Both Stroudsburg swim teams are having a great second half of the season. Many of their recent meets have had close scores on both the girls and boys sides.
Going against Emmaus on Jan. 13, Stroudsburg knew a win would be difficult; both teams gave it their all and swam fast, but lost with a boys’ score of 102-74 and a girls’ score of 42-137.
23 out of 43 individual swims were personal records, so even though both sides took a loss, they remained ready for their future meets.
These swimmers and their events were: Catalina Campbell (50 fr), Piper Coffman (100 fly), Mallory Eberz (50 fr), Kayla Exil (50 fr, 100 fly), Ashlee Fehnel (100 fr, 100 br), Vashaun Francis (50 fr), Jessica Kelly (100 fr, 100 bk), Matteo Maccarrone (100 br, 200 IM), Natalia Nicholson (200 IM), Chudi Ogbolu (50 fr, 500 fr), Aidan O’Toole (100 bk), Lucas Pelaez (50 fr, 100 fr), Keshav Persaud (200 IM), Jason Pritchard (100 fr, 100 bk), Sammy Pritchard (100 fr), Ryan Rounsaville (200 fr), Jake Sanchez (100 fr, 200 fr, 500 fr), Kacper Soja (200 fr), Brett Svensson (50 fr, 100 fly), and Joshua White (50 fr).
Later that week, on Jan. 15, they went up against Salisbury at home. Both sides were sore and worn after their tough battle against Emmaus, but managed easy wins with a whooping boys’ score of 68-25 and a girls’ score of 59-34.
““I’m so proud of how far the team has come; especially those who started this year.”
— Piper Coffman, '28
.sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 { display: flex; float: right; margin: 30px 0 30px 30px; width: 50%; border-color: #870000; border-top-width: 5px; border-right-width: 5px; border-bottom-width: 5px; border-left-width: 5px; } .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 p.pullquotetext, .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 p.quotespeaker { } .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 .pullquotepic { width: 33%; margin-left: 25px; } .sno-story-body .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 p.pullquotetext { font-size: 22px; line-height: 1.4em; } .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 .quotebar { background: #dddddd; flex: 0 0 90px; margin-top: -15px; margin-left: -15px; padding-left: 15px; padding-top: 15px; margin-right: 15px; } .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 .largequote { color: #444444; } .sno-pullquote-697909745fb76 .quotebody { width: unset; }Swimmers with personal records were: Lile Bekaia (100 fr), Piper Coffman (100 fr), Ashlee Fehnel (50 fr), Vashaun Francis (200 fr), Chudi Ogbolu (100 fr), Sammy Pritchard (50 fr), Jake Sanchez (500 fr), Kacper Soja (100 bk), and Brett Svensson (50 fr).
Stroudsburg needed these wins to further motivate them for a hard match-up against Easton. Coaches were attempting to inspire swimmers more than ever, and every swim was neck-and-neck.
There was a moment when the Stroudsburg girls pulled ahead, and with great dedication, they kept that lead and ended the meet with a win of 53-41.
The boys had a closer call with it all coming down to the last race: the 400 fr relay. Stroudsburg was behind by two points.
The first leg, Chudi Ogbolu, ‘27, was prepared for a fast swim. He walked up to the block with high spirits: “Let’s do this one more time.”
The race went by in the blink of an eye, with all the cheering and the boys replacing each other in seconds. The entire team took it hard when they lost by only one second.
Swimmers with personal records were: Alexis Anders (50 fr), Piper Coffman (50 fr), Ashlee Fehnel (100 fr), Jess Kelly (500 fr), Natalia Nicholson (50 fr, 200 fr), Chudi Ogbolu (200 fr), Aidan O’Toole (100 bk), Keshav Persaud (100 fly), Jason Pritchard (50 fr), Kacper Soja (500 fr), Brett Svensson (100 fr), and Alfred Zheng (50 fr).
The most recent meet against William Allen on Jan. 22 turned out to be an enormous success on both sides, with a boys’ score of 114-54 and a girls’ score of 122-45.
There was also a great amount of personal records: Alexis Anders (50 fr), Edward Anders (50 fr, 100 br), Eliana Askari (50 fr, 100 fr), Lile Bekaia (200 fr, 500 fr), Jaydan Bondoc (100 fr), Catalina Campbell (50 fr, 100 fr), Piper Coffman (100 bk), Christopher DeVito (200 fr), Kayla Exil (100 br), Ashlee Fehnel (100 bk, 200 IM), Miley Garcia (100 br), Jess Kelly (500 fr, 100 bk), Matteo Maccarrone (50 fr, 500 fr), Natalia Nicholson (500 fr, 100 br), Chudi Ogbolu (100 fly), Aidan O’Toole (500 fr), Lucas Pelaez (100 fly), Keshav Persaud (100 bk), Jason Pritchard (200 IM), Sammy Pritchard (200 fr), Carlos Quizhpi (50 fr, 100 fr), Xavier Reynolds (50 fr, 100 fr), Jake Sanchez (100 bk), Lila Smedley (100 fly), Kacper Soja (100 fr), Brett Svensson (200 fr), and Joshua White (100 fr).
Piper Coffman, ’28, commented, “As the season has progressed, so have we. Our times have been getting much better, and we are starting to win more and more meets.”
Overall, the season is looking successful for the Stroudsburg swim team. It will come to a close soon, and then it will be time for districts, which has many swimmers, like Coffman, very excited.
Senior night is coming up on Jan. 29, against East Stroudsburg South, so come out and support!