I wrote a Local Sports Special column for Friday’s New Era about a couple of Hempfield’s girls’ swimmers, and why the Black Knights have a legit shot at winning the D3 team title. Here is that story for your reading pleasure …
The regular season and the Lancaster-Lebanon League Meet are in the books.
Now it’s time for the real fun to begin.
The District 3 Meet is set for next Friday and Saturday at Cumberland Valley, and the PIAA Meet is March 14-17 at Bucknell.
“It sounds kind of dorky,” Hempfield sophomore Ella Meier said, “but I’m ready to race. Let’s go! This is why you swim.”
It’s no wonder Meier and her teammates are itching to get back in the pool.
The Black Knights won the L-L League Meet on Feb. 10, and coach Steve Beck’s team has four swimmers who earned top-three individual seeds, and Hempfield will have a pair of relay teams that will be out to defend their title at Cumberland Valley next week.
“There is a lot of pressure on them,” admitted Beck, who is in his seventh season as head coach.
“We’ve created an atmosphere here where everyone wants to do well for their teammates. Being teammates is first. And I think they understand that they have to be prepared, and that’s why they all put in so much time in the pool after school.
“They’re in there in pushing each other in practice. They look at the next lane over to make sure everyone is keeping up. If you don’t prepare, it’s certainly not going to show on game day.”
Game day, in this case, is next Friday, when all the top swimmers from around District 3 convene at Cumberland Valley.
“In the end it comes down to who wants it more,” senior Kayla Zeller said. “And we work really, really hard for this because we want to win. We like to represent our school and our program. If all of our heads are in the game, we think we have a shot to win it.”
Hempfield finished third in the district meet a year ago, behind Wilson – which won for the 14th time in the last 15 years and for the 16th time overall – and Cumberland Valley.
And heavyweight Hershey – the two time reigning Double-A champ – is up to Triple-A this season. So there are no guarantees. But Hempfield has enough top seeds and, probably more importantly, enough depth, to earn a lot of points.
“Everyone here works together as a team, and when you work together as a team, you usually have a good outcome,” said freshman Dana Schleif, a relay specialist.
“That’s why I think we’ll do great, because I don’t want to let my teammates down, and I know everyone will be trying their best. We’re excited to swim.”
Hempfield hasn’t won a district swimming title since winning back-to-back crowns in 1974 and 1975. So it’s been a while.
“Of course we’re shooting for this,” said sophomore Sarah Ault, the reigning District 3 Triple-A 50 and 100 free champ. <That’s Sarah below right, climbing out of the pool after an event in the L-L League Meet.>
“We’re excited for this, and we think we have a good shot of being up there with the top couple of teams. And obviously we’d love to win. It always feels awesome to win any meet as a team. If everyone goes in and does there best, I think we have a good shot. I know it would be amazing to win it.”
Hempfield has been on an amazing run the last couple of years. The Knights won this season’s L-L League Meet title – their third league crown in the last five years – and finished third in the district meet last winter.
The impressive thing about this run is that Hempfield has reloaded – not rebuilt.
Wunderkind Kate Riefenstahl transfers to Germantown Academy? L-L League runner-up and third in the district.
State champ Lisa McDonnell graduates and goes to Pitt? L-L League champs.
Sophomore Georgia Emert, who transferred to Hempfield from Macon, Ga., last year, remembers the first time she looked up at the record board inside Golden Meadows, the Knights’ home pool.
“I thought, ‘Wow! These girls are fast,’” Emert said. “Everyone around here is a lot faster – faster than in Georgia, that’s for sure.”
Emert has made a nice splash in her first season with the Knights. She’s seeded third in the district in the 200 IM, and she’s part of Hempfield’s 400 free relay team, which is seeded second after winning the title last year.
“I think we’ll go into this with the mindset that you want to swim your best time, and if the teams wins, great,” said Meier, who is part of the Knights’ third-seeded 200 free relay team – the same team that won district gold last season.
“If the team doesn’t win, but we still have good times going into States, that’s good, too,” Meier said. “I know we all look up there at that big board every day, and it makes you want to swim faster and do better.”
The big meets are upon us. The time is now. And from the sounds of it, Hempfield is ready to make some serious waves in the next couple of weeks.
JEFFREY REINHART
