The Northampton varsity swim team found themselves in unchartered territory on Tuesday, Jan. 15, as both the boys and girls teams fell to Southern Lehigh in Northampton’s first overall loss of the season.

While the losses broke the boys undefeated season and a winning streak for the girls, Northampton head coach Cullen Mentzell looked beyond the loss to some great individual swims by the Kids.

“Overall the kids swam really well,” commented Mentzell. “We had 25 individual season or personal best times during this meet which is a really good result.” Northampton swimmers rose to the challenge of the larger Southern Lehigh team and left the meet feeling proud of their efforts despite the overall scores.

Among the highlights of the night for the girls were first place finishes from freshman Olivia Szerencsits in the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle events. Co-captain Brynne Rockovits was first to the wall in the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle events and sophomore Sarah Hosking placed first in the 100 butterfly and the 100 breaststroke. Adding to the point totals for the girls were second place finishes by co-captain Trinity Schoeneberger in the 200 individual medley and the 100 backstroke.

The relay team of Rockovits, Hosking, Szerencsits and Morgan Thomas also claimed victory in two of the relay events; the 200 medley relay and the 400 freestyle relay.

For the boys, sophomore Tommy Nicols came in first in the 200 individual medley event. Sophomore Connor Oswald took first in the 100 breaststroke with Nichols claiming second place points for this event. Also adding to the points totals for the boys were second place finishes by team captain Jack Kennedy in the 200 freestyle and a second-place finish by Marcus Newhart in the 50 freestyle event.

The relay team of Nicols, Oswald, Kennedy and DJ Fragano claimed second place points in the 200 medley relay event. Additionally, the Northampton relay team of Kennedy, Nicols, Fragano and Bryce Fisher took second place in the 400 freestyle relay to end the night.

The Northampton diving team also added to the points totals for the evening with the boys team of Bradley Chatenka and Ben Christy claiming first and second in the diving events, respectively. Diver Gillian Rogerson also claimed third place points in the women’s diving events.

While Mentzell has focused for much of the season on mixing things up and having the swimmers compete in various events, the remainder of the season will fall into a bit more structure for the team.

“We’re focusing on figuring out what we will do in district championships and starting to get in more of a regular rhythm with the events the kids are swimming,” he said.

While mixing up events throughout the season gave the individual swimmers a chance to try new strokes, it also allowed the team to find their strengths. With districts less than two months away, the team will now take these strengths and work on getting stronger and faster in specific events for each swimmer.

In the more immediate future, the Northampton swimmers and divers are preparing for their next meet as they will travel to Allen on Thursday, Jan. 17.