Photo submitted Pictured are the members of the St. Marys Area Flying Dutch swim team displaying their District 9 team championship trophy they won Friday night at the DuBois Area Natatorium.

The Dutch and Lady Dutch managed to find their way to the Beavers’ natatorium and turn in strong performances ending in several individual and one team championship.

The Dutch were heavily favored going into the meet to take home the team title, but it wasn’t until the final results were tabulated that they were certain of the win. The Clearfield boys have won the title for as long as anyone can remember, but were dethroned Friday night when the Dutch scored 334 points to the Bisons’ 319.

When asked of former SMA swimmer and senior parent Kris Dippold when the last time the boys won the District 9 title, his answer was simply, “Never.”

The Lady Dutch finished in a solid third place with 220 points behind DuBois with 352 and Clearfield with 262.

The action kicked off Thursday when Justin Huey captured first in a field of 10 in boys’ 1 meter diving. Fellow SMA diver Jake Burns’ fourth place finish was sandwiched between four other Clearfield divers in the 11 dive format, falling one point short of a third place medal. For the girls, Maria Holm medaled with her third place finish having scored 279.60 points while Shannon Krieg finished 12th.

“I’m extremely proud of these kids,” remarked SMA diving coach Eric Wonderling. “To have finished first, third and fourth is a real accomplishment given that a few years ago we only had one diver. Jake (Burns) had a great night and remained composed and sharp throughout the competition.”

The action continued on Friday with the swimming events. Several SMA swimmers won district titles in their individual events. Seth Dippold, Michael Proudfit and Andrew Cotter won D9 crowns as expected by their pre-meet seedings. Dippold won the 50 and 100 yard freestyles, Proudfit won the 200 yard individual medley and 100 yard breaststroke while Cotter won the 100 yard butterfly. Alex Anderson also took home a first place medal as he teamed up with Dippold, Proudfit and Cotter to easily win the 200 yard medley and 200 yard freestyle relays.

Both the 200 medley relay’s and Proudfit’s breaststroke times broke their DAHS pool records that that they set themselves during the regular season. The boys took first in seven of the 11 events.

Other podium finishes for the Dutch included Jeffrey Moore with a second place finish in the 200 freestyle and third in the 500 freestyle. Matt Hoffman finished fourth in both events. Anderson finished fifth in the 50 yard freestyle while sixth place ribbons were won by Michael Stebich in the 200 freestyle, Alex Renwick in the 200 IM and Ryan Struble in the 100 freestyle.

The 400 yard freestyle relay sealed the deal for the Dutch when they finished third at the conclusion of the meet. The relay members were Struble, Anderson, Hoffman and Stebich.

“We knew at the end of the backstroke what we needed to do for the boys to clinch first place,” said assistant coach Mary Secco. “We told the relay prior to the race that they just needed to finish. That doesn’t sound like a lot of pressure, but it was and they did a great job.”

For the Lady Dutch, medal winners included Steph Buerk who took second in the 500 yard freestyle while Melinda Stebich won second place in the 100 yard breaststroke. Third place medals were received by Sami Ferragine in the 50 yard freestyle, Michaela Rupprecht in the 100 yard butterfly and Brittany Orr in the 100 yard backstroke. Also earning trips to the podium were Buerk who captured fourth in the 200 freestyle while Megan Barber finished sixth in the 50 freestyle and Kylee Proudfit took sixth in the 100 breaststroke.

The Lady Dutch also had third place finishes in the 200 yard freestyle relay of Proudfit, Barber, Buerk, Ferragine and the 400 yard freestyle relay of Kristen DeLullo, Orr, Barber and Buerk.

“This was a good meet for the team heading into Regionals,” noted SMA head coach Mark DeMuro. “We had a few swimmers with personal best times but our main goal was to finish well as a team and not focus on individual performances. We accomplished that with our first and third place finishes.”

The next stop for the team is District 6/9 Championships this weekend at PSU’s McCoy Natatorium where the team will compete in the AA competition on Friday and Saturday afternoon.

Girls results

DuBois (352), Clearfield (262), St. Marys (220), Brookville (195), Bradford (179)

St. Marys Area individual results are as follows:

1 meter diving (11 dives) – third Holm, 12th Krieg.

200 medley relay – fourth (Orr, Stebich, Proudfit, Ferragine).

200 freestyle – fourth Buerk, tenth DeLullo, 13th Saige Leidwinger.

200 individual medley – eighth Stebich, ninth Proudfit.

50 freestyle – third Ferragine, sixth Barber.

100 butterfly – third Rupprecht, ninth Maura Keyes.

100 freestyle – seventh Orr, eighth Ferragine, ninth Orr.

500 freestyle – second Buerk, ninth DeLullo.

100 backstroke – third Orr, eighth Rupprecht, 14th Keyes.

100 breaststroke – second Stebich, sixth Proudfit, eighth Leidwinger, 14th Krieg.

400 freestyle relay – third (DeLullo, Orr, Barber, Buerk).

Boys results

St. Marys (334), Clearfield (319), DuBois (200), Brookville (188), Bradford (132)

St. Marys Area individual results are as follows:

1 meter diving (11 dives) – first Huey, fourth Burns.

200 medley relay – first (Dippold, Proudfit, Cotter, Anderson).

200 freestyle – second Moore, fourth Hoffman, sixth Stebich, tenth Scott Barber.

200 individual medley – first Proudfit, sixth Renwick, ninth Brad Kopp.

50 freestyle – first Dippold, fifth Anderson, ninth David Sheeley, 14th Gideon Woelfel.

100 butterfly – first Cotter, eighth Renwick, 11th Kopp.

100 freestyle – first Dippold, sixth Struble, seventh Sheeley.

500 freestyle – third Moore, fourth Hoffman.

100 backstroke – eighth Stebich, tenth Struble.

100 breaststroke – first Proudfit, second Cotter, seventh Barber, tenth Woelfel.

400 freestyle relay – third (Struble, Anderson, Hoffman, Stebich).