Week after week, that’s what fans in Williamsport saw in duals or invitationals.

In early February, Halstead claimed two top-5 finishes at the Williamsport Coaches Invite against some of District 4’s best competition, including swimmers from Lewisburg, Central Mountain, Jersey Shore, Bloomsburg and Danville.

“Aviya has been doing it all season,” Williamsport coach Brett Johnson said that evening about Halstead claiming two top-5 finishes against solid competition. “She did well again today.”

That type of effort is what earned Halstead the 2025-26 Sun-Gazette Girls Swimmer of the Year honors. She narrowly edged out Lewisburg’s Morgan Shannon for the honor.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Aviya Halstead competes in the 200 medley relay during a high school swim tri-meet with Hazleton and Mifflinburg at Williamsport this year. Halstead was named the Sun-Gazette Girls Swimmer of the Year for the 2025-26 season.

It’s Halstead’s first career Swimmer of the Year honor.

Halstead was superb throughout the regular season, but she came up big in the postseason at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships.

Halstead throughout the year proved that she was a great swimmer in relay competition and further cemented that at districts. She was a key member of the Millionaires’ 200 medley relay team which brought home a bronze medal from districts and in the 200 free relay, Halstead and Co. secured a silver medal.

She swam alongside Annie Ross, Kyla Becker and Kiley Persun in the 200 medley relay. In the 200 free relay, Halstead was the anchor with Persun, Miley Johnson and Ross.

Individually, Halstead swam the 50 free at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships and finished as a silver medalist. She swam a time of 25.43, dropping time in the process, and was just 0.07 seconds behind Abington Heights’ senior Gianna Vachino who won gold.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Dylana Richards competes in the 200 IM during a high school swim tri-meet with Hazleton and Mifflinburg at Williamsport this season. Richards earned first-team Sun-Gazette girls swimming all-star honors.

Halstead also claimed bronze in the 100 free at districts with a time of 56.34. She was behind only Abington Heights’ sophomore Hadley Pallman and Vachino who took gold and silver, respectively.

Halstead wasn’t able to secure a trip to Bucknell for the state meet this year, but she still swam outstanding from start to finish and she made the Millionaires proud every outing.

Without further ado, a look at who else made up the remainder of the Sun-Gazette girls swimming all-star team this winter.

SUN-GAZETTE GIRLS SWIMMING ALL-STARS

Annie Ross, Williamsport

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Lewisburg's Morgan Shannon checks her time after competing in the girls 100 free during the District 4 Championships this year. Morgan, a two-time District 4 gold medalist and state qualifier this past season, was the runner-up for Swimmer of the Year honors.

Ross was part of two relay teams which saw success at districts and also took home two top-8 individual medals at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships. Ross was part of the third-place 200 medley relay team and fourth-place 400 free relay team. Individually, Ross claimed a bronze medal in the 100 breast and swam a time of 27.66 to take eighth in the 50 free.

Kyla Becker, Williamsport

Williamsport had plenty of talented swimmers this year, and Becker was among them. She was the third leg of the 200 medley relay team which took bronze at districts with Aviya Halstead, Annie Ross and Kiley Persun. She also was part of the team’s 400 free relay with Addison Hill, Dylana Richards and Miley Johnson who swama. 4:05.95 for fourth. Individually, Becker’s best performance at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships came in the 100 breast where she swam a 1:33.77, dropping almost a second in her time. The senior was close to claiming gold and a trip to states as she was less than a second behind Abington Heights’ Kaitlyn Giermanski who won the title. In the 100 fly, Becker took fourth with a time of 1:05.67, dropping almost a second off her time in the process.

Kiley Persun, Williamsport

Throughout the regular season, Persun claimed points when needed and she kept her success going and rolling into the postseason. Persun brought home two relay titles and tow individual titles at the District 2-4 Class AAA championships, capping a great junior campaign. She swam with Aviya Halstead, Annie Ross and Kyla Becker in the 200 medley relay which took third and was the first leg in the 200 free relay with Miley Johnson, Ross and Halstead which took silver. In the 200 free, Persun swam a 2:04.32, dropping more than three seconds off her time to take silver. In the 500 free, Persun swam a 5:44.13 and was a bronze medalist.

