Marian's Lydia Strucko was second in the girls' 100 butterfly on Friday at the PIAA Swimming Championships at Bucknell University (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

LEWISBURG — As the quiet began to engulf Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, Michael Strucko walked out onto the bulkhead, stood next to a group of photographers and waited for the medal ceremony to begin.

Three hours earlier, the Marian senior swimming standout was the one walking across the pool deck to have a PIAA silver medal placed around his neck by Marian athletic director Billy O’Gurek.

Now, it was his sister Lydia’s turn. Michael was happy to be there, taking it all in.

“She swam great,” Michael said in conversation. “It was a good day.”

The Strucko siblings were the headliners on a banner day for Schuylkill League athletes Friday at the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

Michael Strucko was second in the boys’ 200-yard freestyle, while Lydia Strucko took second in the girls’ 100 butterfly.

Pottsville diver Adam Klinger secured his second straight bronze medal while Mahanoy Area’s Lily Brown, Blue Mountain’s Brody Moyer and the Blue Mountain boys’ 200 freestyle relay team were all eighth.

It added up to six top-eight medals for the Schuylkill League on the opening day of the two-day competition, extending the league’s streak of claiming five or more state medals to 10 straight years.

BACK TO BACK BRONZE: Pottsville’s Adam Klinger places third in PIAA Diving Championships for second straight season: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2026/03/13/piaa-boys-diving-tides-klinger-claims-2nd-straight-state-bronze-medal/

“It’s always super exciting to see the improvement from last year,” Lydia Strucko said. “Especially to be able to do it with my brother, it’s an awesome experience. I’m super glad we’re both doing well.”

Michael Strucko entered states as the third seed in the 200 freestyle after winning the District 11 title in 1:43.28. The College of New Jersey commit looked strong in both of his races, going 1:41.56 and winning his heat in the preliminaries, then being clocked in a personal-best 1:40.56 in the finals.

Strucko’s preliminary time was second-fastest behind Schuylkill Valley’s Owen Eisenhofer’s 1:40.99. Eisenhofer went even faster in the evening session, winning gold in 1:37.20.

“When I got up today, I felt a lot better, a little more juice,” Michael Strucko said. “I had a feeling that something special was going to happen and I was going to go a little faster.

“Overall, I was just feeling a lot more positive and excited. The finals energy is amazing here. Going in to race really fast guys really got me going. The result we dropped a second, went 1:40. I’m really happy with that. I think that’s great success for Day 1.”

Lydia Strucko followed a similar path. Seeded second in the 100 fly after winning District 11 gold in 57.49, she was second in the morning preliminaries after winning her heat in 56.63.

In the finals, Strucko was clocked in 56.01, taking second behind Hampton’s Lainey Sheets, who won gold in 54.00.

It was the first time Lydia Strucko competed in the 100 butterfly in the postseason. The past two years she’s qualified for states in the 200 IM, placing 10th a year ago.

“I’m super excited,” Lydia Strucko said. “Obviously, I didn’t know what this year would bring trying something new. It was more of a fun race and something I’m excited to swim, so I’m happy with how I did.”

Brown, a sophomore, and Moyer, a junior, both shined in the morning preliminaries to earn a spot in the championship finals and clinch a state medal.

Brown placed seventh in the 200 IM prelims in 2:12.57, shaving 1.44 seconds off her District 11-winning time of 2:14.01. The 10th seed, she placed seventh by 0.03 seconds over both Hampton’s Libby Sheets and Kutztown’s Haven Fegley, who tied for eighth at 2:12.60.

In the finals, Brown didn’t have much left in the tank. She stayed with the pack in the backstroke and butterfly but faded fast in the breaststroke and placed eighth in 2:14.63.

Shady Side Academy’s Ava Jochims took the gold in 2:01.13. Fegley, who won the swim-off with Sheets for eighth, was sixth in 2:13.19.

“I’m exhausted. The breaststroke killed me,” Brown said. “I just died in the breaststroke and the free.

“I was happy I got here because last year I didn’t even make it to states. I accomplished so much this year that I didn’t accomplish last year, so I’m really happy.”

Moyer went faster in the evening finals, but so did everybody else in the 100 butterfly field.

In the morning, Moyer tied for seventh in 52.58 to advance to the finals. In the evening, he placed eighth in 52.46. Erie Cathedral Prep teammates Jack Raimy and Jackman Callahan finished 1-2 in 49.55 and 50.84, respectively.

