14 state qualifiers showcases talent at Williamsport

Two years ago, Williamsport had just three swimmers make a trip to Bucknell to compete in the PIAA Class AAA swimming and diving championships.

Fast forward to this past week, and Williamsport is sending a total of 14 swimmers — 11 who qualified and three alternates — one of the largest contingents the Millionaires have sent in recent memory.

In his four years as a coach, it’s Brett Johnson’s largest group going.

It speaks to the talent at Williamsport and the desire of swimmers to constantly want to improve and get better.

“That just says that we all work really hard and come here every day. And he’s a great coach,” Williamsport’s Brady Ross said, nodding over to the direction of Johnson.

Johnson has done a great job in his four years at Williamsport getting the best out of his swimmers routinely, and the 14 swimmers heading down Route 15 today to Bucknell is Exhibit A.

“It’s so good to see because two years ago we only had three swimmers and now to have 14? It’s really cool to see and for my senior year, I’m so proud of where we gone,” Williamsport’s Aubrey Glosser said.

Williamsport has a total of four relay teams competing at the state meet — two on the girls side and two on the boys side. Individually, Glosser is competing in the 200 free, Kendall Cohick is competing in both the 100 fly and 100 back, Dylana Richards is competing in the 500 free, Keller Griswold is swimming the 100 free, Ross is competing in the 500 free, Cal Hockman is competing in the 100 back and Evan Summers is competing in the 100 breast.

“I’m so excited. I’m so proud of this whole team as a whole group,” Glosser said.

It’s a sentiment Ross agreed with.

“It means a lot, we all worked really hard for this and I feel like this is just showing all our hard work throughout the whole season,” Ross said.

In relay competition, the 200 free and 400 free girls relay teams will be competing and on the boys side, Williamsport’s 200 medley and 200 free relay teams will swim.

The Millionaires relay teams in both girls and boys competition have been solid all year long, and they’re swimming together great at the right time. All four walked away with district gold at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships last week, and they’re all hoping to drop times and hit PRs at Bucknell.

“I’m very excited. We’re all swimming fast,” Hockman said. “My senior year and we’re hoping to better our times going in.”

So what’s it say about the program that the Millionaires have 14 total going in various events and relays?

“It’s just that the athletes are getting better. It’s the same program, nothing much has changed,” Hockman said.

And the program has been consistent under Johnson: competitive and solid. Don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

Jon Gerardi is the sporst editor at the Sun-Gazette. Email comments to jgerardi@sungazette.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JonGerardi.