Tamaqua's Savannah Wilson competes in the breaststroke portion of the 200 IM during the Blue Raiders' Schuylkill League dual meet with Blue Mountain on Dec. 18, 2025 (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

Depth, diving lift Eagles to 93-90 victory over Blue Raiders

TAMAQUA — Swimming is one of the few sports that you can win without finishing first.

Such was the case Thursday at Tamaqua.

The Blue Raiders won 11 of the 12 events in their Schuylkill League girls’ swimming unbeaten showdown with Blue Mountain … and still lost the meet.

The Eagles used a sweep of diving and nine 2-3 finishes to pull out a 93-90 victory that extended their Schuylkill League dual-meet win streak to 116 straight.

The Blue Mountain boys completed the sweep with a 135-26 romp.

“We set a goal that we were going to win every single event and that’s exactly what we did,” Tamaqua coach Jen Paisley said. “Honestly, they have nothing to hang their heads about. They did an awesome job … about the best they could have.

“We took all three relays, every single individual win. Mathematically, there could have nothing else they could have done.”

Shaylee Gormley (200 free, 100 fly), Savannah Wilson (200 IM, 100 breast), Janna Brown (50 free, 100 free) and Kate Behun (500 free, 100 back) each won two individual events for Tamaqua (5-1, 4-1 SL), which swept the relays.

Wilson’s victory in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:07.98 broke her own pool record, while the Raiders’ 200 medley relay time of 2:01.66 (an area best) was its fastest of the season by 3.2 seconds.

Some of the Blue Raiders’ wins were dramatic ones.

Brown nipped the Eagles’ Lola Machamer by 0.08 seconds in the 100 freestyle and Behun surged past Isabella Lafko to win the 500 freestyle by .29 seconds.

When Gormley erased a lengthy deficit over the final 50 yards to out-touch Lafko and win the 200 freestyle relay by .23 seconds, it looked like the Blue Raiders might have what it takes to end the Eagles’ streak.

“They came into the meet wanting this bad. You could see it in every single event that they were not going to give it up easily,” Paisley said. “I think they surprised themselves with the times that they swam.”

Blue Mountain (5-0, 4-0), however, did all the little things needed to pull out the win.

First, after Tamaqua won the meet-opening 200 freestyle relay, the Eagles finished 2-3-5 in the next three events to force a split in points and trail just 32-30 entering diving.

The Eagles had three divers to none for the Blue Raiders. Hailey Scheuer won the six-dive event with 184.10 points, with Anna Oettl second and Shyanna White third.

The sweep of diving gave Blue Mountain a 43-32 lead.

“Diving is a magical thing,” Blue Mountain coach Pete Sarnes said. “I get divers and we go 1-2-3. That was huge.”

Behun’s win the backstroke pulled Tamaqua within 78-75 with two events left.

Wilson dominated the 100 breaststroke, but Alayna Hensel, Caitlyn Seidel and Grace Zulli finished 2-3-4 to give the Eagles a 9-7 points advantage in the event and an 87-82 lead.

Tamaqua’s quartet of Gormley, Brown, Behun and Wilson cruised to victory in the 400 freestyle relay, but Blue Mountain grabbed the dual-meet win by placing second and third.

“Our girls swam some of their best times tonight,” Sarnes said. “We knew they were going to be a strong team to go in and swim against.

“My girls swam top times. It was a great meet for us. We’re fortunate we have depth and we’re fortunate we have divers.”

The last time the Blue Mountain girls lost a Schuylkill League dual meet was Dec. 11, 2013, when they fell 101-79 at Tamaqua.

The Blue Raiders will get another shot at ending the Eagles’ win streak Jan. 26, 2026, in Orwigsburg.

“We’re going to come into that (meet) with the same tenacity we came in with tonight,” Paisley said. “We’re going to give it absolutely everything we can and see how it ends up the next time we meet.”

