Tuesday held team losses for both boys (122-47) and girls swimming (109-61) against Elizabethtown, but several events boasted CV swimmers claiming the top spots.
Karli Raasch raced her way to the front of three events, registering wins in the 200 free (2:05.07), the butterfly (1:01.58), and was joined by Asha Marwaha, Nina Kramer, and Sarah Marston for a 4:12.24 victory in the 400 free relay.
CV's Micah Leaman cruised to top honors in the 100 backstroke with his 59.44, TJ Conlin touched first in the 200 free (2:06.24), and Joshua Proch's time of 1:02.18 gave the Buckskins another triumph in the butterfly.
The Thursday before held much to celebrate, as the girls team brought home a 96-71 win over Lancaster Catholic and honored their senior swimmers, who each made big contributions that night.
Senior Sarah Marston produced a massive effort, emerging as a quadruple winner taking first in two individual events, 50 free (26.07) and 100 fly (1:01.66), as well as swimming a leg of two first-place relay teams in the 200 medley and 200 free.
"Sarah has been a huge part of the CV girls wins over her four years," pointed out head coach Barb Raasch. "She is extremely versatile and will swim wherever the team needs her."
Fellow senior Nina Kramer won the breaststroke with a season personal best time of 1:19.84, to celebrate her senior night.
"Nina has dealt with many injuries over her four years but has never given up," praised Raasch. "She is a leader during practice and meets and is loved by her teammates."
The third CV senior, Gabby Barone, is in her first year on the varsity swim team, and jumped into the program showing great aptitude and effort that has been an immense boost to the team.
"Gabby has an incredible work ethic and is willing to learn as much as she can in order to swim more events," described Raasch. "She shows great sportsmanship and encourages all the swimmers to do their best."
All three seniors were a part of the first place 200 free relay, teaming up with sophomore Jordan Holmes, bringing in points against Lancaster Catholic with their combined time of 1:53.77.
For the boys, the evening went 113-54 in favor of the Crusaders, but once again plenty of individual achievements were on display.
Josh Proch and TJ Conlin, both seniors and captains, put up personal best times in their events to make the night even more memorable.
Proch's 2:07.9 in the 200 free earned him second place and was a career best.
"Josh loves to race and always wants to win," elaborated Raasch. "He has lettered each season and has also gone to leagues every year," she went on to say.
Conlin, a transfer student, has only had one season at CV, but has still made a lasting impact, particularly in his preferred sprint freestyle events. Jumping in to help where needed, Conlin has also made contributions in the 200 IM and breaststroke events.
"TJ has been a huge help to our small team," praised Raasch. "He keeps us all laughing during practices and meets with his wit and humor."
BOYS' BASKETBALL
Buckskin basketball picked up some additional momentum with last Tuesday's home court victory over the Cocalico Eagles, 65-58.
The seven-point success flipped the script on the Eagles, who had been the ones to prevail in the teams' first round meeting of the season, 60-46, in early December.
The Eagles held a slight advantage, 15-13, after the first period, but the improved Buckskin squad wasn't about to surrender. They put together a particularly strong second and third quarter, outscoring Cocalico 36-25, to jump into the lead for the final period.
Austin Wertz and Bradley Stoltzfus were the evening's high scorers, providing CV with 20 and 18 points respectively. Luke Rumbaugh supplemented the attack with an additional dozen points, all collected from beyond the arc, drawing the Eagle defense out and opening up options inside.
Stoltzfus' composure from the line was a clutch element in the win shooting 89 percent, sinking eight-of-nine attempts.
"The team was focused, carried out the game plan, and played hard," praised head coach Brad Herr, pointing out the collective 16-of-19 performance at the line and only four turnovers in the entire game. "This allowed us to maximize our possessions and play a much more efficient game."
Defensive intensity allowed the Bucks to stay in control of the contest, limiting Cocalico's top point scorer, Carter Nuneville to just eight points, contrasted with the damaging 19 he scored against the Bucks the first time around.
"Players like Kyle Thrush gave us exceptional defense and hustle plays that provided his teammates with a spark off the bench," Herr went on to say.
The previous Thursday, the Bucks fell 60-50 to the Lebanon Cedars. Trailing by 14 headed into the final quarter, the Bucks made things interesting with a late game surge to gain some of those points back, outplaying the Cedars 23-19 in the final stretch, but not quite enough to make up the deficit.
Stoltzfus netted 19 of the 50 CV points, and Will Stone chipped in an additional 15 in the loss.
WRESTLING
Continuing to make strides toward their end-of-season goals, the Buckskin grapplers brought down their latest conquest, Cocalico, last Wednesday, 37-24.
Cocalico appeared to have the upper hand, holding a 21-16 advantage with only five bouts to go. Wrestling at 182 pounds, CV's Conrad Dillman kickstarted some Buckskin momentum when his win by decision narrowed the gap to 21-19.
Cocalico's slim lead would soon be a distant memory when three-of-the-four remaining CV matmen earned falls, depositing another 18 points into CV's total. Josue Marente (195), Leo Marente (220), and Trent Ruble (106) each pinned their opponent and swung the pendulum securely CV's way.
Earlier in the match at 145 pounds, David Dariychuk picked up an additional fall for the Bucks, giving them a total of four in the competition.
The triumph marked the Buck's fifth league victory this season, sending them into the L-L League Tournament this past weekend with an L-L record of 5-2.
RIFLE
A split outcome last week tacked on both a win and loss to the Buckskin record of 3-8, leaving them with three more league showdowns in the regular season.
No one had a perfect score last Thursday, but the widespread consistency of the CV marksmen paid off in a 489-488 win over Wilson.
Dana Witmer's 99 led the Buckskins to victory, with Grady Ray and Edison Stauffer hitting a pair of 98s. Madeleine King and Montana Habecker rounding out the top five with 97s.
Tuesday, the CV marksmen took on Manheim Township at their home range and fell by a three-point margin, 493-490.
Habecker led the CV cause with a 100, King and Ivan Shrom, put up 98s, and Wyatt Stauffer and Sierra Land provided a pair of 97s.
"The CV rifle team has shown slow but steady progress," pointed out head coach Hank Oxendine. "Several first-year shooters have improved and earned their way into the nine-person lineup."
GIRLS' BASKETBALL
Seemingly stuck in a series of injuries and adversity, the CV girls' basketball team faced a loss to Cocalico last Tuesday, 56-28.
Senior Savannah Byers put in nine points for the Bucks, closely followed by eight from Laela Robinson, which included her three-for-four performance from the free throw line.
The Lady Bucks kept pace with the Eagles in the first half, netting their best quarter in the first with 13 points contrasted by Cocalico's 19, but depth of the Eagles played to their favor in the subsequent periods.
Four more league matchups lay ahead of the Bucks as the conclusion of the regular season rapidly approaches, eager to overcome the injuries that have plagued their roster and break their drought in league competition.
BOWLING
Robbie Jack's 637 series led the way for CV in a 7-0 loss to Ephrata last Tuesday, the highlight of the night coming in his first game of the series, in which Jack rolled an impressive 242.
A similar story played out the previous Thursday in a 7-0 loss to Cedar Crest with Jack producing an even higher 659 series and the second highest single game of the night, 255.
"They are all improving and stepping up for each other," noted head coach Doug Davidson. "The improvement is well beyond the wins and losses of matches when we start pushing the higher average teams to bowl their best to beat us," he added.
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