Following a very successful regular meet season, the Tyrone Swim Team finished with a great District performance from several individuals and relays. Two school records fell at Districts this year and five swimmers made the podium.

Fiona McConnell broke her own record of 1:17.49 from the Altoona meet with a 1:15.66 at Districts. From the boys side, the team of Jacob Decker, Matt Lenze, Blake Slobodnik, and Austin Quinn broke the 200 medley record with a 1:51.51.  The previous record, set nine years ago, was 1:52.69.

Tyrone had the following five people podium at Districts: Mae Decker, McConnell, J. Decker, B. Slobodnik, and Lenze.

“The team did excellent. We had many people podium and we had the hardest racing I’ve seen in a long time,” said sophomore J. Decker.

Click HERE to see the final results sheet of PIAA Districts:

Tyrone Girls- 64, 10th out of 12 teams

The District team of Mae Decker, Fiona McConnell, Cate Baran, and Anastasia Slobodnik placed 4th in the 200 medley relay, dropping three seconds in the process. The group also improved by three seconds in the 200 free relay, securing a 10th place.

McConnell placed 5th in the 100 breast, dropping two seconds and earning a ribbon the podium. In the event, she beat her own Tyrone record of 1:17.49 made at the Altoona meet with a finishing time at Districts of 1:15.66. She also competed in the 50 free event. McConnell improved by a second with a finishing time of 27.82.

“The team did really well and I think almost everybody improved their time! [I’ll miss] the bus rides and cheering,” McConnell said.

M. Decker had a podium time of 2:30.28 in the 200 IM. She ended up placing 6th and working off three seconds. She also placed 7th in the 100 backstroke, dropping a second from her seed time. M. Decker was .04 seconds away from placing 6th and securing a ribbon on the podium.

A. Slobodnik worked to an 8th place in the 100 breaststroke. She also worked off a second in the 200 IM, finishing with a time of 2:36.08.

Baran had two 18th places in both the 50 free and 100 free. She dropped a second from her 50 free time with a final time of 28.93.

“We did great! We cheered each other [on] in every event and we were ready to compete. I loved competing at that pool and us acting as a team. It was a great experience to have, and to have competed in a big competition was a lot of pressure, but I through it and I had a lot of fun,” said Baran.

Tyrone Boys- 114.5, 6th out of 11 teams

Jacob Decker, Matt Lenze, Blake Slobodnik, and Austin Quinn worked off three seconds from their 200 medley time, not only securing a 1:51.51 time, but also breaking the previous Tyrone record for the event.

“[When we broke the record] I was really happy that months of hard work and dedication had paid off,” said Lenze.

Other relay teams earned a 6th in the 200 free relay and a 7th in the 400 free relay.

J. Decker secured a 2nd place in the 100 back with a 1:01.32 time. He earned a silver medal and dropped a second from his seed time. In the 50 free, he tied and shared the 4th place podium position with Bellefonte swimmer Dmitry Wall. They both had an exact time of 24.41 in the event.

“I think that this year we were right up there with the best. If we keep up this trend, we might just become a force to be reckoned with among the swim community,” J. Decker said.

B. Slobodnik earned two 5th places in both the 200 free and 500 free, earning a ribbon on the podium. He had a time of 2:01.87 in the 200, improving by three seconds from his seed time.

Bishop Guilfoyle’s Lenze placed 5th in the 100 breast, where he worked off a second from his previous time. He also competed in the 100 fly, where he earned an 8th place with a time of 1:03.66.

Sophomore Carter Maceno dropped 12 seconds from his original seed time in the 200 free, finishing with a 2:16.44 time.

“The team as a whole did an amazing job with some of us getting podium. [My favorite part] was seeing my team and family cheering me on,” said Maceno.

French exchange student Jules Collet improved by six seconds from his previous 200 IM time, making his finishing time a 2:40.22.

Junior Bryce Bauer earned a 26.04 time in the 50 free event, securing a 23rd place among 34 other swimmers. He also competed in the 100 free, where Bauer worked a second off his seed time for a 59.33 freestyle event.

Brendan Kowalski, Bellwood senior, placed 16th in the 50 free, dropping a second from his previous time to earn a finishing time of 25.51.

Matt Beam worked off seven seconds from his seed time in the 100 backstroke.

Senior Austin Quinn secured a 25.76 time in the 50 free, where he improved by a second from his seed time. Unfortunately, he had a disqualification due to a false start at the beginning of the 100 free event.

Freshman Nick DelBaggio unfortunately disqualified in the 100 breast event due to doing two arm strokes underwater.