PIAA State Swimming & Diving Championships – 2024: Full LebCo Results

This week, the PIAA Swimming & Diving Championships are taking place at Bucknell University. Reporting to Lewisburg are six athletes representing Annville-Cleona, Lebanon, Northern Lebanon, and Palmyra. This is an improvement from four LebCo qualifiers who competed at the 2023 edition of the State Championships.

The meet is divided into two two-day events, with the AAA competitions taking place on Wednesday and Thursday. From a local perspective, those events were highlighted by the performance of Lebanon’s Will Parker. The senior improved upon his seed to finish 10th in the 50-yard Freestyle on Wednesday. On Thursday, Parker then earned a 5th place medal in his strongest event, the 100-yard Breaststroke. This was the second straight 5th place finish for Parker, but it took a much faster time to pull it off this year.

On Friday, the AA portion of the championships will began. Northern Lebanon’s Carter Cheslock was back for his second appearance and took full advantage of his opportunity. Competing in the 100-yard Butterfly, Cheslock set a new personal record to jump up five spots from his seeding to finish 20th. Annville-Cleona’s Danny Trate finished 27th in the 50-yard Freestyle in the first of his two races at this year’s meet. 

On the final day of States, Annville’s Trate and Northern Lebanon’s Collin Cheslock were in action. For both sophomores, the important piece was gaining experience that will fuel them in future years.

The 2024 PIAA State Swimming & Diving Championships has concluded for the six LebCo athletes who qualified. Lebanon’s Parker earned a 5th palce medal in the 100-yard Breaststroke, while fellow senior Carter Cheslock swam his career best time in the 100-yard Butterfly. The four other qualifiers will work hard to make a return next year and when they do it will not be surprising if they also make the podium.

Below are the results for all of the LebCo athletes competing at States.

Newest results are highlighted in green.

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AAA

Girls

Kristen Thai, Palmyra

After nabbing the final qualifying spot out of District 3 with her 6th place finish. On Thursday, the lone female representative from LebCo at this year’s State meet was one of twenty-four AAA divers to compete. The junior finished with a score a 332.75 to claim 14th overall, picking up 3 points for Palmyra.

1 meter Diving (14th place)

Score – 332.75

Boys

Will Parker, Lebanon

The senior entered States fresh off of winning the District 3 Championship in the 100 yd Breaststroke. He has experience at States, having competed at Bucknell the last two years. In 2023, he finished 5th in his marquee event, clocking a 56.31. Last year, Parker also finished 19th in the 50 yd Freestyle, finishing the race in a time of 21.60. Parker massively outperformed his seed times in both races during the 2023 State Championship. This was something he hoped to replicate in 2024.

50 yd Freestyle (10th place)

On Wednesday, the 20th seed dropped his time by .38 in the prelims to qualify for the Finals. He then found another gear, finishing 2nd in the “slow” heat to claim 10th overall. Just missing out on a medal, the senior far outperformed his initial ranking coming into States.

Entry – 21.51, 20th seed

Prelims – 21.13, 12th

Finals – 21.03, 10th

100 yd Breaststroke (5th place)

On Thursday, Parker reported to the pool deck to chase after another State medal in his best event. In the prelims, Parker was a tad bit slower than the time that won his Districts. However, in the Finals, he outpaced his District time by .31 to take the 5th place on the podium. For the senior committed to Saint Bonaventure, this was the second straight 5th place medal in the event. However, his time this year was .15 faster than last year.

Entry – 56.44, 6th seed

Prelims – 56.66, 6th

Finals – 56.13, 5th

Jomar Hidalgo, Lebanon

Hidalgo, a freshman, has had an impressive first year swimming at the varsity level working to surpass what his older brother (Carlos) was able to do during his high school career that ended with a silver and a bronze at the 2023 State Championship Meet. Hidalgo started it off by qualifying for two events, which included a 3rd place District 3 finish in the 100 yd Backstroke. That said, his seedings indicated that he was a long shot to medal at States this season, meaning the primary goal would be to pick up valuable experience for his return appearances in future years.

200 yd Individual Medley (28th place)

On Wednesday, with a total of thirty-two boys in the prelims, Hidalgo competed well in the Individual Medley to defend his seed.

Entry – 1:57.25, 28th seed

Prelims – 2:00.55, 28th

100 yd Backstroke (21st place)

Hidalgo entered as the 21st seed and walked away with a 21st place finish after clocking a 52.46 in the prelims.

Entry – 51.97, 21st seed

Prelims – 52.46, 21st seed

2024 District 3 Championship Results

AA

Half of the AA events took place on Friday, with the rest being contested on Saturday.

Boys

Danny Trate, Annville-Cleona

The Annville sophomore had a tremendous ride at the District 3 Championships, where he dropped his times by .5 seconds for every 50 yards he swam. As a result, Trate finished 5th in both events and qualified for States. With two years left in his varsity career, any experience gained at a meet of this magnitude will be helpful moving forward.

50 yd Freestyle (27th place)

On Friday, Trate competed in the short sprint race. His finishing time was slower than his time in the District finals but was .11 faster than his entry time into that meet that qualified him for States.

Entry – 22.31, 22nd seed

Prelims – 22.73, 27th place

100 yd Freestyle (32nd place)

On Saturday, Trate made his second appearance at the 2024 State Championship Meet. In 100 yard version of the Freestyle event, the sophomore was among 23 swimmers to swim slower than their seed time. He finished 32nd, but most importantly he picked up valuable experience.

Entry – 49.00, 28th seed

Prelims – 50.92, 32nd place

Carter Cheslock, Northern Lebanon

The senior made it to his second straight State Championship Meet, having competed in the 100-yard Freestyle in 2023, finishing 23rd. After an impressive 4th place finish in the 100-yard Fly at the District 3 Championships, Cheslock is back for more. His time of 54.60 at Districts was 1.26 seconds better than his entry time. At Bucknell, he’d be looking to combine his experience and a peak performance to shave off even more time.

100 yd Butterfly (20th place)

Cheslock absolutely crushed it in the final race of his high school career and set a new personal record on his way to a 20th place finish. He was .43 faster than his seed time and a whopping 1.69 seconds faster than when he entered Districts.

Entry – 54.60, 25th seed

Prelims – 54.17, 20th

Collin Cheslock, Northern Lebanon

The younger of the Cheslock brothers is one of three LebCo sophomores competing at this year’s State Championships. He qualified after finishing 5th at the District 3 Championships in a race where he dropped 1.19 seconds off his entry time. While Cheslock will look for continued improvement, the experience from his first appearance at States will undoubtedly have a profound impact on his future.

100 yd Breaststroke (27th place)

In Saturday’s 100-yard Breaststroke, Cheslock swam with consistency at biggest meet of the year and finished four spots ahead of his initial seed.

Entry – 1:01.83, 31st seed

Prelims – 1:01.88, 27th place