Meet Summaries

GIRLS

Blue Mountain 93, Tamaqua 90

200 medley relay — 1. Tamaqua A (Behun, Wilson, Nattress, Jones) 2:01.66, 2. Blue Mountain A, 3. Blue Mountain B

200 freestyle — 1. Gormley (Tam) 2:09.20, 2. Lafko (BM), 3. Daynorovicz (BM), 4. G. Clemson (Tam), 5. Beiswinger (BM)

200 IM — 1. Wilson (Tam) 2:20.97, 2. Hensel (BM), 3. Stone (BM), 4. L. Clemson (Tam), 5. Grabowski (BM)

50 freestyle — 1. Brown (Tam) 27.35, 2. Kaplafka (BM), 3. Machamer (BM), 4. Jones (Tam), 5. Bellan-Huchery (BM)

Diving — 1. Scheuer (BM) 184.10, 2. Oettl (BM), 3. White (BM)

100 butterfly — 1. Gormley (Tam) 1:05.60, 2. Nattress (Tam), 3. Seidel (BM), 4. Grabowski (BM), 5. Zulli (BM)

100 freestyle — 1. Brown (Tam) 1:00.19, 2. Machamer (BM), 3. Crossen (BM), 4. Jones (Tam), 5. Bellan-Huchery (BM)

500 freestyle — 1. Behun (Tam) 6:01.01, 2. Lafko (BM), 3. Daynorovicz (BM), 4. Stone (BM), 5. L. Clemson (Tam)

200 freestyle relay — 1. Tamaqua A (Nattress, Jones, Brown, Gormley) 1:49.54, 2. Blue Mountain A, 3. Blue Mountain B

100 backstroke — 1. Behun (Tam) 1:09.55, 2. Nattress (Tam), 3. Kaplafka (BM), 4. Crossen (BM), 5. Beiswinger (BM)

100 breaststroke — 1. Wilson (Tam) 1:07.98, 2. Hensel (BM), 3. Seidel (BM), 4. Zulli (BM), 5. G. Clemson (Tam)

400 freestyle relay — 1. Tamaqua A (Gormley, Brown, Behun, Wilson) 4:02.78, 2. Blue Mountain A, 3. Blue Mountain B

BOYS

Blue Mountain 135, Tamaqua 26

200 medley relay — 1. Blue Mountain B (Frantz, E. Varney, Kamarousky, Hart) 2:00.57, 2. Blue Mountain A

200 freestyle — 1. Magdeburg (BM) 2:00.17, 2. March (BM), 3. Hart (BM), 4. Elston (Tam), 5. Coombe (Tam)

200 IM — 1. Nester (BM) 2:18.60, 2. Temarantz (Tam), 3. E. Varney (BM), 4. Keck (BM)

50 freestyle — 1. Sarnes (BM) 23.74, 2. Scala (BM), 3. Magdeburg (BM), 4. Graham (Tam), 5. Kline (Tam)

Diving — No event

100 butterfly — 1. Moyer (BM) 55.65, 2. Sarnes (BM), 3. A. Varney (BM)

100 freestyle — 1. Kamarousky (BM) 53.62, 2. Frederick (BM), 3. Frantz (BM), 4. Graham (Tam), 5. Elston (Tam)

500 freestyle — 1. A. Varney (BM) 5:39.82, 2. March (BM), 3. Hart (BM), 4. Coombe (Tam)

200 freestyle relay — 1. Blue Mountain A (Scala, A. Varney, Sarnes, Moyer) 1:35.25, 2. Tamaqua A, 3. Blue Mountain B

100 backstroke — 1. Moyer (BM) 57.26, 2. Kamarousky (BM), 3. E. Varney (BM), 4. Sanchez (Tam)

100 breaststroke — 1. Scala (BM) 1:09.20, 2. Nester (BM), 3. Temarantz (Tam), 4. Keck (BM)

400 freestyle relay — 1. Blue Mountain A (A. Varney, Hart, Kamarousky, Scala) 3:43.48, 2. Blue Mountain B, 3. Tamaqua A