First Posted: 3/21/2012

Five Abington Heights High School swimmers raced for the Lady Comets in the Class AAA Swimming and Diving State Championships March 14-15 at Bucknell University.

Abington Heights only individual competitor, freshman swimmer Sydney Gualtieri, raced in the 100 breaststroke and placed 30th.

“We did a really good job,” Gualtieri said. “We went down there expecting to do about that.

Gualtieri also raced in both relays Abington Heights competed in at states. The Lady Comets 200 medley relay team finished 21st while their 200 free relay team finished 24th overall.

“They all swam their hearts out, so place didn’t even matter to me,” senior Emma Gromelski said. “We swam some of our fastest times, so I couldn’t be happier.”

Gromelski raced in both the 200 medley relay and the 200 free relay at states.

“I am very happy with my performance at states,” Gromelski said. The competition there is tough, so all I could shoot for is doing my best and giving it all I could have, which I did.”

Senior Vanessa Lempicky also swam in both relays for the Lady Comets.

“I think overall we did the best we could,” Lempicky said. “I was really happy with it.”

Sophomore Morgan Muller also competed in the 200 free relay and freshman Rachel Smertz swam in the 200 medley relay.

“It’s been a long season and I just wanted to end it with a good race,” Smertz said. “I think me and my relay team did all we could to do that against the tough competition.”

After winning a share of the district championship and earning a berth in the state tournament, Gromelski swam her final two races for Abington Heights and will graduate at the end of this school year.

“The thing I’m going miss most is the bonds I have made with my teammates and coaches,” Gromelski said. “So many good friendships have come from swimming as a Lady Comet.”

The Lady Comets will also lose Lempicky from next year’s team.

“I’ll miss the team because we’re such a family,” Lempicky said. “It’s not like any other sport.”

Gualtieri, Muller and Smertz will return to the Lady Comets next season. Smertz said the state championships will give her experience heading into her sophomore year.

“It definitely gave me a taste of really hard competition and will prepare me for competition in the future,” Smertz said. “It showed me how hard I need to work to get to that level.”

Besides Gualtieri, Muller and Smertz, the Lady Comets will have 13 more underclassmen returning to next season’s squad.

“I think that if the team keeps up the hard work they are going to be a force to reckon with,” Gromelski said. “There is so much talent that I think that if they work hard and stay focused, they are going to have an excellent season next year.”