Tyrone swimmers Jacob Decker, Matt Lenze, Songmian Wang, and Parker Bayard all qualified for the PIAA State competition to take place at Bucknell University. The boys placed first in the 200 medley relay. Under Coach Tom Getz’s direction, this is the second time that Tyrone has qualified for States since Ethan Nulton in the 500 free event in 2007.

“[Having people go to States] means a lot for the team because we all practiced very hard for the last couple months. It’s exciting to see them move on and their hard work paid off for them to move to the next level,” said swimmer Maddie Coleman, who had two impressive individuals in the 50 and 100 free, earning a silver medal and a bronze medal.

Combined Team: 2nd with 321 points

Other podium placers include Fiona McConnell with two third places in the 200 free and in the 100 breast, Mae Decker with two fourth places in the 200 free and in the 100 back, Sarah E. Hoover with a fifth place in the 100 breast, Wang with a second place in the 200 IM and a third place in the 100 fly, J. Decker with a third place in the 100 back and a fifth place in the 50 free, Lenze with a third place in the 100 breast, Bayard with a fifth place in the 100 back, and Colin Yaudes with a fifth place in the 100 breast.

Girls: 2nd with 155 points

M. Decker, McConnell, Coleman, and S.E. Hoover snatched second place in the 200 medley relay event. The girls worked off four seconds for a final time of 1:57.65. This same group tool fifth in the 200 free relay event with a 1:46.39 time, dropping three seconds in the process.

In the 400 free relay event, Sarah Manna, Gwen Dougherty, Cate Baran, and Victoria Reese finished eighth with a time of 4:18.35.

Tyrone sophomore Coleman earned a silver medal in the 100 free (55.95) and a bronze medal in the 50 free (25.29). Coleman slightly improved in both of her events, which is difficult due to the short distance to swim. She also is extremely close to Tyrone’s records in both of these events. She was 0.01 seconds away from the girl’s 50 free record and 0.87 seconds away from the 100 free record.

“I felt that [our team] was all one big family. We all had each other’s back and cheered each other on,” said Coleman

Bishop Guilfoyle’s McConnell placed third in both the 200 free (2:07.90) and in 100 breast (1:12.86). She improved in both event, dropping six seconds in the free event and three seconds in the breast event. McConnell was also .08 seconds from breaking her previous record in the 100 breast.

“The team did absolutly amazing! This was definitely one of Tyrone’s best years!” said McConnell.

Junior M.Decker secured two fourth place finishes in the 200 free (2:10.43)  and 100 backstroke (1:03.10). She worked off three seconds in the free event and two seconds in the back event. M. Decker was 0.06 seconds away from breaking the girl’s 100 back record.

Sophomore S.E. Hoover took home a fifth place in the 100 breast (1:13.97), improving her time by three seconds. She also placed eighth in the 200 IM event with a final time of 2:32.55.

Reese finished ninth in the 100 back, working off a second for a 1:08.93 final time. She also took 12th place in the 100 fly (1:15.79).

“[District’s] is really fun and cheering people on is the best part. The team did really well and placed really good. I thought I did really good considering it was my first year,” Reese said.

Baran placed 13th in the 200 IM (2:42.96) and 17th in the 100 free. She dropped two seconds in the 100 free for a final time of 1:02.54.

Freshman Sarah M. Hoover secured 17th place in the 500 free with a 6:39.78 time.

Bishop Guilfoyle junior Manna swam a 28.48 in the 50 free. She placed 22nd overall.

Boys: 2nd with 166 points

J. Decker, Lenze, Wang, and Bayard crushed the competition to earn gold medals and a first place title in the 200 medley, qualifying them for the State level. The boys dropped four seconds for a new record time of 1:45.46. These same boys also rebroke the 400 free relay event with a time of 3:30.66, two seconds faster than the first time they accomplished this feat. The boys finished second in the 400 free relay event.

“I was very proud [of our relay]. I hope that our relay scores well and has a blast while at States,” said senior swimmer J. Decker.

In the 200 free, Colin Yaudes, Nick DelBaggio, Carter Maceno, and Hunter Gregg placed eighth with a time of 1:47.47.

Chinese exchange student Wang dominated in the 200 IM (2:07.48), where he secured a silver medal and broke his previous record time. He also took the bronze medal in the 100 fly with a finishing time of 56.87.

J.Decker finished third in the 100 back. He dropped two seconds from his seed time for a final time of 57.79, 0.68 seconds away from the Tyrone boy’s record. J. Decker also placed fifth in the 50 free (23.59).

“We performed phenomenally well. One of our best seasons by far. The team spirit was the highest I’ve seen in years,” said J. Decker.

Junior Lenze earned a bronze medal in the 100 breast. He worked off three seconds for a 1:07.07 final time. Lenze, unfortunately, disqualified in the 100 fly event because of an “alternating kick.”

Freshmen Bayard finished in fourth place in the 100 back. He improved by a second in the event for a 59.12 time. He also placed eighth in the 50 free (23.93).

Sophomore Yaudes earned fifth place in the 100 breast. He finished with a time of 1:12.24, dropping four seconds from his seed time. He also swam a 2:25.60 in the 200 IM, improving by six seconds to place seventh in the event.

Junior DelBaggio took tenth place in the 100 free. He dropped seven seconds for a 56.98 finishing time. He, unfortunately, disqualified in the 100 breast event due to “arms two strokes underwater.

Senior Maceno secured a tenth place in the 100 fly (1:07.15) and 15th place in the 200 free (2:10.24). He worked off four seconds in the fly event and seven seconds in the free event.

“For senior year, I was proud of what I accomplished this year and throughout all my years of swimming. Hopefully, [seeing District successes] is inspiration enough for the younger swimmers to work hard next season,” said Maceno.

Bellwood’s Gregg finished 13th in the 200 free (2:09.28), dropping six seconds in the event. He also took 15th place in the 500 free with a time of 6:11.78.

Sophomore Aden McCracken swam a 1:04.51 in the 100 free, improving by a second from his seed time.