Robbins, Anderegg Bring Home Pair Of Medals At District Swimming Championships

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 28, 2025  /  Photo: Anne Anderegg

Freshman Matthew Robbins and Piper Anderegg each brought home a pair of medals at the District IV Swimming Championships in Williamsport on Wednesday and Thursday.

Robbins swam a 24.12 in the 50 Free and a 52.25 in the 100 Free, both personal bests, to bring home two bronze medals.

"Watching Matthew earn bronze medals was beyond words," first year head coach Jenn Sporer said. "We discussed throughout the season how in anything, what you put into it is what you will get out of it. Matt has worked hard over the course of the season to develop grit in getting through tough workouts, becoming flexible in shifting his mindset when the scoreboard didn't reflect his desired times, and realizing his potential and discussing it, especially after he started getting the results he was working for. He made an impression on the start of his high school swimming career."

Anderegg swam a 2:05.56 in the 200 Free to finish on the podium in 4th place on Thursday, then placed 3rd in the 500 Free in 5:40.80 for bronze. Anderegg was seeded 1st entering the race and led up until the last 25 yards. Her 3rd place finish was .46 seconds from claiming gold.

"Piper has been a workhorse this season in the longer distance races," continued Sporer. "She took a liking to the 500-freestyle last winter during her YMCA swim season and has continued to develop her stroke resulting in medal winning performances at the two high school invitationals she competed in this season. 20 lap races very rarely have the photo finish that was needed tonight! Piper dropped over 4 seconds in one of the most thrilling races of the evening, missing 2nd by .01 seconds. Her 4th place finish in the 200 freestyle is another outstanding achievement which attests to Piper's work ethic and commitment in the pool this season."

Joining Robbins and Anderegg were freshman Wyatt Sporer and juniors Kristina Belz and Makenna Robbins. Sporer was 10th in the 50 Free (25.68) and 10th in the 100 Breast (1:13.55), both personal best times.

Belz swam 1:21.24 to finish 13th in the 100 Breast.

Robbins finished 5th in the 200 IM Thursday with a time of 2:31.70. On Friday she swam 1:16.06 in the 100 Breast for a 7th place finish.

"Wyatt's 100 breaststroke was especially exciting as he dropped 4.04 seconds, finished higher than his seed time, and secured a YMCA District qualifying time in the process. Kristina worked hard in the pool over the course of this season to achieve her goal of qualifying for Districts and Makenna generated a YMCA District qualifying time by dropping 0.68 seconds in the 200 while having a strong 7th place finish and personal record in the 100 breaststroke.

"To put the quality of our swimmers in perspective, as a team, with three girls competing, Wellsboro finished 9th out of 13 schools by scoring 61 points. With just two boys, Wellsboro finished 11th out of 15 teams by scoring 45.50 points. Their work ethic, determination, dedication and hunger for continually improving in practice and at meets throughout the season paid off beautifully. The future of Wellsboro High School swimming looks bright as we have no seniors, and plan to only add to our roster by drawing on our summer youth swimming program; we anticipate at least four incoming freshmen, along with the potential for a few upperclassmen next season. It's been a whirlwind these last four months of our first season as a PIAA recognized team, this group can't wait to see what we can do next!"