Easton Boys, Nazareth Girls Triumph in Dynamic Swim Meet

The atmosphere inside the Nazareth Area Intermediate School pool was nothing short of intense on February 3, 2026. Nazareth Area High School hosted the Easton Red Rovers for a final dual meet before both teams entered the championship season. The Blue Eagle girls managed a conclusive 179-127 win over Easton’s girls, but the Red Rover boys swam themselves to 163-136 victory over Nazareth. 

Both the Blue Eagle girls and boys started the meet off strong with early wins in the 200- yard Medley Relay, but the Rovers had decisive individual wins. Easton Junior Maggie Rizzardi and Freshman Danny Bartolet took home first-place finishes in their respective 200-yard freestyle events, posting times of 2:11.72 (Rizzardi) and 1:54.85 (Bartolet). Lyla Troxell, a junior at Easton, won the 200-yard Individual Medley with a time of 2:29.22, and Nazareth Senior Ian Barrey won the IM in 2:07.23. 

The 50-yard freestyle may be the quickest event, but it proves to be a critical turning point of all dual meets. Junior Sydney Valvano delivered the Nazareth girls’ first individual win with a time of 25:95, and the Nazareth Senior duo of Taylor Mann and Marcel Puskas placed first and second to effectively shut out the Rovers’ sprinting line-up. Mann touched the wall at 23.58, and Puskas finished shortly behind in 23.80. 

At the conclusion of the 50-yard freestyle events, the pool quickly shifted to prepare the deck for the divers. Easton Junior Grace Baker took home top honors in 1-Meter Diving, with a final point total of 206.75. Nazareth Freshman Charlotte Zelachowski placed second with 201.15 points, and Blue Eagle Senior Sophia Gorman was third with 185.65 points. Easton Junior Justin Uhler triumphed over Nazareth’s Parker Hertzog with a total of 157.10 points, compared to Hertzog’s 99.60. 

The 100-yard butterfly kicked off the second half of the electric dual meet. Easton Freshman Isis Watts battled it out with Nazareth Senior Vivian Werner until the very last stroke. Watts touched in 1:07.81, and Werner finished in a time of 1:08.94. The boys’ race commenced in a similar fashion. Nazareth’s Barrey narrowly out-touched Easton Freshman James Bevins in a time of 53.38. Nazareth Sophomore Avalyn Werner took home a win in the 100-yard freestyle with her time of 59.21, and Mann had similar success with a time of 51.51. 

The Rovers managed to clinch decisive wins in the 500-yard freestyle, the longest event of the meet. Rizzardi put up a time of 5:49.68, and Bartolet swam the grueling race in 5:04.07. The Blue Eagle boys and girls continued on to dominate in the next relay event. The Nazareth Girls took first and second place, with times of 1:47.10 and 1:56.69. The Nazareth boys touched the wall first in a time of 1:32.66, just ahead of Easton’s 1:32.75. 

Valvano swept up her second individual win of the meet with the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 1:04.80. Easton’s Bevins touched first in the backstroke event, posting a time of 59.94. Troxell also picked up her second win of the meet in the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:15.75. Easton’s Wylie Maier won the boys’ race in a time of 1:02.83. 

Easton finished off the meet by grabbing first place in both of the 400-yard freestyle relays. The Rover girls finished with a time of 3:55.65, and the boys in 3:27.27. 

“I think, honestly, our kids swam hard. I think we had some rearranging to do early on in the meet and we overcame those challenges, and I think we have tons of stuff that we can go ahead and get ready for in the future. The kids, overall, did absolutely amazing today,” remarked Nazareth coach Amy LeFever. “A lesson I’m taking from today is that these kids can really do more than they think they can, and they showed that today. I am going to continue to challenge them to do what they don’t think they can do, because they will.” 

“Coming off the Cedar Crest Classic meet and then a big meet against Liberty, we were really just making sure that we could cool down and just get ready for this meet. Especially with the eight-lane scoring today, we really just used a lot of grit and endurance to finish out this meet strong, so I am very proud of this team,” added Nazareth Senior Vivian Werner. “[This win over Easton] is very exciting and definitely gives us a lot of momentum to power through into Districts.”

“I thought the team did great today. We were missing some [swimmers], and Easton was, obviously, showing up to win, but I think we did really great. We stepped up in the races we needed to and, even though we came out with a loss, it was closer than it should have been,” added Nazareth Senior Ian Barrey. “I think that the great swims we saw today definitely confirm that we are going to be a top competitor going into Districts, and maybe even States. Our relays did really, really well today, so it’s looking good for maybe a medal, or a podium place.”

Both Nazareth and Easton will begin preparing for the prestigious District XI Swimming and Diving Championships at Parkland High School. The diving meet will be held on February 17 and 18, and the swimming meet will be held on February 20 and 21.