The boys' and girls' swimming and diving teams are this year's winner of the Easterns Interscholastic Championships. The 119th annual prep school championship meet featured some of the best student-athletes from independent schools from around the nation.
The swimming portion of the meet took place at Franklin & Marshall College, February 15-16. The diving portion took place at Germantown Academy. Swimmers and divers competed in a total of 13 events.
"The girls' and boys' teams continued to rewrite the history books at EA by taking home the first-ever combined boys/girls first place team trophy with 1007.5 points!" said Varsity Head Coach Brian Kline, Hon. "This team operated on the hash tag #teamwithadream and #onemeetatatime. After countless meetings and preparation leading up to the Eastern Prep meet, our dreams of winning the team title came to be."
In the individual team title division, the EA girls' and boys' teams each came in second place.
On the women's side, William Penn Charter edged out EA with 541 points for the top spot. EA closed the gap on day two to score 521 points, and Germantown Academy placed third, demonstrating the strength of the Inter Ac league at the prestigious event.
"The girls' team was on fire with a swimmer and diver in the finals in every event and at least one athlete in the top A final in 12 of the 13 events offered," explained Coach Kline. "Hadley DeBruyn was the top point scorer in the swimming events, while Kat Harrar dove to a personal best with 337.20 points, scoring her 5th place for the diving portion."
EA team points scorers included: Hadley DeBruyn 52, Chelsey Liu 51, Kelly Feuzeu Mekoue 46, Emma Lunn 45, Riley Pujadas 31, Bridget Egan 29, Kat Harrar 25, Jovana Sekulic 20, Isabel Handal 19, Alex Towers 12, Mekhi Wilson 11, Alina Klaehn 7, Madeleine Ott 5, Lauren Stasse 4, Margo LaRoux 4, Lily Haupt 4, Allison Lee 2, and Rachel Barber 2.
For the boys' team, Phillips Andover Academy won the top spot, scoring 610 points. "We placed second with 486.5 points, which marked the best finish in the EA boys' program history," said Coach Kline. "This year we share the Inter-Ac title with Malvern Prep who finished just behind the EA squad with 427 points. The boys team showed up in full force in the finals in every event and at least one athlete in the top A final in 11 of the 13 events offered!" observed Coach Kline.
Senior Ivan Puskovitch won the 200 Individual Medley (1:48.88) and lead the way for his teammates to follow. "The EA boys swimming team nearly broke every swimming record on the record board," explained Coach Kline.
EA school records include:
- Jack Christian/Sam Wesley/ Cole Whitsett/Ben Wesley broke the 200 Medley Relay School Record with a time of 1:32.09
- Sam Wesley/200 Free School Record – 1:38.62
- Ivan Puskovitch/200 IM School Record – 1:48.88
- Ben Wesley/50 Free School Record – 21.23
- Cole Whitsett/100 Fly School Record – 49.87
- Cole Whitsett/100 Free School Record – 45.95
- Ivan Puskovitch/500 Free School Record – 4:22.36
- Sam Wesley/100 Back School Record – 49.82
- Cole Whitsett/100 Breast School Record – 56.34
- ColeWhitsett/Ivan Puskovitch/Ben Wesley/Sam Wesley broke the 400 Free School Record – 3:03.22
Ivan Puskovitch was the top point scorer in the swimming events and battled to second place in the very competitive 500 Free. Brother Vlad Pusckovitch dove to a personal best with 354.25 points, scoring him 6th place for the diving portion.
EA team point scores include: Ivan Puskovitch 60, Sam Wesley 53, Cole Whitsett 51, Jack Christian 46.5, Ben Wesley 32, Schuyler Sices 26, Vlad Puskovitch 24, Theodore Vadot 19, Will Hopkins 16, and Declan Doherty 7.
"This was truly a remarkable showing by both teams, and we are fortunate that the program as a whole was recognized at the top spot as the best combined team at this prestigious event," shared Coach Kline. "We spend a great deal of time talking with the student-athletes about the power of the positive thought process. We try to help them understand that positive thoughts will breed positive actions. Believing in yourself, your team, and the process is an important piece in their success. Greatness is earned – never awarded!" said Coach Kline.