STAC BOYS SWIMMING: OWEGO CONTINUES TO COMPETE WITH LOW NUMBERS (2022-11-24)

By TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
OWEGO — Numbers are still low in the Owego pool, but the boys team does have a handful of solid competitors among the group.

“We've got 12 on the roster,” coach Kyle Lounsberry said. Currently, 10 are practicing.

The Indians have four seniors — Christian Hodges, Tyler Krom, Kyle Riegal and Gabe Snyder — yet are relatively young.

The other eight competitors are freshmen, although Magavin Allen has been with the team since the seventh grade.

“He's good,” Lounsberry said. “I'm looking forward to seeing what he does the next couple years. I'm thinking like probably junior year he is going to be an animal.”

The schedule includes three larger teams in a two-week span to open the season.

Chenango Forks has 26 members, half of whom are upperclassmen. After that come Chenango Valley and Windsor, both with 21 competitors. The Black Knights’ roster lists 17 upperclassmen.

When Owego hosts Oneonta to kick off the new year, the teams should be more evenly matched. The Yellowjackets have 12 members with seven upperclassmen on their roster.

The final three meets include Norwich with five swimmers (only two seniors), Susquehanna Valley with nine (no seniors or juniors) and Greene with 10 competitors (six upperclassmen).

“Realistically, we're looking about the same as we were last year,” Lounsberry said. “There are teams that we can compete with.

“I think it's a good group. There is some skill in here, so there's room to build, but it's a good group to work with. They get along well.”

The Indians will need to replace STAC all-star Adam Gault, the lone graduate. He was a two-time Section IV Class B bronze medalist last season.

One of those medals came in the 400-yard freestyle relay, where he teamed up with Hodges, Krom and Snyder.

Krom also made the sectional “A” finals in two other events while Hodges and Allen reached that podium in one individual event each.

Riegel, Allen and Hodges were also part of a second “A” final relay.

The rest of this season’s roster includes Javan Belokur, Jaydin Brainard, Evan Christ, Aden Dupuis, Vincent Kneller, Matthew Recu and Connor Riegel.

Owego opens on the road at Forks Dec. 6.

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IN PHOTO 1: Owego coach Kyle Lounsberry provides some instruction on arm movement in the butterfly. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.