D-11 Swim Preview: Can Blue Raiders end Eagles’ title reign?
Marian's Lydia Strucko, top, and Mahanoy Area's Lily Brown battle in the 100 backstroke during the Schuylkill League Swimming Championships (Photo by Rebecca Donohue)
Schuylkill League swimmers seek gold at District 11 meet
Tamaqua came oh so close to snapping Blue Mountain’s Schuylkill League girls’ dual-meet winning streak in December.
The Blue Raiders will take aim at ending another Eagles’ streak this weekend.
The District 11 Swimming Championships will be held Friday and Saturday at Parkland High School, with the battle between Tamaqua and Blue Mountain for the girls’ Class AA team championship one of the key storylines.
The Eagles have captured seven straight District 11 Class AA girls’ crowns, a streak that dates back to 2019.
The Blue Raiders, meanwhile, haven’t won a District 11 girls’ team title in 26 years, having claimed the top spot in 1997, 1998 and 2000.
Can Tamaqua pull it off?
Which individuals will climb the podium to grab district gold?
How many Schuylkill League swimmers will get to states?
Let’s break it all down:
Meet Info
Action gets under way at 2:45 p.m. Friday with competition in six events — 200-yard medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle relay.
The Class AA meet then resumes at 10 a.m. Saturday with races in five events — 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, 400 freestyle relay.
TOP SEEDS: For a look at the top six seeds in each event for this weekend’s District 11 Swimming Championships, visit https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2026/02/19/d-11-swim-preview-top-6-seeds-in-each-event/
Advance tickets cost $8 per day and can be purchased online at www.districtxi.com. Tickets will be sold at the door each day for $10 until the event is sold out.
If you’re going Friday, get there early. Parking is usually at a premium since school is still in session at Parkland until 2:30 p.m.
If you can’t go, follow live results at www.t102sportsnow.com, follow me on X @pubsportsboss and get updates and videos on the T102 Sports Now Facebook page.
Moving on
The champions in each event automatically qualify for the PIAA Class AA Swimming Championships set for Friday-Saturday, March 13-14, at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.
The remainder of the 32 slots in each event — roughly 16 per event — are filled based on the next fastest times from district meets throughout the state. District 11 is annually one of the fastest meets in Pennsylvania, with on average 2-3 swimmers in each event qualifying for states.
It’s a waiting game for those garner silver and bronze medals to see if they qualify for states, but technology makes that waiting game less painful. We’ll know by Sunday afternoon who made states and who didn’t.
Trying for a 3-peat
Marian’s Michael Strucko will be the Schuylkill League’s headliner on the boys’ side as the senior standout will attempt to win a third straight gold medal in both the 200 freestyle and 100 backstroke.
Strucko has captured five District 11 golds and one district silver so far in his career, placing first in the 500 freestyle and second in the 100 backstroke as a freshman.
He’s seeded first in both of his individual events this weekend.
On the girls’ side, Tamaqua’s Savannah Wilson is also shooting for a three-peat in the 100 breaststroke. Wilson won last year’s event in 1:06.22, then placed seventh at states. She’s seeded No. 1 in the event by more than 2 seconds.
Returning champions
The Schuylkill League garnered 14 gold medals at last year’s District 11 Swimming Championships, sending 26 swimmers to states.
Can the Schuylkill League’s swimmers better that mark this year?
That’s a good possibility. Blue Mountain star and three-time Dennis McGinley Outstanding Boys’ Swimmer award winner Noah Powers graduated, but the league still boasts a strong contingent of swimmers, several of which climbed the podium and qualified for states last year.
Pottsville’s Adam Klinger started this year’s Schuylkill gold rush Tuesday by repeating as the Class AA boys’ diving champion. Blue Mountain’s Hailey Scheuer followed by claiming her third straight District 11 Class AA girls’ diving championship Wednesday, with teammates Shyanna White and Ana Oettl earning medals by placing third and fourth.
So that’s two state qualifiers and four medalists already.
