Indians use win in relays to propel themselves to win over Bayard-Rustin By Dave Conard, Sports Editor UnionvilleTimes.com
The boy's 200 relay was decided by less than .20 of a second as Matt Drohan touched the wall giving the team a time of 1:35.42.
WEST CHESTER—Seldom in sports does the opportunity present its self during a high school season to truly control your own destiny in the form of a one on one duel for the league championship.
One such occurrence took place at the Wet Chester YMCA as Unionville prepared to battle West Chester Rustin for what would essentially be the league title as both are expected to win their remaining league meets.
When the Ches-Mont schedule was released last fall it’s a good bet that both squads circled January 20th on their schedule as the meet that would determine this season’s league champion.
Unionville, having claimed the boy and girl’s titles last season at the expense of the Golden Knights, came into the meet with a perfect league mark, equaling the performance by Rustin thus far this season.
Unionville senior Matt Drohan set the tone in the 500 freestyle, winning the event with ease posting a time of 4:51.87
The hundreds of die hard fans in attendance were not disappointed as the two elite squads of the Ches-Mont league lived up to their billing, dueling until the final event.
“I think the kids were very excited coming into tonight,” said Unionville head coach Erin Carey, who has pushed the program to the next level in her three years at the helm. “It’s hard not to look ahead to this meet, but I think the kids have done a great job staying focused to give them selves this opportunity tonight.”
On the girl’s side of the docket trailing by a single point as the gun sounded in the 400-yard free style relay, Rustin’s first and third place finish were enough to allow the Golden Knight to snag the win by a count of 95-90 over the Indians.
Unionville (7-1) got great swims from recently named Ches-Mont league female athlete of the week Erin Polries, who posted a second place time of 5:17.39 and Laura Barthold (5:39.45) in the 500 yard- freestyle event.
In the 200-yard medley relay, the Indians quartet of Katie Garvey, Christina Tascione, Emma Werkiser and McKenzie Hornibrook got the meet started in proper fashion by winning the event with a time of 1:53.54, giving the visitors a 10-4 lead out of the gate, as the team of Meg Musser, Laura Barthold, Erin Polries and Quinn Bennintende claimed third place.
“I am sure the girls are a little disappointed,” added Carey. “For it to come down to the last race like that is all you can hope for, they really left nothing in the pool, it came down to the two best teams gunning it out.”
On the boy’s side of the docket, Matt Drohan was in a class by himself in the 500-yard freestyle, but it was Drohan’s anchor leg of the 200-yard freestyle that made the biggest impact on the meet.
The win in the 200-yard freestyle relay, which sealed the deal for the Indians, was one of the evening’s highlights as the team of Chris Barthold, Ben Porter, Brandon Smiddy and Drohan rallied to beat the Knights at the line.
For Unionville (6-0 league, 7-1 overall) the 108-77 win, for all intents and purposes locks up their second consecutive Ches-Mont league championship, as they should claim victories in their final league matches.
Emma Werkhiser, who competed in three events, snagged a third place finish in butterfly with a time of 1:02.59.
“This is why they work so hard,” said head coach Erin Carey. “The amount of hard work and dedication really pays off in meets like this against a very, very good team in Rustin. The last few years it has come down to this meet to determine who wins our league, now we have to focus on getting some more kids qualified for districts and keep working on dropping personal times.”
Girls meet scoring
200-medley relay
Unionville 1:53.54 8
Rustin 1:57.35 4
Unionville 1:59.41 2
200 freestyle
DeWitt R 1:58.28 6
Polries U 1:58.79 4
Kline U 2:03.70 3
Jenkins R 2:06.04 2
Himes U 2:09.77 1
200 IM
Westley R 2:13.99 6
Werkiser U 2:17.04 4
Hontz R 2:21.85 3
Barthold U 2:23.40 2
Darmofal R 2:25.67 1
50 Freestyle
Hornibrook U 24.94 6
Takoushain R 25.59 4
Fife R 25.74 3
Wentz U 26.19 2
Garvey U 26:37 1
1 meter diving
Griesemer R 206.00 6
Mawn U 202.15 4
Zabilowicz R 135.45 3
McGuire R 115.30 2
100 Butterfly
Westley R 1:00.32 6
Fife R 1:01.77 4
Werkiser U 1:02.58 3
Tascione U 1:05.15 2
Stabler U 1:06.08 1
100 Freestyle
Hornibrook U 54.48 6
Jenkins R 57.36 4
Fincher R 57.56 3
Garvey U 58.25 2
Musser U 58.49 1
500 Freestyle
DeWitt R 5:16.35 6
Polries U 5:17.39 4
Barthold U 5:39.45 3
Lin R 5:43.02 2
Johnson U 5:59.76 1
200 Freestyle
Rustin 1:44.07 8
Unionville 1:44.27 4
Unionville 1:49.23 2
100 Backstroke
Musser U 1:06.36 6
Himes U 1:06.55 4
McGlaughlin R 1:06.54 3
Bingham R 1:08.13 2
Lin R 1:08.68 1
100 Breaststroke
Tascione U 1:11.16 6
Hontz R 1:11.60 4
Kline U 1:13.26 3
Register R 1:17.78 2
Talley U 1:18.47 1
400 Freestyle relay
Rustin 3:40.31 8
Unionville 3:41.79 4
Rustin 3:53.86 2
Team totals
Unionville 90
Bayard Rustin 95
Unionville's Tommy Ferree finished second place in the 100-yard breaststroke witha time of 1:06.95.
Check back tomorrow for complete boy’s meet scores.
Indians notes- For the week ending January 13, Erin Polries was named as the American Division Female Athlete of the Week. Erin won the 200 free style, 500 freestyle and was a member of the teams that won the 200 medley relay and 400 free medley relay in the 99-58 win over Kennett.