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Allie Eberhart competes in the Diving portion of a high school swim tri-meet with Wellsboro and Danville at Williamsport on Tuesday.

Miley Johnson, Williamsport

Johnson, like many of Williamsport swimmers listed above, was part of two relay teams claiming district success. She swam in both the 200 free and 400 free relays and helped the Millionaires claim silver and fourth, respectively, in those relays. Individually, the sophomore dropped almost two seconds in the 200 free at districts to swim a 2:10.36 and take fourth. She also was a fourth-place finisher in the 500 free by swimming a time of 5:46.28, again dropping two seconds off her time. Given that Johnson is only a sophomore, expect her to improve and get even better her next two seasons.

Addison Hill, Williamsport

Hill helped Williamsport’s 400 free relay team claim a fourth-place finish, but she also competed in two individual events at the tough District 2-4 Class AAA championships and brought home two top-8 finishes. Hill, a junior, swam well throughout the year and showcased her talents at districts. In the 50 free, Hill swam a time of 27.65, dropping almost 0.30 seconds off her time to take seventh. In the 100 back, Hill claimed a fourth-place medal by swimming a time of 1:12.13, shaving almost a second off her time.

Dylana Richards,

RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Williamsport's Clover Lindsay was named Co-Diver of the Year with teammate Allie Eberhart.

Williamsport

It shouldn’t come to anyone to see six Millionaire swimmers on the first team — Richards included — given the depth and talent the Millionaires’ roster had. Richards capped her senior season wtih a superb performance at states by claiming two fifth-place individual finishes to bring back three medals. She swam great throughout duals and invitationals in the regular season and kept it up in the postseason. In the 200 free, Richards swam a time of 2:11.46, a time of 1:12.20 in the 100 back which was more than a 1-second drop, both good enough to finish fifth. Richards was also the third leg in the Millionaires’ 400 free relay team which claimed fourth.

Morgan Shannon,

Lewisburg

Shannon is just a freshman, but already is establishing herself as one of Lewisburg and District 4’s top swimmers. Her older sister Kimmy was a four-time Sun-Gazette Swimmer of the Year and Morgan in her first year of competition was runner-up for the honor this year. Swimming runs in the Shannon family and Morgan showed that. The freshman Green Dragon won the district title in the 200 free in 1:59.78, the only swimmer to break the 2-minute mark in the event as she beat out Danville’s Cleo Hummel. Shannon then won gold in the 500 free in 5:22.52, cruising to a win by 21 seconds to qualify for states in both events. Shannon took gold with Jillian Muchler, Claire Graver and Emma Hopkinson in the 400 free relay to qualify for states. She also was part of the Green Dragons’ 200 medley relay team with Jillian Muchler, Claire Graver and Emma Hopkinson which took silver in 1:53.71, just over a second behind Bloomsburg who won gold.

Shannon was the runner-up for this year’s Swimmer of the Year honor.

Emma Hopkinson,

Lewisburg

Hopkinson was one of Lewisburg’s top swimmers this year and routinely claimed high finishes in duals and invitationals. At the District 4 championships, Hopkinson kept up her sold performances. She claimed a gold medal in the 100 fly with a time of 1:00.50, winning the event by almost four seconds over Danville standout Izzy Marks. She claimed silver in the 100 free in 54.51, less than a second behind Bloomsburg’s Lucy Diehl. She was part of the Green Dragons’ 200 medley relay team with Jillian Muchler, Claire Graver and Morgan Shannon which took silver, and the 400 free relay team which won gold with that same foursome.

