Chambersburg captured its first-ever District 3 boys swimming team championship on Saturday by 2.5 points over Wilson. Team members included, bottom row, left to right, Amir Tasker, Ethan White and coach Chad White. Top row, Xavier Covington, Jed Ritchie, Cristian Pong, Derek Estep, Alex Kaczmark and Cullen McGraw (photo courtesy of Trojan team).

NEW KINGSTOWN — It came down to the final event at the District 3 Class 3A boys swimming championships, and the Chambersburg Trojans aced a huge test.

Chambersburg's 400 freestyle relay team, consisting of sophomore Alex Kaczmark, freshman Amir Tasker, senior Jed Ritchie and senior Derek Estep, had to find a way to defeat Wilson, a perennial contender for district and state titles. Not only did they edge the Bulldogs, they set a district record with a time of 3:06.33 to win the event.

Chad White

And those 40 points lifted the Trojans to the District 3 team championship, edging Wilson, which had led by 3.5 points prior to the relay, by a mere 2.5 points.

It is the first District 3 team title in swimming for Chambersburg.

Trojan coach Chad White said, "On paper, after the diving (which was held last weekend), we felt we had a lead of 15 points. But Friday, even though we were in the lead, we had lost a lot of close races and on paper, we really were about 7 points behind.

"So I told the boys today they had to move up (from their seeds), and if you look at today's races, we did move up. That's what we needed to pull it off."

Estep, who has won individual gold medals at the District 3 and PIAA levels, said, "This year, the goal was to focus more on the team. One of our goals was to be the district team champion, so this feels great. We were tracking the scores all day, so we knew if we won the relay, we'd win the team title."

"Coach White put it out to us that we could win this," Ritchie said. "After seeing (the psych sheet with the times entering the meet), he thought we could win it.

"When we saw it would come down to the last event, we knew we had a job to do. We had the speed to win, and we ended up breaking the record. We thought we'd be close, and we only broke it by a tenth of a second."

While Chambersburg won in 3:06.33, Wilson was the runner-up in 3:09.07, and Cumberland Valley was right behind at 3:09.37.

Tasker said, "The day was a lot of fun, but it was stressful at the same time. And it was a close race — my teammates pulled us through. It was a really good feeling when we knew we'd won."

"We thought we could win, but we had to focus to make sure we didn't get DQ'd," Estep said. "Getting the record was just icing on the cake."

"I heard it was Chambersburg's first relay win (at districts), too," Ritchie said. "It feels good, even though it hasn't really sunk in yet."

White said, "I knew what our relay could do, so I had a lot of confidence in them. But you always have to worry about a false start, and you never know for sure."

Earlier in the day, the Trojans scored 32 points in the 500 freestyle — Ritchie was the runner-up in 4:38.59, freshman Cullen McGraw placed eighth in 4:45.36 and freshman Ethan White took 13th in 4:51.98.

Tasker competed in the 100 freestyle and placed third in 46.71, earning 16 team points.

"By the middle of the season, I got more comfortable with my teammates and thought we had a good chance to do well," Tasker said. "But I didn't expect this. All I could do was swim my heart out."

Also earning points earlier in the day was sophomore Cristian Pong, who scored 14 points with a fifth-place finish in the 100 backstroke, with a time of 52.79.

"This meet is usually won by Wilson, CV or Hershey, and they all have wonderful aquatics programs with nice facilities," White said. "We don't even have our own pool (CASHS rents a pool from Chambersburg YMCA), so it's amazing what these boys pulled off today.

"It's a wonderful feeling and I'm so happy for these boys. But I only coach them four months of the year. Seven of the boys train with the Chargers (Chbg. YMCA's team) under Anthony Addlesberger, and Derek trains with Keystone Aquatic, under Andrew Beggs. We have a good relationship with them and we appreciate what they do for our guys."

For the Chambersburg girls, sophomore Margot Ritchie earned her second medal of the district meet, placing eighth in the 100 backstroke, in a time of 59.36.

On the boys side, Greencastle-Antrim sophomore Sean Detwiler earned a medal in the 100 breaststroke, where he placed seventh in a time of 59.18.

Greencastle was 22nd in the team standings, Waynesboro was 24th and Shippensburg took 28th.

The next stop for the swimmers is the PIAA Championships on March 13-14 at Bucknell University. White believes seven Trojans, plus all three relays will qualify for states.