had been keying in on this race all season.
"I knew ever since day one of practice I just wanted to go after it," said the Moravian Academy junior. "I told my mom everyday that 'I'm winning districts this year. I am winning districts.'"
After placing second the past two years, Weekes left no doubt that he was the fastest boy in the pool, winning his first gold medal in the 50 freestyle at the
at Parkland High School.
Southern Lehigh leads Blue Mountain in the girls standings 312-138. The Salisbury boys are ahead of Southern Lehigh 246-200 when AA action resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday.
As an added bonus, Weekes went 1-2 with teammate Tyler Primrose in the 50 free. Weekes clocked in at 22.06 and Primrose swam 22.72.
"I saw him the whole way," Weekes said. "I thought (Kevin Wang of Pottsville) in lane five was going to be with me. I thought 'Where is this kid?' I didn't see him. Then, I saw Tyler and I thought 'Oh my gosh we are going to go 1-2.'"
The two swimmers enthusiastically embraced over the lane lines when they saw the results on the board.
"It is nerve wracking trying to beat your teammate, but it was a good race," Primrose said. "It is phenomenal being able to get second after your teammate."
It was a busy day for Lions coach
as she visited the podium seven times to put medals on her swimmers.
"We were really excited today," Danaher said. "The tapers seemed to work really well. The kids dropped significant times."
Junior Abigail Thomson earned her third straight silver in the 200 freestyle coming in at 1:54.10. Alexander Lopez earned a fourth-place medal in the 100 butterfly in 55.29.
Two of Moravian's relays also placed.
The girls 200 medley relay of Devon Korhammer, Savannah Buday, Kaitlyn Casciole and Thomson came in fourth (1:57.14).
The boys 400 freestyle relay earned a surprise bronze. Seeded sixth, the squad of Sam Gaardsmoe, Lopez, Primrose and Weekes shaved three second off their seed time to take third.
Danaher also crowned a champion in Pen Argyl's
, who as an independent swimmer practices with Moravian.
After four years of trying, Duffy finally was able to win the 50 free, though, the senior was more pleased about her time (24.13) than the win. She was near tears on the deck as some of the Moravian swimmers came to congratulate her.
"What I really was excited about was my time," she said. "I've been wanting to get a 24. That makes me more excited then getting first. I mean, obviously, getting first was a bonus."
Duffy had been consistently posting times in the 25s all season, but couldn't break through.
"She's had consistently wonderful times, but not the time that she wanted," Danaher said. "Today, not only did she break into the 24s she almost skipped them altogether, which is fantastic."
Bethlehem Catholic's
swam to her third career individual gold medal.
The sophomore wasn't rested for the meet, yet dropped more than six seconds off her seed time to win the 200 freestyle and set a district record. Karam swam 1:52.63 to break Central Catholic's Sydney Stinner's mark of 1:52.69 set last year.
Karam won the 100 backstroke title last year but dropped the event in favor of the 200 free.
"I never really liked (the 200 free), but I started to like it around December so it was a late minute decision," she said. "I'm really happy that I went with it because I feel it's one of my better events."
The Golden Hawks' Jarod LaSelva collected two medals. The sophomore placed second in the 200 IM (2:03.55) and third in the 100 butterfly (54.33).
"They are two of my favorite races," LaSelva said. "I am very happy (with my performance). I can't say anything else."
: Southern Lehigh's girls 200 medley relay team of Rhyan Rodriguez, Raechal Rodriguez, Sarah Lyons and Jenna Forrester set a district mark of 1:49.55. ... Northwestern's Trey Shackleton set a district record in a very fast 200 free race (1:45.60) in which the top three finishers all bettered the old standard. ... Southern Lehigh's boys 400 free relay of Josh Kreider, Trevor Decastro, Gavin Gunkle and Michael Anderson set a district record of 1:28.92. ... Salisbury's Eric Tatum defended his title in the 100 butterfly (51.22) and Southern Lehigh's Sarah Lyons defended her title in the 100 butterfly (58.88).
(At Parkland HS)
LEGEND
: Bethlehem Catholic (BC), Blue Mountain (BM), Central Catholic (CC), Mahanoy Area (Mah), Moravian Academy (MA), Northern Lehigh (NL), Northwestern (NW), Notre Dame (ND), Palmerton (Plm), Pen Argyl (PA), Pottsville (Po), Salisbury (Sa) Saucon Valley (SV), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Southern Lehigh (SL), Tamaqua (Ta), Tri Valley (TV), Weatherly Area (We)
200 medley relay
- 1. Southern Lehigh (Rhyan Rodriguez, Raechel Rodriguez, Sarah Lyons, Jenna Forrester), 1:49.55 (district record); 2. Blue Mountain (Courtney Dukman, Jackie Boran, Maddie Bartush, Marina Barrineau), 1:55.61; 3. Tamaqua (Caroline Kanaskie, Carly Trovinger, Joann Butkus, Danielle DeCindio), 1:56.70; 4. Moravian Academy (Devon Korhammer, Savannah Buday, Kaitlyn Casciole, Abigail Thomson), 1:57.14.