After competing in the 100 butterfly finals, Moyer went right back on the blocks with teammates Porter Sarnes, Zach Scala and Aiden Varney to compete in the 200 freestyle relay finals.

The Eagles quartet was clocked in 1:29.38 in the morning preliminaries to place fifth. In the finals, Blue Mountain got off to a slow start and finished eighth in 1:29.79. The Eagles had entered states seeded eighth after placing second at districts in 1:29.96.

Tunkhannock (1:25.33) edged Erie Cathedral Prep (1:25.42) for the gold.

“A medal is a medal in our book,” Sarnes said. “We didn’t get the right placement, but we still placed at states and that’s an awesome achievement if you ask me.”

Two other Schuylkill League swimmers, Blue Mountain’s Sarnes and Pottsville’s Noah Bevan, placed in the top 16 in their respective events during the morning preliminaries and qualified for the consolation finals.

Sarnes took 10th in the 200 freestyle in 1:45.81 after placing 12th in the preliminaries in 1:46.99. Last year, Sarnes didn’t get out of the preliminaries, placing 18th in 1:49.60.

“That’s not bad. It’s an improvement from last year,” said Sarnes, a sophomore. “That makes me very happy to know that I’ve gotten somewhat better. (To go 10th), I can’t believe that happened.”

Bevan was 14th in the 50 freestyle prelims in 21.88, just a tick slower than his District 11 runner-up time of 21.80. In the consolation finals Bevan climbed up one more spot, placing 13th in 21.99.

Bevan was disappointed he went slower in the evening session as he was shooting to break Pottsville’s school record of 21.70 set in 1990 by Bill Gudelunas.

“I was going for Pottsville’s record, which is 21.70,” Bevan said. “I thought I had a shot at it. It would have been real cool to break it. I’m in Pottsville’s top-five 50 swimmers ever … I’m No. 5, so that’s pretty good.

“I didn’t even think I was going to make it here, so just being here is great,” Bevan continued. “I’m super excited about it. It’s still sub-22, so I can’t be mad. I didn’t think I’d ever break that, at least in high school.”

For details on the Schuylkill League state qualifiers that didn’t escape the morning preliminaries, read about their races here:

BOYS: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2026/03/13/piaa-boys-swimming-strucko-moyer-eagles-relay-secure-medals/

GIRLS: https://www.t102sportsnow.com/2026/03/13/piaa-girls-swimming-prelims-bears-brown-fillies-strucko-secure-state-medals/

The PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships continue Saturday with competition in the 100 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 freestyle relay. The boys’ prelims start at 8 a.m., with the girls’ prelims to follow at 10:55 a.m.

After the girls’ prelims, Blue Mountain’s Hailey Scheuer will compete in the PIAA Class AA Girls’ Diving Championships, which start at 12:40 p.m.

For live updates, follow the T102 Sports Now Facebook page. Visit www.t102sportsnow.com for full coverage.

PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships

Class AA

At Bucknell University

Day 1 Local Results

BOYS

200 freestyle — 2. Michael Strucko (Marian) 1:40.56; 10. Porter Sarnes (Blue Mountain) 1:45.81; 30. Brendan Fetterolf (North Schuylkill) 1:52.44

50 freestyle — 13. Noah Bevan (Pottsville) 21.99

100 butterfly — 8. Brody Moyer (Blue Mountain) 52.46, 22. Ethan Miller (Schuylkill Haven) 54.37

200 freestyle relay — 8. Blue Mountain (Sarnes, Scala, Varney, Moyer) 1:29.79; 23. Pottsville (Bevan, Bressler, Walsh, Mohl) 1:33.17

GIRLS

200 medley relay — 26. Tamaqua (Behun, Wilson, Nattress, Jones) 1:56.23

200 IM — 8. Lily Brown (Mahanoy Area) 2:14.63 (went 2:12.57 in prelims)

50 freestyle — 19. Hope Stauffer (Schuylkill Haven) 25.05; DQ. Shaylee Gormley (Tamaqua)

100 butterfly — 2. Lydia Strucko (Marian) 56.01

200 freestyle relay — 27.  Blue Mountain (Kaplafka, Hensel, Machamer, Lafko) 1:46.32