Clarion’s swimming teams have started their seasons. Where is a better location to start them off, than right at their home pool in Tippin Gym. The teams competed on Friday and Saturday in the Clarion Invitational.

The women’s team took first while the men’s team came out in second.
The women’s team received 948 points followed by Grove City with 788, Westminster with 148, and Frostburg with 67 points.

Courtney Bogue said, “It felt really good winning the first meet of the year. We have been training really hard the past couple of weeks, and even though we were really tired, we all pulled it together as a team and did well.”

Kaitlyn Johnson and Kelly Connolly are two of the teams 10 juniors and helped the team win.

Johnson won four individual events: 50 free, 100 free, 200 free and the 100 butterfly. Connolly won the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke and 200 IM.
Bogue won the 200 backstroke; Morgan Oberlander won the 200 butterfly, and Kayla Shull won the 100 backstroke.

Bogue, Connolly, Johnson and Gina Mattucci won the 400 yard medley relay, while Shull, Maloney, Samantha VanDyke and Katlin Coghe took third in the event.

“The team is looking great this year. Our training has already been a step up from last year within the first few weeks and I have a feeling we are all going to perform very well when it comes to championships later in the year,” said Bogue. She also added, “My favorite part about being on the team would be how close we all are. We are like a big family.”

The men’s team received 666 points putting them in second behind Grove City with 1,117 points.

Westminster received third with 89 points and Frostburg followed with 81 points for fourth.

Ryan Thiel, one of Clarion’s four seniors, won the 50 free, 100 free and 200 free. Clarion’s other seniors include, Andrew Claypool, Rich Eckert and Dustin Fedunok. Eckert won the 200 yard breaststroke and Ben Appleby took the 500 freestyle.

Jon Kofmehl, Eckert, Claypool and Thiel took first place for the 400 yard medley relay.

The teams will be competing at Carnegie Mellon on Saturday where the ladies will be hoping for another win and the guys will be looking to bring home their first win of the season.