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Keep an eye on these area swimmers when the season begins

SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Williamsport’s Mallory Pardoe competes during the 200 individual medley last year.

We’re approaching the end of Gov. Tom Wolf’s three-week shutdown which postponed high school athletics. Everyone’s antsy to get back on the court, wrestling mat or into the pool, and start competition. So as the season gets ready to officially start, let’s take a look at some of the area swimmers to keep an eye on this winter season.

The area’s loaded with talented swimmers in both boys and girls competiton, and many of them are looking to make an impact for their respective schools.

GIRLS

MALLORY PARDOE,

WILLIAMSPORT

MARK NANCE/Sun-Gazette Lewisburg's Delaney HUmphrey competes in the backstroke portion of the Girls 200 yard IM during the District IV Swimming Championships at Williamsport Area High School Wednesday.

Pardoe is one of a handful of returning state qualifiers for the Millionaires. She was just a sophomore last year and qualified in three events and is the only returning Williamsport swimmer to have done so.

Last year, Pardoe had success as part of the 400 free relay and individually in both the 100 butterfly and 100 backstroke. At the District 2-4 Class AAA meet, Pardoe swam the beginning leg of the relay and hit the wall in 53.84 seconds, the fastest opening leg in the race, beating Hazleton’s Abigail Goulstone by four seconds.

The junior has only improved entering this season and will look to best her own personal marks in addition to helping the team win events and score points in any way.

She won the 100 back with a time of 59.92, the only swimmer at districts to crack a minute. She swam a solid 58.25 in the 100 fly to finish second. Pardoe improved her time in the 100 back at districts as well, finishing in 1:00.26 as a freshman in 2019.

MEAGHAN KEEGAN,

SUN-GAZETTE FILE PHOTO Central Mountain’s Madison Bair swims in the 200 free at Williamsport during a swimming competition last season.

JERSEY SHORE

Keegan put together a great junior season last year, but with the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the state meet in March, she’s using that as motivation for this season.

She helped Shore place fifth at the District 4 meet last year and will, without question, be a swimmer the Bulldogs look to to help win events and score points.

Keegan won the 100 fly by nearly a second with a time of 1:00.91, besting Central Columbia’s Sarah McHenry (1:01.44). She was the second leg in the Bulldogs’ 200 medley relay team which finished fifth. She was the third leg of the 200 free relay team which took third. She was also a fifth-place medalist in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.09).

The Bulldog senior improved her time in the 100 fly by more than 2 seconds from the 2019 district meet to last year.

MADISON BAIR,

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN

Bair is a huge returner for the Wildcats. She was a four-time district qualifier and did so twice in individual events in both the 50 freestyle and 100 breast.

As a sophomore, Bair took fifth in the 50 free with a time of 26.63 and finished the 100 breast as a fourth-place finisher in 1:14.30. Bair made an improvement in both races, though. She was seeded with a time of 27.32 in the 50 free and 1:16.37 in the 100 breast.

Bair swam the opening leg of the Wildcats’ 200 medley relay race at districts in 31.01, which was the second-fastest time of the foursome next to only Olivia Rockey’s 26.12 as the anchor.

She was outstanding as a sophomore last season and will be another tough swimmer to beat in races this year.

DELANEY HUMPHREY,

LEWISBURG

Humphrey has an impressive resume entering her senior season. She’s already medaled more than 10 times at districts and won district gold last year in the 400 free relay, helping the Green Dragons win the event with a time of 3:44.24, winning by six seconds as she swam the first leg.

She’s part of a long line of successful and talented swimmers to come from Lewisburg, which includes her current teammates Jewels Hepner and Alex Decker. Hepner is a seven-time district medalist and Decker is an eight-time medalist.

Put all that together and you have a recipe for a lot of points and victories in dual-meet competitions.

Humphrey placed third or better in each event last year she competed at districts. She finished second in the 200 IM and 500 free, and helped the 400 free relay team take gold and the 200 medley relay team finish third. Her times got better in both her individual events as well.

Look for not just Humphrey, but Hepner and Decker to be outstanding this winter. The trio will be hard to beat.

