The Northampton swimming and diving teams ended their 2018-2019 season with a home meet vs. Easton High School on Thursday, Feb. 14. Though the meet ended in a loss for both the Northampton teams, the boys team came as close to a win as possible, losing by only one point by a score of 93-92. Despite the loss, the night had a tone of celebration as the team honored the seven senior swimmers and divers who will be graduating this June.

Among the highlights of the evening were senior Brynne Rockovits who took first place in the 50 yard freestyle and the 100 freestyle events. This meet marked the end a successful season for co-captain Rockovits who is planning to continue her swimming career at Franklin & Marshall College next year.

For the boys’ team, senior Jack Kennedy came in first in the 200 freestyle event and took a close second place the 100 freestyle event. A 12-year veteran of the sport, Kennedy also intends to continue his swimming career next year at Saint Mary’s College of Maryland.

Senior Trinity Schoenberger has her sights set on college followed by medical school to study forensic pathology but last Thursday evening her sights were focused claiming points for her team as she placed third in the 100 breaststroke and fourth in the 200 individual medley.

While relays are a bit part of the contribution of seniors Hollie Nolan and Brittany Hankee, the two teammates also left their mark in Northampton swimming history with their individual races in their last meet. Nolan placed fourth in the 100 butterfly and Hankee placed sixth in the 500 freestyle event. Hankee, an 11-year veteran of swimming in Northampton, credits the sport with teaching her “discipline and how to be the best you can be.” Nolan agreed with her teammate’s comments.

“Swimming has taught me how to work hard and to work as part of a team,” Nolan said.

Two of the team’s graduating seniors make up the two-person girls’ diving squad for Northampton. Seniors Jadyn Fehnel and Gillian Rogerson placed fourth and fifth in the evening’s diving competition scoring 143.40 and 104.50 points respectively. While neither of the girls plan to continue diving in college, they agree that they will recall their days on the diving team with fond memories. When asked what they will miss most, both divers mentioned their teammates and coach, and “the feeling of getting a new dive,” added Fehnel as she recalled the need for patience in her sport.

For Rogerson, her comments echoed what are likely the sentiments of so many graduating senior athletes, “I’ll miss just enjoying every practice and meet,” she said.

It seems the sport has given all of these athletes more than just ribbons and medals; for Schoenberger, swimming has taught her, “to be confident in myself, it has also taught me that the little things matter.”

Maybe it’s the little things, like fractions of the second, one point or one additional stoke which these swimmers and divers have learned can make all the difference, or maybe it’s little things like laughs shared with good friends that Schoenberger spoke of. For this group of seniors, the memories are the little things that mean the most.

“I’ll miss the team and how they really are like my family,” said Rockovits. Kennedy mirrored her thoughts with his advice to future swimmers when he said, “be a full part of the team because they’ll be like your family; and in the team as well as the sport, you’ll get what you put into it.”

While the regular season has drawn to a close for some, several swimmers will continue to District 11 Championships. Overall for NHS, two divers qualified for the PIAA District 11 Diving Championship at Emmaus on Feb. 23 and 14 swimmers qualified for the PIAA District 11 Swimming Championship event which will be held at Parkland on Friday and Saturday, March 1-2.