Michael Strucko (200 free, 100 back), Wilson (100 breaststroke), Marian’s Lydia Strucko (200 IM, 100 back) and Blue Mountain’s Porter Sarnes (500 freestyle) also captured individual District 11 gold in 2025.
On the relay side, Tamaqua claimed the girls’ 200 medley relay gold, the Blue Mountain girls won gold in the 200 free relay and 400 free relay and the Blue Mountain boys took first in the 200 free relay.
Event changes: What’s wrong with the IM?
After winning the girls’ 200 IM the past two seasons, Lydia Strucko has moved to the 100 butterfly, where she’s seeded first with a time of 58.99. The Marian junior is also seeded first in the 100 backstroke (57.49).
Wilson, who was third in the 200 IM last year and second in 2024, also moved from the IM to the 100 butterfly. She’s seeded second at 1:04.41.
Mahanoy Area’s Lily Brown is the favorite in the girls’ 200 IM this year, seeded first (2:17.36) by almost five seconds over Blue Mountain’s Alayna Hensel.
Schuylkill Haven’s Ethan Miller, a state qualifier in the 200 IM last year, also switched from the IM to the 100 butterfly. He’s seeded third there behind Blue Mountain’s Brody Moyer and Saucon Valley’s Brody Warner. All three are really close in their seed times, so this could be anyone’s race … maybe the most competitive of the weekend.
Top Seeds
Schuylkill League swimmers are seeded No. 1 in 13 of the 22 races that will be held this weekend. Here’s a quick look:
** All three Tamaqua girls’ relays … the 200 medley relay of Kate Behun, Wilson, Audrey Nattress, Ava Jones (1:57.39), the 200 freestyle relay of Janna Brown, Nattress, Jones and Shaylee Gormley (1:47.27) and the 400 freestyle relay of Brown, Behun, Wilson and Gormley (3:53.12)
** Mahanoy Area’s Brown in 200 IM (2:17.36)
** Marian’s Lydia Strucko in both the 100 fly (58.99) and 100 back (57.49)
** Schuylkill Haven’s Hope Stauffer in 100 freestyle (55.59)
** Tamaqua’s Wilson in 100 breaststroke (1:07.55)
** Marian’s Michael Strucko in both the 200 freestyle (1:48.70) and 100 backstroke (50.81)
** Blue Mountain’s Moyer in the 100 butterfly (53.34)
** Blue Mountain’s Sarnes in the 500 freestyle (4:46.43)
** The Blue Mountain boys’ 400 freestyle relay of Sarnes, Aidan Varney, Gabe Kamarousky and Moyer (3:22.10).
Team Races
Let’s get back to the Tamaqua girls.
The biggest challenge for the Blue Raiders in their quest to capture the District 11 AA team title is overcoming Blue Mountain’s monster performance in Wednesday’s diving championships.
By placing 1-3-4-6, the Eagles scored 64 points, which counts toward the overall team race. So before any Tamaqua swimmer hits the water Friday, their team is trailing by 64 points.
That’s huge.
“They’re unbelievable,” Blue Mountain coach Pete Sarnes said of his divers after Wednesday’s diving event. “It’s been a huge bonus for us all season long. Every time I’m worried about the meet being close, I know I have diving to pull through no matter what. It’s awesome.
“I’ve said it since the beginning of the season … the magic of diving. It’s fantastic.”
For Tamaqua to pull it off, the Blue Raiders will need to sweep the relays and have some upsets along the way. Gormley is seeded second in both the 50 free and 100 free, while several other swimmers will need to finish higher than their seeding to gain valuable points. The top 16 placewinners in each event score points, with 20 to the winner, 17 for second and down from there.
On the boys’ side, defending champion Southern Lehigh and Allentown Central Catholic could end the Schuylkill League’s decade-long streak of finishing either first or second in the boys’ team race.
Southern Lehigh, back in Class AA for the first time since 2014, won last year’s championship with Blue Mountain second.
