South Jersey’s Washart and Mullins Win 3 Events Each At Middle Atlantic Champs

2021 Middle Atlantic Senior Championships

• April 22 – April 25, 2021
• Keystone Aquatic Center, Carlisle, PA
• Short Course Yards (SCY)
• Results

The boys of the South Jersey Aquatic Club and the boys of the Suburban Seahawks Club won the 2021 Middle Atlantic Senior Championships titles last weekend in central Pennsylvania.

The Middle Atlantic LSC includes the eastern two-thirds of Pennsylvania, the entire state of Delaware, and the southern half of New Jersey.

Men’s Recap

Top 5 Teams:

1. South Jersey Aquatic Club – 870.5
2. Suburban Seahawks Club – 421.5
3. Blue Eagle Swimming – 238
4. Penn Charter Aquatic Club – 126
5. Germantown Academy Aquatic Club – 100

Harvard commit Shane Washart managed to pick up 3 wins over the course of the meet for South Jersey, starting off with the 1650 freestyle in which he posted a 15:14.22 for gold. That’s quicker than his PB heading into the event of 15:35.00 which he set back in December 2019.

Washart also won the 1000 freestyle at the meet, hitting a 9:13.73, along with the 500 freestyle with a 4:28.38. Washart announced his commitment to Harvard in December 2020 and will join the team in the fall of 2021.

Matthew Styczen managed to pull off a solid double win for Blue Eagle Swim Team in the men’s 200 IM and 400 IM by posting a 1:48.67 and 3:54.03, respectively. That 200 IM for Styczen was an improvement upon the 1:49.22 PB that he swam in December 2019 and the 3:54.03 400 IM he swam was just off his 3:49.79 PB from back in 2019.

Germantown Academy Aquatic’s Landon D’Ariano was right behind Styczen in the 400 IM with his swim of 3:55.97 for silver while South Jersey’s Shane Washart collected bronze in a 4:02.41.

Also collecting gold for Blue Eagle, Patrick Gilhool swam a 49.35 100 butterfly to lead a solid field which included Brendan Cline‘s 49.87 for silver and Aaron Williams‘ 49.93 for bronze. Along with those 3 sub-50 swimmers, Evan Greer was a 50.06 for 4th place.

Greer improved upon his 4th place finish, however, in the 100 backstroke as he collected gold by nearly 2 seconds with a 48.79 to Matthew Lang‘s 50.45. Gary Wang rounded out the podium in a 50.63 while Alexander Hamill was 4th in a 50.71.

Nicholas Pezzella for South Jersey and Ryan Durkan for the Suburban Seahawks had a head-to-head battle in the 100 breast and touched only 0.13 seconds apart. Pezzella managed to get his hand on the wall first with a 55.45 while Durkan came in just after in a 55.57. Nikolas Short and Jake Wang weren’t too far off and touched in 3rd with a 56.28 and 4th with a 56.66 for South Jersey and the Suburban Seahawks, respectively.

Pezzella and Durkan also managed to top the 200 breast podium, as Durkan notched a 2:01.34 for gold and Pezzella was a 2:02.61 for silver. Just as he was in the 100 breast, Nikolas Short touched in third place with a 2:02.94.

The men’s 200 freestyle relay went to the South Jersey contingent of Evan Greer, Nikolas Short, Nicholas Pezzella, and Matthew Lang who came together for a 1:24.71 composite time to beat out Blue Eagle’s 1:26.33 and the Suburban Seahawks’ 1:26.46. In the 200 medley relay, Greer (back), Pezzella (breast), and Lang (free) were joined by breaststroker Andrew Walter to win the gold medal with a 1:32.54.

Other Event Winners

• Men’s 200 Backstroke: Evan Greer (1:47.24)
• Men’s 100/200 Freestyle: Alec Lawless (45.44/1:39.12)
• Men’s 50 Freestyle: Brendan Cline (20.47)
• Men’s 200 Butterfly: Willem Stoll

Women’s Recap

Top 5 Women’s Teams:

1. Suburban Seahawks Club – 782
2. South Jersey Aquatic Club – 659
3. Wilmington Aquatic Club – 263
4. Friends Central Aquatics – 135
5. Germantown Academy Aquatics Club – 113

South Jersey swimmer Lainey Mullins had a successful run throughout the meet, collecting wins in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, and 200 butterfly. In the 100 Mullins posted a 51.13 for the victory which is a little over her 50.71 PB from February 2020 while both the 500 freestyle and 200 butterfly victories were new best times in the form of a 4:49.68 and 1:58.55, respectively.

While Mullins took the 100, it was Kayla Johnson who topped the 50 freestyle podium with a 23.72 and Rachel Brockrath who claimed 200 freestyle gold. The 200 freestyle podium was rounded out by Sydney DeBaecke (1:50.26) and Lydia Palmer (1:50.43), both of whom went on to win an event of their own. Plamer won gold in the 1650 while DeBaecke won the 200 back.

In the 1650 freestyle, Lydia Palmer established a clear lead over the field as she posted a 16:26.58 to touch more than 20 seconds faster than the Suburban Seahawks’ Sydney Bergstrom who took silver with a 16:50.74, and Emma Hare for South Jersey who was a 16:52.94 for bronze. Palmer also won the 100 and 200 breaststrokes for South Jersey, hitting a 1:01.73 100 to out-touch Katie McClintock‘s 1:02.07 and Ashely Kolessar‘s 1:04.19. In the 200 she was a 2:15.41 to beat Kolessar’s 2:16.84 and Clara Behling‘s 2:23.83.

Sydney DeBaecke’s 200 backstroke was another standout swim at the meet as she hit a 1:57.92 which was fast enough to shave time off her 1:58.63 best time, as well as to take the gold medal. DeBaecke’s Suburban Seahawks teammates Riley Pujadas and Ekaterin Eruslanova followed her up with a 1:59.52 for second place and 2:00.81, respectively. Silver medalist Pujadas managed to pick up a win in the women’s 100 backstroke by hitting a 55.83 as the only sub-56 swim in the field. Emily Hamill was silver in a 56.22 while Kate Levensten was a 56.44 for bronze.

Suburban Seahawks’ Ekaterina Eruslanova, Ashley Kolessar, Sydney DeBaeckle, and Lainey Mullins produced a 1:36.15 200 free relay to out-swim the South Jersey women’s silver medal-winning time of 1:37.47 and Friends Central’s 1:38.13 for bronze. In the 200 medley relay, the Seahawks were again victorious as Kolessar and Mullins were joined by Gemma Undercofler and Laurie Feuzeu Mekoue to post a 1:46.74 for the victory. South Jersey and the Suburban Seahawks’ B team followed for silver with a 1:47.64 for silver and a 1:48.02 for bronze, respectively.

Other Event Winners

• Women’s 400 IM: Katie McClintock (4:14.29)
• Women’s 100 Butterfly: Georgia Colborn (55.25)
• Women’s 1000 Freestyle: Kira Agne (10:07.92)
• Women’s 200 IM: Ashley Kolessar (2:01.56)