Leading the way
Senior Callithen shines as Butler swimmers go to 3-0
By Derek Pyda
Eagle
Staff Writer
BUTLER TWP — As one of four seniors on the Butler boys swimming and diving
team, Nathan Callithen wants a strong finish to his scholastic career.
According to Golden Tornado
coach Dave Bocci, he is on pace to do just that.
Callithen, a four-year
letter winner for Butler, won the 200-yard individual medley and 100 backstroke
with times of two minutes, 6.17 seconds and 57.31, respectively, in Butler’s
99-73 home win over Shaler on Wednesday.
Both efforts made the cut
for the WPIAL Class AAA championship meet, though Callithen had already swam a
2:04 and 55.0 earlier this season.
“Our goal is to get as many
kids to the state meet as we can,” said Bocci. “Last year, 53 (seconds) was
good enough for the state meet in the backstroke and Nathan is capable of doing
that.
“He’s come a long way,”
added Bocci. “He’s worked really hard with his strength and conditioning, has
put on some muscle and is more suited now for some of the heavier weight
training.”
Callithen, who has swam
individually and on relay teams at the WPIAL meet, also wants to slice time off
his IM, saying, “I’d like to get down to 1:58. Between now and WPIALs, I want
to drop my seed time in both events.”
In the meantime, he is
mindful that Butler’s younger swimmers may be looking at him and the other
seniors for an example to follow.
“You need to work hard in
practice and think about your goals every day,” he said. “That way, you’re
doing what you need to do to reach them.”
Joe and Alex Deemer also
won two individual events for Butler, taking the 50 freestyle/100 butterfly and
200/500 freestyle, respectively.
Butler’s team record last
year was 9-3 and the Golden Tornado (3-0) are well on their way to challenging
that finish.
Butler’s girls also
improved to 3-0, scoring a 95-85 victory over the Titans.
Butler’s strong freshman
class, which is headed by Laura Goettler, Ellie Weiss and Morgan Casteel, had a
strong night.
Goettler won the 200 IM and
breaststroke while Weiss took the 200 and 500 freestyle events.
Ellie is the younger sister
of Butler junior Emma Weiss, a strong swimmer in her own right.
“Both of them are hard
workers and two-sport athletes,” Bocci said. “They play soccer and it says a
lot about their ability to move from one sport to another. Their season is
really just getting started.”
Butler’s Paige Williams
earned a win in the diving competition with a score of 226.2.
Girls
Butler 95, Shaler 85
200 medley relay: 1-Butler
(Rachel Ledford, Laura Goettler, Emma Weiss, Morgan Keelan) 1:55.44
200 freestyle: 1-Ellie
Weiss (B) 2:10.55
200 individual medley:
1-Laura Goettler (B) 2:08.8
50 freestyle: 1-Jenna
Stanton (S) 26.48
1-meter diving: 1-Paige
Williams (B) 226.2
100 butterfly: 1-Emily
Schafer (S) 1:01.1
100 freestyle: 1-Morgan
Keelan (B) 58.74
500 freestyle: 1-Ellie
Weiss (B) 5:49.43
200 freestyle relay:
1-Butler (Rachel Ledford, Morgan Keelan, Ellie Weiss, Laura Goettler) 1:46.47
100 backstroke: 1-Emily
Schafer (S) 1:04.56
100 breaststroke: 1-Laura
Goettler (B) 1:07.01
400 freestyle relay:
1-Shaler (Claire Blaha, Sara Magoun, Emily Schafer, Jenna Stanton) 4:02.99
Boys
Butler 99, Shaler 73
200 medley relay: 1-Butler
(Nathan Callithen, Trai Kish, Joe Deemer, Alex Deemer) 1:44.38
200 freestyle: 1-Alex
Deemer (B) 1:52.45
200 individual medley:
1-Nathan Callithen (B) 2:06.17
50 freestyle: 1-Joe Deemer
(B) 23.0
1-meter diving: 1-Evan
Kelly (S) 262.35
100 butterfly: 1-Joe Deemer
(B) 54.34
100 freestyle: 1-Trai Kish
(B) 53.17
500 freestyle: 1-Alex
Deemer (B) 4:55.42
200 freestyle relay:
1-Butler (Trai Kish, Zach Callithen, Simon Diehl, Luke Puchnick) 1:41.06
100 backstroke: 1-Nathan
Callithen (B) 57.31
100 breaststroke: 1-Evan
Kelly (S) 1:09.7
400 freestyle relay:
1-Butler (Joe Deemer, Zach Callithen, Nathan Callithen, Alex Deemer) 3:32.73