Some of the top swimmers this winter were (clockwise from top) Franklin's Camden Smith, Oil City's Caleb Stover and Franklin's Alaina Brown and Nate Pfennigwerth -- not to mention the Oil City boys who were 13-0 in dual meets -- the first undefeated team in the program's 55-year history. The Oilers won their region, the Southern Tier meet (in which they teamed with the girls for the overall title) and the Iroquois Invitational.
ALL-STARS
GIRLS
Franklin's Alaina Brown and Oil City's Kallie Smith were named to the D-10 girls swimming all-stars released April 11 by the Erie Times News. Brown was Region 1 SOY and first team (IM, back) along with Oil City's 400 relay of Brea Fennick, Emily Russell, Madyson Kissell and Smith. Brown was also second team all-region in the breast and 100 as was Smith in the 50 and OC's 200 free relay with Fennick, Russell and Kissell again.
BOYS
Franklin's Nate Pfennigwerth and Camden Smith were named to the boys District 10 all-star swimming team released April 12 by the ETN.
Smith, a sophomore, (50, 500) and Pfennigwerth, a junior, (breast) were Franklin first team all-region selections along with the medley relay, which included them and two more underclassmen: Kye Winslow and Ethan Nightingale.
Pfenningwerth was a second team pick in the IM as was the 400 relay. That team consisted of Pfennigwerth, Smith, Winslow and Nightingale.
Oil City boys enjoyed their first unbeaten season and the region tank title, but you'd never know it looking at the all-stars. No D-10 picks and only the 400 relay of Caleb Stover, Charlie Motter, Garrett Morse and Logan Rakow made first team all-region.
Stover was second team in the 100 and the 200 free relay with Motter, Connor Malek and Rakow.
Oilers qualify all three relays for state meet
The Oil City boys qualified all three of their relays for the state swim meet set March 15-18 at Bucknell.
Neither Oil City nor Franklin won any events at the District 10 2A meet March 3-4 at The Spires in Geneva, Ohio, but they collected several medals. Champions receive an automatic bid to the state meet; others must wait to see what the PIAA has to say about filling out the "fields of 32."
In addition to the relays, the Oilers also qualified Caleb Stover in the 50 free, Connor Malek in the 500 and Logan Rakow in the 200. Stover is an alternate in the 100 free.
The Oil City girls advanced their two free relay teams along with Kallie Smith in the IM and back.
The Franklin boys qualified their medley and 400 free relays along with Camden Smith in the fly and 100 free and Nathan Pfennigwerth in the 50 and breaststroke. Alaina -- aka Lainey -- Brown advanced in the IM and breast.
Smith, a sophomore, swam the third best time in the fly and the fourth best in the 100 free among non-automatic (district champs) qualifiers. And the Oilers' 200 free relay is No. 6 among those who advanced on time.
The District 10 meet probably reflected what happened in the dual meet season: Oil City and Franklin boys were close, but the Oilers had more than enough depth to beat out the Knights for third place, 260.5-172.5. Nobody could catch Cathedral Prep (440). Fairview (267) edged the Oilers for second in the 16-team affair. Oil City (seventh) and Franklin (12th) were middle-of-the-road on the girls side. Prep won that, too.
So, here's a look at how the two teams fared at districts, which were held at the Spires in Geneva, Ohio.