200 freestyle
- 1. Sydnee Karam, BC, 1:52.63 (district record); 2. Thomson, MA, 1:54.10; 3. Madison Amann, SL, 1:56.19; 4. Emily Lyons, SL, 1:57.81.
200 individual medley
- 1. Katie Pielmeier, Plm, 2:11.62; 2. Rh. Rodriguez, SL, 2:12.31; 3. Ra. Rodriguez, SL, 2:18.83; 4. Miranda Amey, Ta, 2:20.92.
50 freestyle
- 1. Lake Duffy, PA, 24.13; 2. Forrester, SL, 24.34; 3. Butkus, Ta, 24.86; 4. Marina Barrineau, BM.
100 butterfly
- 1. S. Lyons, SL, 58.88; 2. Makena Glemser, SL, 1:00.48; 3. Butkus, Ta, 1:00.92; 4. Scarlet Ojeda, NL, 1:04.44.
200 freestyle relay
- 1. Southern Lehigh (Amann, Santina Schiaretta, E. Lyons, Forrester), 1:41.00; 2. Blue Mountain (Bartush, Boran, Rachel Juritsch, Barrineau), 1:43.84; 3. Salisbury (Danielle Guttman, Alyssa Sipos, Kaleigh Bobeck, Meredith Heydt), 1:44.10; 4. Schuylkill Haven (Hannah Romberger, Elizabeth Bayliff, Andrea Slotterback, Allison Adams), 1:46.06.
Team scores
-- Southern Lehigh 312; Blue Mountain 138; Tamaqua 133; Central Catholic 109; Moravian Academy 94; Salisbury 91; Schuykill Haven 67; Saucon Valley 62; Bethlehem Catholic 41; Mahanoy Area 37; Northern Lehigh 24; Pen Argyl 20; Palmerton 20; Tri Valley 14; Notre Dame GP 12; Marian Catholic 4.
200 medley relay
- 1. Salisbury (Connor Harrison, Joe Skibbons, Eric Tatum, Dylan Bonge), 1:40.05; 2. Southern Lehigh (Chris Schell, Trevor Decastro, Mitchell Stayer, Luke Feldman), 1:46.29; 3. Central Catholic (JJ Apostolico, Dan Holobeny, Fernando Rios, Joseph Stack), 1:47.84; 4. Blue Mountain (Nathanael Marino, Sean Carroll, Kiefer Luckenbill, John Levkulic), 1:47.84.
200 freestyle
- 1. Trey Shackleton, NW, 1:43.60 (district record); 2. Josh Kreider, SL, 1:44.02; 3. Michael Anderson, SL, 1:45.19; 4. Jon Anderson, SL, 1:46.49.
200 individual medley
- 1. Tim Constantini, Sa, 2:02.72; 2. Jarod LaSelva, BC, 2:03.55; 3. Swayer Allen, Plm, 2:06.90; 4. Connor Harrison, Sa.
50 freestyle
- 1. Danny Weekes, MA, 22.06; 2. Tyler Primrose, MA, 22.72; 3. Bonge, Sa, 22.79; 4. Stack, CC, 22.94.
100 butterfly
- 1. Tatum, Sa, 51.22; 2. Rios, CC, 53.08; 3. LaSelva, BC, 54.33; 4. Alexander Lopez, MA, 55.29.
200 freestyle relay
- 1. Southern Lehigh (Kreider, Decastro, Gavin Gunkle, M. Anderson), 1:28.92 (district record); 2. Salisbury (J. Anderson, Bonge, Constantini, Tyler Lesko), 1:29.39; 3. Moravian Academy (Sam Gaardsmoe, Lopez, Primrose, Weekes), 1:33.25; 4. Schuylkill Haven (Vincent Palladino, William Sieck, Kyle McGarry, Bayliff), 1:33.81.
Team scores
-- Salisbury 246; Southern Lehigh 200; Central Catholic 134; Moravian Academy 125; Blue Mountain 102; Schuylkill Haven 93; Pottsville 79; Saucon Valley 68; Tamaqua 60; Bethlehem Catholic 38; Northwestern 20; Palmerton 16; Pen Argyl 12; Mahanoy Area 10; Weatherly Area 7.