Racing to victory in the 200 freestyle relay were Mounties (from left) Holly Householder, Molly Brennan, Sydney McKernan, and Maggie Mikalic.

by Tom Utescher

On Feb. 8 at the Upper Dublin Natatorium, Mount St. Joseph Academy claimed its third straight Athletic Association of Catholic Academies championship in an impressive manner.

Winning all three relays and three individual events, the Magic rolled up 555 team points to outpace runner-up Villa Maria Academy (394.5) and third-place Gwynedd Mercy (327.5).

Crunching the numbers, longtime head coach Janet Tompkins noted that 26 different athletes scored points for the Mount, and eight of them won medals. In all, 52 individual career bests were recorded by Magic swimmers.

Mount St. Joe's started out by setting a new school record of one minute and 50 seconds flat in the 200-yard medley relay. The winning quartet consisted of juniors Sydney McKernan and MaryKate Leonard, and seniors Kristen O'Connor and Holly Householder.

Later, the Magic logged a winning time of 1:39.55 in the 200 freestyle relay with Householder, freshman Molly Brennan, McKernan, and junior Maggie Mikalic. In the concluding relay, the 400 freestyle, Leonard, sophomore Maura Scanlon, O'Connor, and Mikalic won in 3:36.12.

Mount St. Joseph swimmers gather around the Catholic Academies championship trophy after winning their third straight league title.

The Mounties' medley relay win that opened the league meet was immediately followed by a victory for Leonard in the 200 freestyle (in 1:52.11, a new Mount record), with Mikalic coming in a very close second. The Magic made it three in a row as Scanlon won the 200 individual medley (2:15.06). Next, O'Connor and McKernan placed second and third in the 50 free, with Householder finishing sixth to lead a pack of Mounties in sixth through ninth place.

Freshmen AnnaGrace Johnson and Liz Seely placed third and fourth, respectively, in the diving competition.

The butterfly was the only event in which Mount St. Joseph did not occupy high places, but the Magic came right back with a two-three-four finish in the 100 freestyle, thanks to O'Connor, Scanlon. and Householder. In the 500 freestyle, Leonard and Mikalic flipped their order from the 200 yard race, with Mikalic setting a new school record by winning in 5:01.51 while Leonard came in about a second behind her.

After the MSJ victory in the 200 free relay came the back stroke, where McKernan placed second and also set a new Mount St. Joe standard of 59.66 seconds. Sophomore Grace Yaegel finished fourth in the breast stroke, then the Magic finished up by winning the 400 free relay by more than four-and-a-half seconds.