OIL CITY
Medalists
Caleb Stover -- tie for second 50 free, seventh 100 free
Connor Malek -- fourth 500, sixth IM
Logan Rakow -- sixth 200, eighth 100 free
Sam Smith -- fifth breast
Kallie Smith -- fourth back, fifth IM
Madyson Kissell -- seventh breast, seventh 500
Emily Russell -- eighth 200 free
Stover (22.5), Charlie Motter (22.6), Malek (23.0) and Rakow (22.3) -- second 200 free relay, breaking a 25-year-old school record by going 1:30.5
Stover, Motter, Garrett Morse and Rakow -- second 400 free relay in school record 3:21.02. It was the fourth time in five years this record was broken
Brea Fennick, Emily Russell, Kissell and Smith -- third 400 free relay. Their time of 3:49.16 in sixth on the OCHS list
Fennick, Russell, Kissell and Smith -- 5th 200 free relay and their time ranks eighth on the all-time list
School Records
K. Smith -- Her 1:01.19 in the back broke Betsy Marshall's record set in 1995
Others on Top 10 Lists
Stover (49.87) and Rakow (50.26) in the 100 free
Kissell -- 500 free, dropping 17 seconds off her best time
Malek -- 5:04.9 in 500 is fourth best time ever
S. Smith -- Top 10 in breast
Girls 400 relay -- Drop seven seconds; now sixth on list
Boys medley relay -- Bob Wheeler, Smith, Malek and Morse missed by 2/100ths of a second of breaking the 39-year-old school record
Morse -- His 58.08 in the back is ninth best all-time; also made top 10 in 200 free
S. Smith -- moved up fourth on breaststroke list
Rakow -- third on list in 200 free
Motter -- His 22.92 in 50 knocked Mike Donahue (1984) out of the top 10
Logan Richar -- Knocked Stover out of top 10 in fly; dropped five seconds off his time, too.
Other entries: Cale Thompson, Jacob Wenner, Jackson Dilks
Also of note: IMers knocked nearly 30 seconds off their collective time
Final dual meet records:
Oil City boys -- 13-0
Oil City girls -- 8-5
Franklin boys -- 9-4
Franklin girls -- 4-8-1
FRANKLIN
Medalists
Alaina Brown --second IM and breast. Her 1:08.92 is second all-time
Camden Smith -- second in the fly, setting a school record; second 100 (47.35, good for fourth on the all-time list)
Nate Pfennigwerth -- tie for second 50 free, third breast. His 1:02.18 is fifth all-time
Kye Winslow, Pfenningwerth, Smith and Ethan Nightingale -- third medley
Pfennigwerth, Nightengale, Winslow and Smith -- third 400 free relay. Their time of 3:21.25 ranks No. 3 all-time
Winslow -- eighth back, improving his place on the all-time list
Also participating for Franklin were Ellie Coyer (500 free), Ally Wilson (back), Dathan Weaver (500) and the girls 400 free relay of Sydni Hoobler, Coyer, Wilson and Logan Stumpf
State meet results
ALL-STATE
Franklin sophomore Camdon Smith received an all-state honorable mention certificates for posting the seventh-fastest time (51.81) in the 100 fly, finishing ninth, and then taking 10th in the 100 free. He swam a 47.69 in the final and a 47.44 in the prelims.
Oilers 400 free relay of Caleb Stover, Charlie Motter, Garrett Morse and Logan Rakow were honorable mention all-state after finishing 14th in a school record 3:20.81
Relays
Oil City's medley of Bob Wheeler, Sam Smith, Connor Malek and Garrett Morse broke the school record, clocking 1:43.14. They finished 18th.
Franklin's medley of Smith, Kye Winslow, Nate Pfennigwerth and Ethan Nightingale was 14th in 1:41.75.
The Oilers' 200 free relay of Malek, Caleb Stover, Charlie Motter and Logan Rakow was 15th, but their time in the prelims (1:30.6) was faster.
50 free battle
Season long battle between Stover (17th, 22.13) and Pfennigwerth (20th, 22.48) continued.
Others
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Franklin's Alaina Brown 18th in the IM, Oil City's Kallie Smith, 26th
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Smith, Brea Fennick, Emily Russell and Madyson Kissell were 23rd in the 200 free relay after being seeded 29th
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Rakow 24th in the 200 free
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Stover 25th 100 free in 49.86
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Oiler girls 400 free relay of Fennick, Russell, Kissell and Smith, 30th
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Smith 25th back
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Malek 26th 500 free
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Brown 19th in the breast
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Smith, Pfennigwerth, Nightingale and Winslow, 20th, 400 free relay