JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
Colin Schouten will be a marked swimmer next week, when the District 3 championships commence at Cumberland Valley High School.
Warwick’s junior distance specialist earned a pair of No. 1 seeds in the Triple-A field. He’ll be the one to beat in the 200-yard freestyle (1:44.58) and in the 500 free (4:44.18).
Schouten is just ahead of Penn Manor junior John Myers (1:46.48) in the 200, and he’s four seconds ahead of the next closest seed in the 500.
Five other Lancaster-Lebanon League swimmers earned a No. 1 seed for the meet.
In girls’ Triple-A, Warwick junior Emily Eidemiller is first in the 100 backstroke (58.69), just ahead of Hempfield sophomore Dana Schlief, who is seeded second in 58.97.
Manheim Township sophomore Rachel Butler is the No. 1 seed in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.04.
And in boys’ Triple-A, Manheim Township senior Kevin Brazitis is the No. 1 seed in the 100 free (47.92), just ahead of teammate Chris Hoke (48.81), the L-L League champ in that event, who is seeded third.
And Conestoga Valley senior Joe Jung is seeded first in the 100 butterfly in 53.23, just ahead of Brazitis, who is seeded second in 53.32.
Other local Triple-A girls who earned top-three seeds include Cocalico senior Cari Czarnecki, who is second in the 100 butterfly (58.03), Manheim Township junior Lindsay Mullican, who is second in the 500 free (5:14.33); Conestoga Valley senior Melissa Gates, who is third in the 50 free (24.31), and Hempfield junior Georgia Emert, who is third in the 200 individual medley (2:13.04) and third in the 500 free (5:14.38).
Two Hempfield boys earned a No. 3 seed: senior Giovanni Sherk in the 50 free (21.94) and junior Dan Lumas in the 100 breaststroke (1:00.98).
No Lancaster County Double-A swimmers earned a No. 1 seed.
The top seeds among local Double-A swimmers are dominated by Donegal, including senior Chad Houck and junior Brandon Smith, who share the No. 3 seed in the 50 free (22.20), sophomore Derek Nelson, who is third in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.46), and Smith, who is third in the 100 butterfly (53.47).
The district meet gets started Feb. 29 at 3 p.m. and continues March 1 at 10 a.m.
The defending Triple-A boys’ team champ is Wilson, which has won 11 of the last 12 team titles. The defending Double-A boys’ team champ is York Suburban, which has won the last two district team titles.
The defending Triple-A girls’ team champ is Wilson, which won its sixth title in a row last year, and has won 14 of the last 15 team titles. The defending Double-A girls’ team champ is Muhlenberg, which won its 10th team title last year.
The PIAA Meet is set for March 12-15 at Bucknell University.
