Hempfield boys, Manheim Township girls get victories to claim L-L League Section 1 swimming titles

Ryan Taylor and Emerson Mandrell may swim for different schools, but otherwise they were having the same experience on Tuesday night.

Hempfield and Manheim Township, both with unbeaten boys and girls swimming programs entering the meet, were facing off for Lancaster-Lebanon League Section One championships in the regular-season finale at Neffsville.

Taylor, a senior for the Black Knights boys, and Mandrell, a senior for the Blue Streaks girls, each won a solo event and swam on multiple winning relays to help their teams to victory in their final scholastic dual meets.

“It does mean a lot, against Manheim Township, our rival,” Taylor said. “To go out on a high note, with everyone cheering on that last relay, it’s a great feeling.”

Hempfield vs. Manheim Township - L-L League swimming [photos]

That last relay in Hempfield’s 102-81 victory was the 400-yard freestyle, in which Taylor combined with Ivan Vitko, Andrew Gates and Kaden Fatta to win in 3:25.01.

Taylor also was part of the winning 200 medley relay with Gates, Fatta, and Jackson Shirey (1:38.52), and the 200 freestyle relay with Nathan Manning, Shirey and Vitko (1:30.86).

“Really, we’ve just banded together,” Taylor said. “We’ve got a lot of seniors on the relays, which is really nice, because we’ve built a lot of compatibility on the relays.”

Taylor also led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 50 freestyle with a 22.81. Vitko was second and Manning third.

Meanwhile, Mandrell was saying farewell to her home pool with an similarly successful performance in the Blue Streaks’ 130-56 victory.

She won the 100 backstroke in 1:01.92, plus contributed to two relay victories.

She joined Cami Schwartz, Adora Emuwa and Adrianna Anujin to win the 200 medley relay in 1:51.81, and with Delaney Connors, Rain Davies and Schwartz to win the 400 freestyle relay in 3:53.32.

“I’d say that’s just practice, knowing your body, paying attention to what you eat and getting enough sleep,” Mandrell said of succeeding in multiple events in a high-stakes meet.

Mandrell and Taylor said that having the clinching victory come against a rival made their final dual meets — and final dual-meet victories — all the more compelling.

“It’s awesome, we’ve gone against some of our club friends,” Mandrell said. “At least, I did. And the energy that brings and the crowd brings to the meet just makes it more exciting.”

Mandrell added that though a meet with Hempfield could be big at any time of year, it was best that this was the last event before the L-L League championships.

“It really pushes everyone, both us and Hempfield,” Mandrell said. “Just knowing that rivalry pushes us, and there’s so many familiar faces, that pushes us too. I think it’s great that it’s the last meet of the year.”

In the boys meet, the Black Knights won five additional events. Fatta took the 500 freestyle in 4:56.89 and the 100 breaststroke in 59.09. Gates won the 200 IM in 2:05.82, Shirey the 100 butterfly in 54.08, and Vitko the 100 freestyle in 51.00.

Tyler Scolnick opened the meet by winning the diving event for the Blue Streaks with 176.9 points. Cole Stevens won the 200 freestyle in 1:45.73 and the 100 freestyle in 51.32.

In the girls meet, the Blue Streaks won seven additional events.

Connors won the 200 freestyle in 2:01.23 and the 500 freestyle in 5:31.78. Schwartz was also a double winner, taking the 200 IM in 2:12.41 and 100 butterfly in 1:00.36. Emuwa won the 50 freestyle in 24.54 and Haley Marino won the diving event with 182.4 points. The 200 freestyle relay team of Anujin, Connors, Emuwa and Rowan Yingst won in 1:43.91.

Winners for the Black Knights were Grace Wagner in the 100 freestyle in 55.22 and Addy Bushnell in the 100 breaststroke in 1:11.33.