Becca Luft was not the picture of confidence before the 100-yard butterfly final at the PIAA Class AA girls' swimming championships at Bucknell University on Friday night.
"I was a little nervous," Luft said. "I've got a couple nervous ticks, a little bit of shaking. ... Then I said, it's okay to be nervous. You just have to know that you can do this."
Luft won the 100 butterfly with a 54.91, becoming the first girls' state gold medal winner in Northern's history.
The sophomore was being pushed by Alexa Fabbri of Villa Joseph Marie. It turned out that Fabbri was DQed for a false start, but Luft did not know that coming down the stretch.
"The last 15 yards are definitely the hardest, with all the oxygen deprivation," Luft said. "It was just adrenaline that carries you through."
Luft was also the anchor leg on Northern's 200 freestyle relay team, which finished third with a 1:38.52. Caitlynn Weeden, Sydney Archuleta and Gabby Lodovici swam the first three legs.
"Generally, we don't do as well at states as at districts because of the way our taper works," Luft said. "We were hoping for fourth, so third was fantastic."
Northern finished Friday's session tied for fourth place with 66 team points.
Harnish strikes again
Two weeks after setting District 3 records in the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle, West York freshman Courtney Harnish began working on the PIAA record book on Friday.
She set a new state record in the 200 freestyle with a 1:45.91.
"I was thinking about [the record]," Harnish said. "I wanted to get it."
Harnish actually had only the second best time in the morning preliminaries, but showed no signs of slowing down in the finals.
"I think this morning my stroke was choppier," Harnish said.
Rachael DiPietro of Lancaster Catholic was sixth with a 1:55.38, and Sydney Wareham of Donegal was seventh with a 1:55.79.
Szekely sets new 200 IM mark
Another new record was set by Gwynedd Mercy's Allie Szekely, who won the 200 Individual Medley with a 1:59.51. She held the old record as well, a 1:59.66 from last year.
Villa Maria takes the relays
Villa Maria opened and closed the session with victories in the relays.
In the 200 medley relay, Emily Cornell, Olivia Tierney, Olivia Giampietro and Julie Dobson posted a 1:46.57. In the 200 freestyle relay, Dobson, Maura McManus, Cornell and Giampietro combined for a 1:36.41.
Around the pool
Mifflinburg's Adriana Grabski won the 50 freestyle in 23.10. Carson Gross of York Suburban was seventh with a 24.21, and Lexi Glassmire of Schuylkill Valley placed eighth with a 24.43.
In addition to Northern, three other District 3 teams won medals in the 200 freestyle relay. York Suburban's Madie Devaney, Anna Schmittle, Gross and Emily Schmittle were fifth with a 1:39.18. Schuylkill Valley's Glassmire, Sarah Strause, Rachel Rehrig and Mikala Persky were seventh with a 1:40.46. Big Spring's Kelsey Fickes, Madeleine Flory, MacKenzie Miko and Lexi Walker were eighth with a 1:40.51.
In the 200 medley relay, Schuylkill Valley was fifth with a 1:49.66. Glassmire, Rehrig, Persky and Strause swam that race as well.
Consolation results
District 3 entries
(Places are overall. A ninth-place finisher was first in the consolations, while a 16th place finisher was eighth in the consolations.)
200 medley relay
9. York Suburban (Carson Gross, Megan Hunt, Emily Schmittle, Anna Schmittle), 1:50.33.
10. Northern (Madi Bleiler, Jennifer Strine, Sydney Archuleta, Caitlynn Weeden), 1:51.55.
200 IM
16. Peyten Lyons, Palmyra, DQ.
100 butterfly
9. Caroline Edelman, Wyomissing, 59.06.
13. Reney Hess, Palmyra, 59.95.
200 freestyle relay
10. Palmyra (Peyten Lyons, Bethany Stutzman, Katie Schreckengast, Reney Hess), 1:41.54.