Noel Fresa collected four more medals District One Championships and repeated as 200-yard freestyle champion relay last week. Sean Lyman earned a pair of individual

Five members of Upper Perkiomen's swimming team will compete in the PIAA Swimming Championships.  Front Row: Kayman Heater, Sean Lyman, and Darragh Martin. Back Row: Noel Fresa and Devin Romanowski.

medals, though one came as something of a surprise.

            Five Upper Perkiomen swimmers reached the medal stand at last week's meet at LaSalle University. The four girls, and Lyman, advanced to the PIAA Championships, scheduled for March 11-14 at Bucknell University.

            "That is a very good representation for the school," Tribe head coach Brien Kalnoski said.

            Fresa successfully defended her title in the 200 free during the Class 2A district meet, held Feb. 27-28. She added a second-place finish in the 100 free.  "Noel did great," the coach said. "Her times were solid."

            The standout senior also helped a pair of relay teams reach the medal stand. Fresa, Kayman Heater, Darragh Martin and Devin Romanowski took third in the 200 free relay and fourth in the 400 free relay.

            On Thursday, Fresa repeated as champion in the 200 free with a time of 1:53.75, nearly five seconds below her seed time. She beat Ella Gross, a junior from Gwynedd Mercy High School, by less than a second.

            The next day, she finished second in the 100 free. Fresa's time of 51.79 seconds ended up 0.22 seconds short of gold medalist Maura Fluehr, a junior from Springfield Township. 

"I swam well enough to advance," Fresa said.

            Seven of the Tribe's eight female swimmers who participated in districts scored at least one team point, according to Kalnoski. Darragh Martin, a sophomore, finished third in the 100 backstroke (1:01.83). Cooney added a 10^th place finish (1:06.35), trimming 1.73 seconds off her personal best time.

            Romanowski (5:36.55) and Heater (5:45.68) finished in 11^th and 13^th place, respectively, in the 500 freestyle. Cooney took 17^th place in the 200 IM for the Indians, who finished fifth out of 10 teams.

            Lyman qualified for the Class 3A state meet in the 500 free and the 200 Individual Medley. Kalnoski described him as the school's first male athlete to accomplish the feat.

            In the 500 free, the junior finished sixth overall with a time of 4:41.79. Lyman's performance in the final shattered his previous personal best by nine seconds.  "Coach Kalnoski has trained us really well," Lyman said. "So I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace."

            According to Lyman, his goal in the 500 at states is to qualify for the finals. He also said he hopes to break the team record of 4:38.24.  "Hopefully, I can pull off the high level of completion there," Lyman said.

            However, a strong showing in the 200 IM surprised the swimmer and his coach. Lyman finished ninth at districts. The junior said he spent most of the season working to improve his breaststroke.  "I honestly didn't think it was realistic," Lyman said of the 200 IM. "It will be an honor to swim it and see how well I can do."

            Trevor Cairns, a senior, was 23^rd in the 200 free. Kevin Kovalenko, a sophomore, finished in a tie for 33^rd in the 100 breaststroke.