BY ED GOTWALS, THE SPORTS PAGE 

NEW KINGSTOWN — The final day of the District 3 Swimming Championships on Saturday looked a lot like the first — Chambersburg senior C.J. Pong captured a gold medal and the Shippensburg girls collected another haul of medals.

In the meet held at Cumberland Valley H.S., Pong swam to a convincing victory in the boys Class 3A 100 backstroke event. He clocked a time of 50.51 to defeat the runner-up, CV's Kyle Farrow, by over 3 seconds.

Pong won the 100 butterfly on Friday and will now swim those two events in the PIAA Championships, which will be held March 11-14 at Bucknell University.

Trojan coach Chad White said, "It is really special to win two golds at this incredibly fast district meet. He is only one of two Trojan swimmers to accomplish this feat at a district meet.

"He should be seeded in the top 8 in both of his events at states, and he has more room to drop time. His goal will be to break 50 seconds in both events."

The Trojans, who finished eighth in the team standings, had three other top-10 finishes Saturday — Aidan McMillen was seventh in the backstroke, Colby Estep took ninth in the 500 freestyle and Michael Johnson was 10th in the 100 breaststroke.

"Aidan dropped a total of 4 seconds from last year and is working hard and is motivated. If he keeps it up, he will be in the running for gold next year.

"Colby just barely missed making the podium. He showed incredible heart and grit this year. I thought the boys had a great district meet overall. I was proud of the way they supported their teammates."

Shippensburg's girls made another big medal grab Saturday in Class 2A, but it wasn't quite enough to overcome Schuylkill Valley. The Panthers collected 296 points to 218.50 for the Greyhounds.

Ship got a pair of runner-up performances. Madison Osanitsch took second in the 500 freestyle with a season-best time of 5:12.40, while Julia Strine won silver in the breaststroke with a clocking of 1:05.74.

Strine was also sixth in the 100 freestyle, and her sister Jillian Strine was ninth in the backstroke. Makenna Morris placed eighth in the 100 free, and Mia Estep took 10th in the breaststroke.

The Greyhounds' 400 free relay team of Abby Brink, Estep, Alyssa Brown and Rachel Connor picked up a seventh-place finish, just ahead of James Buchanan's team of Alexa Myers, Alyssa Young, Rhiannin Peterson and Shyda Piper.

The Rockets finished ninth in the team standings with 84 points.

In girls Class 3A, Lauren Wetzel of Waynesboro put up a fourth-place finish in the backstroke.

In the Class 2A boys meet, Brady Jackson of Greencastle-Antrim picked up a ninth.

District 3 Swimming Championships
Saturday's Results
GIRLS CLASS 2A
100 freestyle — 6.Julia Strine (Ship) 54.35; 8.Makenna Morris (Ship) 54.45; 19.Rachel Connor (Ship) 58.62
500 freestyle — 2.Madison Osanitsch (Ship) 5:12.40; 15.Alyssa Brown (Ship) 5:59.35; 18.Alexa Myers (JB) 6:07.05; 19.Abby Brink (Ship) 6:08.57; 22.Jordan Small (JB) 6:29.79
100 backstroke — 9.Jillian Strine (Ship) 1:00.83; 21.Madison Price (JB) 1:05.71
100 breaststroke — 2.Julia Strine (Ship) 1:05.74; 10.Mia Estep (Ship) 1:11.84; 11.Sarah Kimmel (JB) 1:13.31; 16.Kortny Green (JB) 1:14.91; 18.Rhiannin Peterson (JB) 1:16.17
400 freestyle relay — 7.Shippensburg (Brink, Estep, Brown, Connor) 4:03.03; 8.James Buchanan (Myers, Alyssa Young, Peterson, Shyda Piper) 4:05.51
GIRLS CLASS 3A
100 backstroke — 4.Lauren Wetzel (Way) 56.96; 31.Liz Terrazas (Chbg) 1:04.58
BOYS CLASS 2A
500 freestyle — 15.Andrew Jackson (G-A) 5:10.11
100 backstroke — 9.Brady Jackson (G-A) 56.48; 11.Dylan Hervioux (G-A) 57.43; 14.Diego Gonzalez (G-A) 58.92
BOYS CLASS 3A
500 freestyle — 9.Colby Estep (Chbg) 4:52.93; 28.Jacob Shifler (Chbg) 5:12.58
100 backstroke — 1.C.J. Pong (Chbg) 50.51; 7.Aidan McMillen (Chbg) 54.43; 31.Gavin Vink (Chbg) 58.32
100 breaststroke — 10.Michael Johnson (Chbg) 1:00.57
400 freestyle relay — 12.Chambersburg (C.J. Pong, Robert Pong, Vink, McMillen) 3:20.18