CLARION – What happens when a group of girls is totally focused
on team tradition?
The impossible!
Or at least the unlikely. But the Bradford High girls swim team
showed a lot of people a lot of things over the weekend in Clarion
at the Class AA District 6-9 Regional state qualifying meet.
For starters the Lady Owls showed what a lot of hard work,
leadership from seniors who just never gave up, focus, trust in the
coaching staff, and support of each other can do.
They surprised everyone at the meet with a 10-point victory over
D-9 rival Clearfield and captured their sixth regional title in a
row.
“It was just amazing,” summarized Bradford head coach Pam Digel.
“This group of kids found confidence, pride, unity, and strength
over this past weekend that may truly surpass anything I’ve ever
seen in 20 years of coaching.
“We went through this season as the Bad News Bears. We pulled
off a couple of wins we weren’t supposed to get, but as the season
progressed everyone’s focus seemed to intensify. As happens so
often with us the goal became Clearfield.
“In our dual meets they beat us once and then we tied them in
our home pool. We lost the District 9 meet just two weeks ago. But
these girls never quit. We spent time correcting the little things
like starts and turns, but their determination did the rest.
“I have to give a lot of the credit to our seniors. Not only did
they perform incredible swims but they have been a part of the
program long enough to want to show everyone it was going to
continue.
“The unique thing about this season and this meet was we really
did not have any superstars. Sure we have very talented athletes in
specific events, for example, but if you look at the results of
this meet we did not capture a single individual event.
So what happened?
“We scored the psych sheet early in the week which is a listing
of the entrants going into the meet,” Digel noted. “From those
results we figured we had a 41-point deficit to overcome.”
So what happened?
“In swimming it’s called a taper,” Digel declared. “It’s really
what you train for all year. It includes a lot of rest, different
types of work at practice, starts, turns, and speed work at
practice. Shaving. And confidence in your coaches.
“And the history of how we do it is pretty positive. That
tradition helps the swimmers with the psyche they need to put them
over the top.
“Our coaching staff made up of Katrina Cibula and volunteer
coaches Dan Confer, Freya Lopus and Chris Brooks really made this
come together. Not only do they know what they are doing on deck,
but I think them all being alumni of this program helps the current
swimmers have trust in what they are told. They deserve a lot of
credit!
“We started out with a gamble in the first event and that
combined with a hundred other things gave us those 10 points.
“It was all about Libby Cavagnaro and her performances in the
200 free, the 500 free and the free relay. Celia Reiley gave us
great leads in both the freestyle relays and points in her
individual events. Ellie Imhof, who was still a little under the
weather, made a relay switch without questioning why. In addition,
she had an amazing second place in the 200 IM.
“Katie Slavinski had individual times and relay anchor splits
that were out of control. Erica Pascarella, who as a freshman
snagged points in her individual 50 and 500 freestyle events, and
as with her teammates was not to be caught in her relay legs.
“It was about Katlyn Nelson who amazed the entire field of
breaststrokers with a second-place finish coming from a
seventh-place seed to all but seal the Lady Owls’ victory.
“It was about a couple of gymnasts who sacrificed their own time
to travel to Olean, N.Y., to practice diving and then finish second
(Erin Hannon) and seventh (Ashley Eliason) in that event.
“But it was also about those important one and two points
grabbed by Heather Vickery, Elizabeth Putnam and Janie Reiley who
did all they could, also dropping time and turning in individual
best performances. And the rest of the roster, Leslie Shallop, Kate
Cohen, Bethany Russell, Katie Vecellio and Tye Seagren who kept the
ball rolling with seasonal best swims and lots of cheering for
their team.
“It was everyone. And it was unforgettable. I know all of the
swimmers and coaches feel the same way.”
Meantime, the young Owls team made up of four freshmen and four
sophomores started building their own corner of respect in the
region with a sixth place finish out of an 18-team field.
“As with the girls the boys hit their tapers well and were
determined to prove something,” Digel declared. “That they are up
and coming and though still short a bit on numbers they have tons
of talent and a never say die attitude.
“I know one thing the boys wanted out of this season was more
respect from their competitors. And they earned just that. They
also pulled together to grab points and finished an impressive
sixth out of 18 teams entered in the meet.”
Leading the way was sophomore Alex Goodman with third- and
fourth-place finishes in the sprint events – the 50- and 100-yard
freestyle.
Fellow sophomore Ben Daggett dropped time in the distance events
of the 200 and 500 free grabbing more big points.
The relays were also strong.
The medley composed of Daggett, Matt Anderson, Dan Gonzales and
Matt Schwab finished fifth, while Josh Lightner, Anderson, Gonzales
and Goodman scored big once again in the 200 freestyle sprint
relay. Vince Pascarella, joined Goodman, Daggett and Lightner for
an eighth in the 400 free relay.
Pascarella (200, 500 freestyle), Steve Cavagnaro (backstroke)
and Gonzales (50 free) scored the remaining individual points for
the team.
“The guys really hung in there,” Digel commented. “Their times
dropped all year and finishing in the top six with just eight
people is an accomplishment to be proud of.”
Representing Bradford at the PIAA meet March 17-18 will be Libby
Cavagnaro (200 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay), Imhof (200 IM, 200
freestyle relay), Celia Reiley, Erica Pascarella, Slavinski (200
and 400 freestyle relays), Nelson (100 breaststroke) and Hannon
(diving).
