Allegheny Valley YMCA Gators shine at district, state swim championships

The Allegheny Valley YMCA Gators were well represented at the district championships and had 11 swimmers qualify for the state championships.

They also broke multiple team records across both championship weekends.

The districts were held at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, on March 7-9, and the Gators sent 33 swimmers, one more than they sent to last year’s event.

The headliner was Phallen Olinger, who placed in the top 10 in four of the six events he swam in the 11-12 boys division.

He placed first in the 50-yard backstroke in 30.05 seconds, third in the 100 back at 1 minute, 4.79 seconds, fourth in the 200 back with a 2:20.79 and ninth in the 50 freestyle in 27.82.

He also was part of the boys 200 medley relay that took first with a Allegheny Valley record time of 2:05.46. The other members of the relay were Leo Kuhn, Logan Hasson and Ryan Imler, each of whom also enjoyed top-10 finishes in their events.

Hasson placed second in the 100 breaststroke with an Allegheny Valley record time of 1:13.43 and the 200 back with a time of 2:43.07.

He was third in the 50 breast with a time of 34.31 and 10th in the 100 IM with a time of 1:11.10.

Kuhn was fifth in the 200 back (2:53.41), sixth in the 100 breast (1:18.04) and seventh in the 50 breast (36.03). Imler placed sixth in the 100 butterfly, posting a 1:11.28.

On the girls side of the 11-12 age group, Angelina George finished eighth in the 100 IM (1:12.68) and 200 IM (2:38.64).

“Districts went really well. We had a lot of big time drops across the board, in general, which is why we had so many swimmers qualify for states,” said Nathan Petrak, who is in his first season as coach.

Nathan’s son, Brody, who starred in last year’s competition in the 11-12 division, placed second in the 400 IM with a time of 4:40.79 and third in the 200 fly with a 2:13.61 in the 13-14 age group this year. His 200 fly time set a Allegheny Valley record.

“He was one of the oldest ones in his group last year, and he qualified for states in five events and made finals in three,” Nathan Petrak said. “This year, he’s the youngest in his age group. Going into this year, we were shooting for qualifying in one event for states. He ended up making four events and made the finals in the one.”

Other 13- and 14-year-old Gators who placed in the top 10 were Tucker Beers, who posted a 2:18.82, good for seventh place in the 200 fly; Olivia Walewski, who finished second in the girls 200 fly with a time of 2:18.79, an Allegheny Valley record; and Addie Imler, who was seventh in the 50 free with a time of 26.09.

In the 15-21 age group, Mary Anne Altman finished in seventh place in the 50 free with a 25.15.

The Gators had one top-10 finisher in the 10-and-under group as the 200 free relay team of Ryan Hasson, Sloan Petrak, Paxton Olinger and A.J. Kuniak placed 10th with a time of 2:24.63.

Overall, the 11-12 boys team placed second at districts, and the boys 13-14 team finished ninth. The girls 11-12 team placed 15th, and the 13-14 group placed third.

Allegheny Valley had 11 swimmers qualify for states, which were held at the Mylan Park Aquatic Center on West Virginia’s campus March 22-24.

For the boys, Phallen Olinger, Ryan Imler, Leo Kuhn, Logan Hasson, Tucker Beers and Brody Petrak qualified, and, for the girls, Hannah Altman, Mary Anne Altman, Mackenna Dorian, Addie Imler and Olivia Walewski advanced.

The Gators also qualified six relay teams.

The boys 11-12 200 and 400 free relay advanced, as well as the 200 medley relay team of Ryan Imler, Logan Hasson, Leo Kuhn and Phallen Olinger.

The girls 13-14 200 and 400 free relay and 200 medley relay were made up of Hannah Altman, Olivia Walewski, Mackenna Dorian and Addie Imler.

When it all shook out, Phallen Olinger placed fourth in the 50 back (29.56), fifth in the 100 back (1:03.81, an Allegheny Valley record) and sixth in the 200 back (2:22.70).

Logan Hasson finished sixth in the 200 breast in 2:41.34, which bested Brody Petrak’s record time from last year by 7 seconds.

Petrak placed seventh in the 400 IM in 4:45.19.

“Sometimes I wonder if I’m giving them the right tools to be successful,” Nathan Petrak said. “It’s a long season, and you hope you’re teaching the right things. But when I see personal best times being achieved and records being broken, it’s a little validation.”

When looking at the big picture and how long the season is — September through March — Petrak couldn’t be prouder of his swimmers.

“I’ve seen so much growth out of the swimmers this year. I’m really proud of what they’ve been able to do,” the coach said. “Swimming’s a conditioning sport and to really succeed a lot of these kids put in the time year-round, which is why I think we’ve seen success across all of the age groups.”