschalk finished a strong fifth place in the event, placing a 1:58.49.

Bellefonte hit pay dirt in the boys 200 IM, posting two out of the four place. Scordato and Foster finished in second and forth with times of 2:09.60 and 2:14.59, respectively.

In the boys 50-yard freestyle, Finn Nixdorf finished strong and placed second with a time of 22.57. Teammate Zach Malinich finished with a 26.99. Feldman and Nixdorf, the team finished 3^rd out of 10 with a time of 1:34.76.

Rounding out the boys day was the boys 200-yard freestyle relay. Composed of the combination of Kaschalk, Foster,

On the girls’ side, Miranda Fedor had a strong outing, placing a close second in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:20.46. She was just seconds from the top spot held by Shelbi Shearer of Ligoneer Valley who posted a 2:19.66. Ashley Morris rounded out the Red Raiders with a 17^th place with a time of 3:00.56.

In the girls 50-yard freestyle, Kailee Klimek finished with a 30.88. Teammate Leah Yates finished with a time of 31.67.

The girls 200-yard freestyle, the Red Raiders finished with a 10^th place finish of 2:07.03. Bellefonte’s team consisted of Katelynn Walker, Rebecca Harter, Leah Yates, and Klimek.

“There was only a handful of girls this year. It was more of a personal challenge to get the personal best time than to put it to another level,” Pfaff said. “ Tommorrow we are looking for the same results tomorrow too.”

Bellefonte will be back at the pool today, participating the day 2 festivities at the McCoy Natatorium at 2 p.m..