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<p>Last year, a March blizzard postponed states by a day. For its encore, March delivered another snow storm to postpone districts by 24 hours.</p><p>Officials postponed the start of the District 2 Swimming Championships to Saturday from the original start date of Friday at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>In its wake, the inclement weather leaves behind an unorthodoxly crammed schedule for the district championships. Normally the nightcap, the Class 3A teams will open the championship weekend, followed by the larger Class 2A meet.</p><p>The District 2-4 Class 3A regional will cram a two-day event into just one super session beginning at 9:45 a.m. All 11 events are slated to go off on Saturday morning.</p><p>In Class 2A, the meet will continue to be a two-day event. Saturday&#8217;s session begins at 6:45 p.m., and the Sunday competition will start at 6:15 p.m.</p><p>Once the logistics are settled, a wide-open field will compete for all four district championships.</p><p><strong>Class 2A Boys</strong></p><p>Tunkhannock looks to be the favorite in the Class 2A boys competition after winning the Wyoming Valley Conference by a mere one point over Dallas in the regular-season finale. The Tigers are looking to capture their first district championship since 2014. As always, a talented Scranton Prep team will look to overcome a lack of depth.</p><p>The Tigers are led by Alex Bushre in the sprints. He owns the top seed times in each of the four events that he will participate in over the weekend. Bushre holds a 65-hundredths-of-a-second advantage in the 50 free and swam more than a second faster than the field in the 100 free during the regular season.</p><p>Tunkhannock &#8212; featuring a combination of Bushre, Dyllan Henning, A.J. Hodge, Julien Madus, Mike Astegher, Dylan Mislevy, Ben Tidball and Davis Tidball &#8212; could score gravy points in the relay events with the top seed times in all three races.</p><p>Winners of last year&#8217;s district title, Wyoming Seminary seeks to make a wave despite a very different lineup. Yonah Wasik will look to outlast a very talented 200 IM field with a 2:03.22 that registered as the top time on the psych sheet.</p><p>Holy Redeemer junior Adam Mahler looks to add to his three individual district gold medals. His seed time of 50.73 seconds is already faster than his 100 fly district record, and his top 200 free time (1:46.17) is just 12-hundredths of a second away from taking down former Bishop Hoban standout Sean McCall&#8217;s 33-year old high-water mark.</p><p>After coming oh-so-close to beating Tunkhannock for the conference title, Dallas will surely be seeking retribution this weekend. Look to Mikhail Krochta to shine in the 100 back (55.54) and put up a fight in the 200 IM.</p><p>The feel-good story to watch will be in the direction of Nanticoke&#8217;s Christopher Cabonilas. The Trojans have not had a district champion in a very, very long time. (They just reinstated a decades-dormant boys program last season.) Cabonilas is favored in the 100 breast in 1:03.76.</p><p><strong>Class 2A Girls</strong></p><p>Dallas shocked the field last season by posting an upset championship bid on the heels of a dominant performance by its diving squad. With another strong head start thanks to a 1-2 finish by the Mountaineers springboarders, could the Mountaineers make it four straight years with a district title?</p><p>If senior Annalise Cheshire and Abby Zolner have anything to say about it, the Mountaineers will be in good spirits to give them their fourth district team titles. Winner of seven career district gold medals. Cheshire is the favorite in the 100 free with a seed time of 53.43 seconds. Zolner is a dark horse in the 100 fly and 200 IM.</p><p>Teammate Melissa Leonard is the favorite for the 200 free.</p><p>The race of the weekend will be the 50 free. Prep&#8217;s Haley Their, Wyoming Seminary&#8217;s Skylar Roerig and Holy Redeemer&#8217;s Margaret Walting, Emily Blaum and Cheshire comprise some of the most talented swimmers in the district. This race is bound to bring multiple PIAA qualification times.</p><p>Speaking of Walting, the Holy Redeemer sophomore is fresh off of a Times Leader Swimmer of the Year nod last season. Walting did not even top the psych sheets at all and finished with three state medals around her neck. This time around, she has the top spot by almost four seconds in the 100 breast.</p><p>Wyoming Seminary is waiting in the wings for its first district title in Philip Mercatili&#8217;s reign as coach. The WVC champions own the top seed time in four events. Tara Kupsky (200 IM) and Paige Jackett (500 free) bring in the quickest times in their respective events. Roerig, Madi Federici, Aviah Dahlgren, April Kupsky, Tara Kupsky and Kylee Kolbicka present a formidable team for a district title run.</p><p><strong>Class 3A Boys</strong></p><p>The Class 3A field is difficult to project. Scranton has its best team in the 2010s. Williamsport, Abington Heights and Delaware Valley always bring competitive teams to the pool deck.</p><p>That said, Wyoming Valley West looks to start a new era off right this weekend. Josh Zawatski is swimming in his final regional meet and looks to add to the two gold medals he won last season. He has more than a fair chance of cracking 20 seconds in the 50 free if all goes right on Saturday.</p><p>The Spartans will be aided by Maxim Kowalski and Ivan Volynets with the best seed times in the 100 fly and 100 back, respectively.</p><p>Hazleton Area can take home hardware from Paul Flowers (200 IM) and Anthony Goulstone (500 free).</p><p><strong>Class 3A Girls</strong></p><p>There are no WVC girls competitors favored in the Class 3A regional competition.</p><p>Both Valley West and Hazleton Area have been known to come out of nowhere to win the regional race in the past. Look no further than to Cougars&#8217; sophomore Marina O&#8217;Hara. She was a five-second underdog in the 100 back last year. O&#8217;Hara will look to hold onto her title in the event, as well as give the Cougars a favorite shot in the 50 free.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_PIAA-Dist.-3A-Swim-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Josh Zawatski is swimming in his final regional meet and looks to add to the two gold medals he won last season. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_PIAA-Dist.-3A-Swim-3.jpg</photo0><caption0>Wyoming Valley West&#8217;s Josh Zawatski is swimming in his final regional meet and looks to add to the two gold medals he won last season. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL-02162017-Dallas-vs-Tunkhamnnck-swim-1_CMYK.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Dallas&#8217; Melisssa Leonard returns to the District 2 Class 2A meet as the favorite in the 200 freestyle. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/web1_TTL-02162017-Dallas-vs-Tunkhamnnck-swim-1_CMYK.jpg</photo1><caption1>Dallas&#8217; Melisssa Leonard returns to the District 2 Class 2A meet as the favorite in the 200 freestyle. </caption1><photoCredit1>Charlotte Bartizek file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jay Monahan</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Swimming districts postponed to Saturday