PG West: Moon Area boys swim team plan to go the distance at WPIAL meet
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When it comes to the Moon Area boys' swimming team it is quality over quantity.
The quantity might not be there but the quality swimmers Moon is taking to the WPIAL championship could rival just about any Class AA school.
Having only 11 male swimmers hurt the team in dual meets where depth is crucial. The Tigers finished 3-7.
At the WPIAL championships, which will be held today and Friday at Pitt's Trees Pool, individuals are vying for titles and automatic berths to the PIAA championships. In that situation, Moon looks like anything but a 3-7 team.
Senior Brian Jackson is seeded in the top five in both of his distance events, the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. Junior Ryan Mitcheltree is seeded No. 5 in the 100 butterfly and No. 7 in the 500 freestyle. Junior Jon Lee is seeded No. 8 in the 500 freestyle and sophomore Eric Metzler also has a WPIAL qualifying time in the 500 freestyle. He is the No. 17 seed giving Moon the fully allowed four participants in a single event.
All of the Moon swimmers are trying to join senior Jordan Burgunder, who has qualified for the PIAA championships by finishing fourth at the WPIAL diving championships.
It may seem like an overload on the 500 freestyle, Moon actually qualified more swimmers in that event than it was allowed to have compete, but it does make for competitive practices.
"That is our strongest event," first-year coach Connor Simpson said.
"There was a pretty good base of distance freestylers when I came in and I am real excited to see what they can do. It will be an exciting race for us."
When Simpson took over the job he started voluntary workouts in October and was surprised at the dedication and participation. He estimated 90-percent of the team showed up for voluntary workouts.
"When I took over the boys' team the first thing that struck me was that they were ready to go from day one," Simpson said. "They wanted to work hard and get better. There was a group of them who was like 'Let's go right now'. They wanted that challenge and they wanted to practice hard. That was an impression that lasted all year. They want to be pushed."
First Published March 4, 2010 12:00 am