SARA DEWYER,

MILTON

Dewyer is coming off an impressive freshman season. In her first year competing in varsity swimming, Dewyer helped three relay teams qualify for the District 4 Class AA meet. The Black Panthers didn’t medal in any of the relay events, but don’t think that means they aren’t quality swimmers.

Count on Dewyer to improve her times this winter and continue to get better in various events. She got used to varsity competition last year and knows what to expect this year as she competes with Milton.

“I call her my little spitfire. She is petite and full of vim and vigor,” Milton coach Veronica Irvine said.

BOYS

JACK BEATTIE,

WILLIAMSPORT

Beattie put together an unbelievable performance last winter at the District 2-4 Class AAA diving championships. Not only did he win district gold, he set a school record in the process with an incredible score of 470.55.

It put him on the school’s record board for a second time.

Without question Beattie will be one of the area’s top divers this season. It’s an event he’s competed in since his freshman year, and the Williamsport senior will look to once again qualify for states.

Beattie reached the finals last winter, finishing 16th.

He’s a three-time district medalist and was a runner-up in both 2018 (417.35) and 2017 (334.45). His score only continues to increase, though, and look for him to have a solid senior campaign.

CALEB LEAMAN,

LEWISBURG

Another diver to watch this year is Leaman. Much like Beattie, Leaman is a returning state qualifier. Leaman entered the Class AA competition last year as the sixth seed thanks to his District 4 meet score of 431.25. Unfortunately, Leaman didn’t get a chance to see if he could medal or not as the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the Class AA competition.

Regardless, expect Leaman to improve his senior season. His 431.25 score bested teammate Hunter Grimes (401.55) to win District 4 gold last winter. Leaman’s continued to improve. As a sophomore, he posted a score of 344.95 to take third at districts.

Prior to the season, Lewisburg coach Derek Updegraff mentioned Leaman as one of the boys swimmers he has who can make an impact. Keep an eye on Leaman to do just that.

HAYNE WEBSTER,

WELLSBORO

Webster didn’t medal last year in the District 4 Class AA meet in the 100 back, but he is the Green Hornets’ returning district qualifier and brings experience, knowing exactly what to expect come late February. Webster entered the 100 back seeded fifth with a time of 1:06.20. The four swimmers above him all were seeded with times under 59 seconds.

That could provide a little motivation for Webster to improve his time. Webster was just a freshman last year, so no doubt he used the offseason to get better and swim harder.

The 100 back competition at districts was tough — the top three finishers had times of 57.18 seconds or better. It provides the Wellsboro sophomore with a target to know where he has to be to try to take gold.

CALEB STEMLER,

JERSEY SHORE

The Bulldogs have three swimmers on the boys side who qualified for districts in Stemler, Jason Grant and Xavier Barlet. But of the trio, only Stemler competed in the relay events at the District 4 meet. Stemler was the first leg of the Bulldogs’ 400 free relay team which finished fifth with a time of 3:45.70. He was the final leg of the 200 medley relay team which also took fifth in 1:52.58.

Stemler is no stranger to the podium at districts. He medaled twice as a junior in the same two events and had a seventh-place finish as a sophomore.

He’s helped the Bulldogs’ relay times improve as well. The 400 free relay team finished last year with a time nearly 15 seconds better than 2019’s team. And the 200 medley relay team finished with a time roughly 8 seconds better. While there’s four swimmers on a relay team, Stemler has been a factor in those times improving and the team continuing to succeed.

PARKER ORNDORF,

CENTRAL MOUNTAIN

Orndorf competed last year in four events at the District 6 Class AAA meet and was outstanding in all four.

He swam the first leg of the 200 medley relay for the Wildcats and helped Central Mountain finish in 1:47.87 to take second place. As the anchor leg, he helped the 200 free relay finish third in 1:39.41. Individually, he took third in both the 200 free and 500 free.

While his times are impressive, also consider the fact that he improved on his seeded time in all four events. Orndorf is one of two returning district qualifiers and it just so happens the other — Leisher Gugino — was part of those two district medaling relay teams. That provides the Wildcats a really talented duo with the two relay teams to improve this year.

Both Orndorf and Gigino will likely only get better this season. If you get a chance to see a Central Mountain meet, pay attention to both of them once they get into the starting blocks.

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