ST. MARYS, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Patrick Young is racing under two flags.
That of his home school, North Clarion, and his adoptive swimming team in Brookville.
“It’s great I can bring the success that I’ve been able to accomplish this year to Brookville and then also to North Clarion,” said Young, who is part of the Brookville-North Clarion swimming co-op. “I’m so happy Brookville has accepted me as one of their own. It’s really great.”
Young has certainly been great, too. In a season full of monumental successes, he added a few more triumphs to his growing list of them.
(Pictured above, Brookville’s Patrick Young/submitted photo)
Young won two gold medals at the District 9 Swimming and Diving Championships, breaking the Brookville and St. Marys pool record on Thursday in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.74 seconds and then snapped his own Brookville record in the 100 breaststroke, touching the wall in 59.18.
“It felt great. It felt good,” Young said. “All of the hard work of the season is paying off and I was able to get it done. I was kind of nervous before the race because I just didn’t want to false start or do anything silly to ruin my chances of going to states. But after I (broke the records), it felt really good that I was able to accomplish that.”
Young, just a junior, has been leaving broken records in his wake all year.
Now his sights are set on the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held March 15-18 at Bucknell University.
He’s gunning for state titles.
“It would mean the world to me because I put in so much time, so much work, in and out of the pool,” Young said.
He’s certainly within striking distance of the gold.
No matter what happens, Young will cherish those D9 golds, not only for what it means to him, but also to those around him.
“It feels really good for myself, but I think it also makes my family and also the coaching staff at Brookville feel good as well because of all the work and time and money that they put into me,” Young said. “That’s what makes it mean a lot to me. I think it also means a lot to the people around me, both at Brookville and North Clarion.”
REOTT’S EYE-POPPING RACE
Young wasn’t the only swimmer to turn in a scintillating time.
Moniteau senior Katelyn Reott touched the wall on Saturday after a scorching swim in the 100 backstroke that produced a school- and pool-record time of 58.23.
She finished three second ahead of runner-up Bella Rhoades of Bradford.
(Moniteau’s Katelyn Reott and Mason Birckbichler display their gold medals)
“My last length, my last 25, I looked up at the clock and it was 45 seconds,” Reott said. “I kind of kicked it in faster. When I got to the wall — I was aiming for anything below 59 — and when I saw it was 58.2, I was really surprised.”
When Reott climbed out of the pool, she was met with loud cheers from the crowd and the announcement of her record.
“It was an amazing feeling,” Reott said. “I didn’t think I was gonna go that low.”
Not bad considering Reott only started swimming the event this year.
Last season, she won a D9 gold in the 100 breaststroke, as well as the 50 freestyle.
The 50 free is her wheelhouse — an event she also won with relative ease at the D9 championships on Thursday.
Last year she became the first swimmer from Moniteau to medal at the state meet, taking fifth in the 50 free.
She’s looking to be the first Warrior to bring home two medals this time around.
“I think at states, with more competition closer to my time, I should be able to get a faster time,” Reott said.
Reott could shave off even more time with a simple adjustment.
Out of habit, Reott tends to “circle swim.” Without even realizing it, she said, she makes a turn and swims on the edge of the lane instead of cutting down the middle because she is accustomed to sharing a lane with another swimmer during practice.
That slows her down, costing her precious tenths — and maybe even full — seconds in the 100 backstroke.
“Someone came up to me and said he thought I could go 56 if I didn’t circle swim,” Reott said. “It’s a mental thing. I kind of just have to remember not to do it at states.”
She’ll have a chance to break that habit at the YMCA district meet this weekend. Swimmers use that event as a chance to fine-tune for the state meet.
Reott is no different.
“I’m hoping this weekend that I can get under 24 (seconds) in my 50 free,” Reott said.
Mason Birckbichler, another independent swimmer from Moniteau like Reott, won a gold in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:16.25. It’s the sophomore’s first district crown.
BLISS ALSO PERFORMS WELL
Evie Bliss is peaking in the pool at just the right time.
The Union senior won the 100 freestyle on Saturday with a time of 53.84 seconds.
“Oh my gosh, I’m ecstatic with that,” Bliss said. “I knew I was going fast, but I didn’t know I was going 53. I knew I had a good race.”
She’s had plenty of them the last few years.
On Thursday, she took home the gold in the 200 freestyle.
That’s four D9 titles in the last two seasons.
One big box to check off remains for Bliss.
She wants to place at the state meet — an achievement that has so far eluded her.
“I would love to podium,” Bliss said. “I think with the 53, I have a shot at it. I mean, I gotta go hard. I gotta drop a bit more.”
Bliss is no stranger to pulling something like that off on the biggest of stages.
Last spring, Bliss did it in a different sport: track and field in the javelin.
She uncorked a throw that helped her squeeze into the finals in ninth place at the PIAA Track and Field Championships and then let loose on a throw that earned her second place.
Bliss will leave the pool behind for the javelin runway in college, where she will throw at Bucknell University.
Bliss would like nothing more than to add two medals to her collection — this time in the pool.
“I think that would be the cherry on top, so to speak,” she said.
CLEARFIELD SWEEPS
The Clearfield boys and girls both won D9 team titles.
The Bison boys edged DuBois while the girls beat out Brookville.
Nicholas Vaow had a big meet for the Clearfield boys. He won two individual events — the 100 freestyle (48.92) and the 200 freestyle (1:46.38). He was also on the Bison’s winning 200 freestyle relay (1:31.40).
Complete results:
2023 D9Championship resultsMAR4