Jillian Muchler, Lewisburg

Muchler qualified for states thanks to claiming District 4 gold in the 100 back. She swam a time of 1:02.98, narrowly edging out Danville’s Leah Hasenbalg by 0.09 seconds in a tight race to secure a trip to Bucknell. Muchler was a two-time state qualifier after she was part of the 400 free relay which won gold in 3:44.82 with Morgan Shannon, Claire Graver and Emma Hopkinson. Muhcler took seventh in the 200 IM in 2:26.93 and was part of the Green Dragons’ 200 medley relay team which took silver.

Claire Graver, Lewisburg

Graver took silver this year at districts in the 200 IM with a time of 2:20.60, trailing only to Bloomsburg standout Lucy Diehl who won gold in 2:14.83. She also was a silver medalist in the 100 back in 1:10.76, just over a second behind Bloomsburg’s Anna Yancoskie. She claimed gold with Lewisburg’s 400 free relay team and was a silver medalist with the team’s 200 medley relay. For those keeping track, that’s a gold medal and three silvers for Graver at this year’s District 4 championships. Not a bad medal haul at all for a talented swimmer like Graver. And it showed how valuable of a swimmer she is for Lewisburg as a team.

Sloane Coakley,

Central Mountain

Coakley was a key piece of Central Mountain’s girls swim team this year and helped in any way that she was able to throughout the year. When the District 6 Class AAA championships rolled around, Coakley stepped up again. She was a fifth-place finisher in the 100 back in a tough Class AAA field and then took ninth in the 50 free. She was part of two Wildcat relay teams as well and helped the 200 medley team finish in second and the 400 free relay team take home a third-place finish.

Gabriella Hosley,

Central Mountain

Hosley was Central Mountain’s lone state qualifier this year and the Wildcat junior had a great performance start to finish this winter season. Hosley won District 6 Class AAA gold in the 100 fly as she won in 1:02.30, beating State College’s Sydney Barshinger by almost two seconds. Hosley was part of the Wildcats’ 200 medley relay which took District 6 Class AAA silver alongside Sloane Coakley, Lily McWilliams and Kaylie McCloskey in 2:03.92, dropping five seconds nearly in the process. Hosley swam the second leg. McCloskey, Anna Stahl, McWilliams and Hosley also won silver in the 200 free relay as Hosley swam the anchor leg and picked up key time as the relay dropped almost six seconds. Hosley was second in the 100 breast at districts.

DIVERS OF THE YEAR

Allie Eberhart, Williamsport and Clover Lindsay, Williamsport

Both Eberhart and Lindsay had outstanding seasons this year and that earned both of them Sun-Gazette Co-Divers of the Year. The two were not only teammates, but best friends, and pushed one another throughout the year in competition when they often were the only two diving against one another.

It made them get better each dual and pushed them for when districts ran around.

At the District 2-4 Class AAA championships, Eberhart, a sophomore, claimed her first career district gold medal by winning the 1-meter diving competition wtih a score of 378.10 to qualify for the state meet. She beat out her friend Lindsay by less than seven points (371.45) as Lindsay took home second.

They were the only two divers at districts to surpass 370 points.

HONORABLE MENTION

(in alphabetical order)

PIper Anderegg, Wellsboro; Ashlynn Barlett, Hughesville; Kristina Belz, Wellsboro; Joelle Bull, Wellsboro; Lynnae Campbell, Williamsport; Brooke Charney, Jersey Shore; Morgan Cohoon, Milton; Sierra Derr, Jersey Shore; Rachel Goocey, Milton; Elli Halstead, Williamsport; Zoe McElroy, Central Mountain; Kaylie McCloskey, Central Mountain; Lily McWilliams, Central Mountain; Addison Miller, Jersey Shore; Lila Nestlerode, Jersey Shore; Erin Packer, Central Mountain; Rhiann Prowell, Jersey Shore; Makenna Robbins, Wellsboro; Larissa Rovenolt, Milton; Emily Shemory, Jersey Shore; Anna Stahl, Central Mountain; Julia Stahlnecker, Milton; Macy Wilton, Jersey Shore; Makayla Wrench, Jersey Shore.