Swimming roundup: Dallastown's Havice lands podium finish at state championships

Dallastown's Julia Havice earned a podium finish in the 50-yard freestyle Friday at the PIAA swimming and diving championships, reaching the finals and placing eighth with a time of 23.80 seconds.

After narrowly missing the finals last year and winning the consolation race to finish ninth, the Wildcat junior was set on winning a medal all season. She secured it with a 23.79 in the preliminary race Friday morning, then nearly matched her time in the evening final.

Friday and Saturday were both relatively quiet days for the York-Adams League after local swimmers and relay teams grabbed multiple podium finishes at the Class 2A championships Wednesday and Thursday. Havice had the area's lone podium, but several other competitors closed their 2022-23 seasons on the statewide stage.

Two local girls' divers narrowly missed the podium, as Dover's Taylor Tuohy placed 13th with 189.75 points and Spring Grove's Cora Keener was 15th (180.65) in the 3A girls' meet. Tuohy previously won the District 3 title at Dover.

Central York junior Christian Henry finished 15th in the boys' 200 IM (1:56.34), while South Western's Owen Cromer placed 20th in the 50 freestyle (21.61). Dallastown's boys finished 20th in the 200 medley relay as the team of Lawson Neutzel, Cooper Stiles, Nick Rivera and Noah Krebs posted a 1:39.24. On the girls' side, South Western's Leah Leonard was 27th in the 50 free (24.99).

Saturday: Havice closed her individual season with a 23rd-place finish in the 100 free (53.34), then anchored the Dallastown 400 free relay team that also featured Bella Wilkinson, Lauren Oswandel and Lydia Williams. The Wildcats finished 26th with a time of 3:41.34.

The Dallastown boys finished 20th in the 200 medley relay, as Lawson Neutzel, Cooper Stiles, Nick Rivera and Noah Krebs posted a 1:39.24. The Wildcats also placed 27th in the 400 free relay with the team of Krebs, Arijah Anderson, Stiles and Neutzel (3:15.77).

Cromer posted a 20th-place finish in the boys' 100 free (47.41), while Central York's Ana Tate was 25th in the girls' 100 breast (1:07.91). And the Central York girls' 400 free relay team of Jayla Eckert, Tate, Riley Sauder and Maddie Buss had the best local finish of Saturday, placing 11th (3:35.17).

Central York's girls finished tied for 36th in the state with 12 points at the two-day Class 3A meet, while Dallastown tied for 38th (11 points). Central's boys (2 points) tied for 57th.