Siblings Lydia Strucko, left, and Michael Strucko, right, received the Dennis McGinley Outstanding Awards for Class AA during Saturday's District 11 Swimming Championships at Parkland High School (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

ALLENTOWN — Michael Strucko surprised himself.

And put his name in the District 11 record book in the process.

The Marian senior raced to victory in the Class AA boys’ 100-yard backstroke in a district record 49.64 seconds Saturday on Day 2 of the District 11 Swimming Championships at Parkland High School.

The time was the fastest any Schuylkill League swimmer has ever posted in the 100 backstroke, more than a second faster than Strucko’s area-record time of 50.81 clocked at the Schuylkill League Swimming Championships on Jan. 31.

It was also his second gold medal of the weekend after he won the 200 freestyle Friday night. His performance over the two-day competition earned Strucko the Dennis McGinley Class AA boys’ Outstanding Swimmer Award.

Michael’s sister, Lydia, was named the girls’ Class AA Outstanding Swimmer after she won the girls’ 100 backstroke Saturday.

“I’m honestly speechless,” Strucko said. “That was a really big swim for me, getting under 50 (seconds) for the first time.

“I’m surprised. I’m not tapered or rested for this, so I wasn’t really sure if I could drop a lot of time. To get almost a half-second under 50, to go a personal best, I’m so happy about it. It was a great swim.”

Strucko’s time marked the first time any backstroke swimmer went under 50 seconds. The previous mark was 50.87 set by Brenek Strawn of Bangor in 2020.

“It feels amazing,” Strucko continued. “I didn’t really know about it until this year that it was a possibility. That’s really special, District 11. I love this stage. District is by far this is my favorite meet of the season.

“To break a record, put my name in the history of this area, it’s amazing.”

Strucko took control early and never let up, building a big lead by the halfway point. He won the race by 3.93 seconds over second-place Dylan Smith of Southern Lehigh. Blue Mountain’s Brody Moyer was third in 54.56.

“I was just trying to swim that race and drop time,” Strucko said. “With one event today, I gave it my all. I was really psyched up, had a really good mindset and I went out there, give it my all in the first 50 as fast as I could and I held on.”

Sarnes repeats as 500 champ

Strucko was one of two Schuylkill League boys to garner gold medals Saturday.

Blue Mountain’s Porter Sarnes repeated as champion in the 500 freestyle. His time of 4:46.27 just missed the school record of 4:46.06 set by Ty Raubenstein in 2019.

The sophomore, who was 10th in the event at states last year, easily won gold, beating second-place Brendan Fetterolf of North Schuylkill (5:00.98) by more than 14 seconds. Blue Mountain teammate Liam Magdeburg joined Sarnes on the medals stand, taking fourth in 5:09.03.

“It feels good,” Sarnes said. “I was really happy (with my race) and my time.

“I really wanted to focus on the record. Last year at states I was close to it, this year I thought might as well go for it at districts. Didn’t work out, but I got states now, so that’s pretty exciting.”

Eagles take 2nd in team race

Blue Mountain entered the day in third place in the boys’ team standings, trailing Southern Lehigh and Allentown Central Catholic.

The 1-4 finish by Sarnes and Magdeburg in the 500 freestyle, plus top-eight finishes by Aidan Varney (sixth, 100 free), Seth Nester (sixth, 500 free), Moyer and Zach Scala (seventh, 100 breaststroke), allowed the Eagles to leapfrog ACC into second.

Blue Mountain clinched that spot with a strong second-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay as Sarnes, Varney, Gabe Kamarousky and Moyer were clocked in 3:17.06, a time that should get them to the state meet.

Southern Lehigh won the team title with 353 points. Blue Mountain was second with 319, while ACC took third with 307.

Other medalists

** Pottsville’s Noah Bevan capped a strong weekend by taking third in the 100 freestyle in 48.55. Bevan, who was second in the 50 freestyle Friday, bested his seed time of 50.10 by more than a second.

Allentown Central Catholic’s Liam Fitzpatrick won the race in 46.94, while Alex Zabinski took second in 47.66

** Schuylkill Haven’s Ethan Miller earned a fourth-place medal in the 100 breaststroke in 1:01.81. Salisbury’s Caeden Amorim took gold in 1:00.61, followed by East Stroudsburg North’s Logan Cruz (1:01.02) and Saucon Valley’s Brody Warner (1:01.49).

** North Schuylkill’s young boys’ squad had a strong weekend. A freshman, Fetterolf earned a pair of individual medals then anchored the Spartans’ 400 freestyle relay team of Fabrizio Mangianello, Nick Weremedic, Owen Mentzer and Fetterolf to a fourth-place medal in 3:26.01.