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Meaghan Raab of Hershey wins third straight Class AAA title in 100 freestyle and Hershey cruises to team title: PIAA girls' swimming

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Collette Robinson of Hershey High School, anchors the 200 Medley Relay teams win in the finals at the Girls AAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Kinney Natatorium at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa. Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com

LEWISBURG - By dominating Friday's portion of the PIAA Class AAA girls' swimming championships, Hershey had already done the heavy lifting.

Saturday evening's second and final day was about adding more to the Trojans' medal haul.

And they did just that.

"It's really awesome, because we won two years ago and then we came up here last year and lost by 13 points," said Raab.

"I think this year, we all worked really hard in practice and we did everything we could to make ourselves better, so I think this one mean so much more."

Raab bounced back from Friday's gut-wrenching loss in the 200 freestyle to capture her third straight Class AAA state gold in the 100 freestyle at Bucknell University's Kinney Natatorium.

In the final event, Hershey completed a clean sweep of the relays as Raab, Carly DeLiberty, Vivian Tafuto and Maddy Veith swam a 3:23.19, dropping three seconds from Saturday morning's prelim swim.

"It means a lot to me, this team is the best team I've even been a part of in my life," said DeLiberty, who also won a bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke.

"We've been training for this ever since states last year, and I'm really really proud of all of these girls and everyone who came to support us."

Tafuto added a silver medal in the breaststroke and Veith and Maggie Lee won fourth place medals in the 100 free and 500 free, respectively.

And of course, there was Raab.

The Hershey junior standout had to put the disappointment of Friday's 200 free loss in the rearview mirror and focus on Saturday's 100 free final.

Raab was never threatened as she swam to a 49.12, which was just a shade off of her 2012 state record of 49.01.

"It felt great after the losing the 200, because it's my favorite event, but [Oakland Catholic senior] Leah [Smith] had a great swim, so I can't be mad at her for that," Raab said.

"Coming out and winning just proved to me that I still can come out and do what I'm best at."

On Friday, Hershey got a gold medal in the 50 free from Veith and its also broke state records in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.

Also on Saturday, Cumberland Valley junior Sabrina Mortell finished up a roller coaster two weeks and swam a season best 4:58.14 to win a Class AAA bronze in the 500 freestyle.

Two weeks ago at the District 3-AAA meet, Mortell fought through illness to clock a 5:04 and qualify as the third seed from 3-AAA.

Feeling much more rejuvenated, Mortell swam a 4:58.99 Saturday morning in the prelims.

"I actually felt really good out there," Mortell said.

"The swim felt really smooth. The fact that I could do my best time when I sick and then still come back and do something even better at this meet feels great."

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