Ephrata on Top Again

Ephrata continued its strong swimming campaign in Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two on Thursday afternoon by sweeping Conestoga Valley, 109-59 in boys meet and 121-26 in girls.

Both sides were mixing up their usual lineups, sometimes to prep swimmers for the upcoming L-L meet in February or just to get them experience in different events.

Still, there were a few multi-event winners, including Bria Burkholder, who won the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:19.24 and the 100 freestyle in 58.80. That led the Ephrata girls to a sweep of the 11 events.

Burkholder also teamed up with Allie Ludwig, Kauri Parsons and Ava Knopsnyder for a winning 1:43.14 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Knopsnyder also had a big day. She won the 100 butterfly in 59.01, just .13 seconds off her own school record. She also joined Paytyn Jones, Ludwig and Megan Martin to win the 200 medley relay in 2:03.72, and combined with Jones, Martin and Ella Pfautz for a 4:04.64 in the 400 freestyle relay.

“That was a good time (in the 100 butterfly) considering it was just her and (Katie) Brass in the pool,” Ephrata head coach Mickey Molchany said. “That and her lead leg in the (400 freestyle) relay was her best time in the 100 this season.”

Solo winners for Ephrata included Ludwig, with a 2:07.26 in the 200 freestyle; Parsons, with a 2:23.31 in the 200 IM; Martin, with a season-best 1:08.09 in the 100 backstroke; Madison Kimmel, with a 6:02.25 in the 500 freestyle; and Brass, with a 27.76 in the 50 freestyle. Brass beat Kimmel by .01 seconds.

“We had a couple of girls swim out of their regular events,” Conestoga Valley head coach Barb Raasch said. “I like to see them swim out of their comfort zones.”

Though Ephrata won the boys meet as well, Cones-toga Valley did win the two tightest races.

In the 50 freestyle, Connor Ludwig touched at 23.23, edging Peter Suhrbier by .13 seconds. In the 500 freestyle, Daniel Ivanchikov won by .17 seconds with a 5:01.05, just ahead of Chad Jones, who dropped nine seconds off his best time with a 5:01.22.

But the Mounts took the other events, led by double victories by Joey Myer and Ethan Lloyd. Myers clocked in with a 1:03.86 and 56.63 in the 100 breaststroke and 100 butterfly, respectively. Lloyd had a 1:50.52 in the 200 freestyle and a 50.29 in the 100 freestyle.

Other individual event winners for Ephrata included Jones with a 2:03.21 in the 200 IM and Jack Martin with a 1:01.20 in the 100 backstroke.

In the relays, Ephrata had a 1:47.08 in the 200 medley relay (Jones, Myer, Martin, Caleb Zimmerman), a 1:33.82 in the 200 freestyle relay (Myer, Suhrbier, Jones, Lloyd) and a 3:34.64 in the 400 freestyle relay (Lloyd, Martin, Zimmer-man, Suhrbier). Despite being on the wrong end of the scores, Raasch said that the Buckskins are about where they should be in the latter half of the season.

“We don’t have very many club swimmers,” Raasch said. “To be honest, it’s more of a social thing. I’m just happy that they’re coming to practice, trying to drop times and willing to try new events.”

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