Northwestern senior Trey Shackleton realizes what his goals are. The PIAA state medalist from a season ago also knows how to handle pressure and go about reaching those goals.

On the opening day of the District 11 Swimming Championships at the Parkland Area High School Natatorium, Shackleton headlined a strong group of TIMES NEWS area athletes by finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle event.Along with Shackleton, Tamaqua sophomore Rebecca Kanaskie also grabbed a second place finish in the girls' 200 IM, an event in which she entered seeded second with a time of 2:22.74. However, the state qualifier from a season ago improved that time drastically, by doing the four strokes in 2:13.91, almost nine seconds faster.With the individual champions getting an automatic bid to the State Meet in a couple weeks, the remaining spots in each event are filled with the next fastest times. Because of this, Shackleton and Kanaskie will have to wait and see if their finishes from this weekend are good enough to make it."It was a fine swim today for Trey," Shackleton's Parkland Aquatic Club coach, Ryan Woodruff said. "Our main priority here is just to make it to the State Meet. I think he has potential to swim faster at the state meet. He didn't quite swim the race he wanted to, but we'll take it and move on."We all know his strength is his endurance so he is going to need to work harder on the middle of his race. He needs to put his foot on the gas a little more, but I'd watch out for him in the 500 freestyle tomorrow, if I was his competition."For Kanaskie, it was a busy day as she nabbed silver in the 200 IM while setting a personel best. She also teammed up with her fellow Raiders for a pair of third place finishes in the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Freestyle Relay.Although happy with her result, Kanaskie was slightly disappointed with one aspect of the race."Everything was fine with the race except I kind of botched that last flip turn before the final lap," she said. "Every stroke was good, but right after that turn, I knew that I messed it up."First place finisher, Raechel Rodriguez of Southern Lehigh, touched the wall just .14 of a second before Kanaskie, making that crucial flip turn a pivotal moment in the race. However, with her second-place time so good, the Lady Raider likes her odds of qualifying for the event at the state meet."I think my chances are very good," Kanaskie said. "Last year, I qualified with a 2:16. I know it's not guaranteeing anything, but that three second difference this year is big."Kanaskie also teamed up with Oliviva Stanek, Danielle DeCindio and Abigail Brickler in the 200 medley relay for a third place, and then swam the opening leg of the 200 freestyle relay with Emily Andrews, Brickler and DeCindio for another bronze finish.Among the other noteworthy medalists on the first day of competition, Northern Lehigh junior Jose Avila finished in third place behind Shackleton in the 200 Free, an event he was seeded sixth in. The Bulldog shaved nearly eight seconds of his seed time to nab the bronze."There were a lot of things that I could have improved on, but I was definitely overly-thrilled when I touched the wall," Avila said.Teammate Scarlet Ojeda, a senior, also managed to improve upon her fourth seed with a third place result in the 100 Fly event."No swim is perfect, but the more I swim the race, the better I get," Ojeda said. "So the only thing I can look forward to is to keep improving."Ojeda's third place was just in front of Tamaqua senior Danielle DeCindio, who came in fourth for another medal to add to her collection.Tamaqua teammate Benjamin Turrano turned in a third place finish in the 100 Fly."Overall, we have to be pleased with the results today," Tamaqua swim coach Al Bostdorff said. "Our two relays are relatively young girls and they had strong finishes. We dropped our times considerably in both of those races, so we have a lot to be happy about."Day two of the Swimming Championships begins this morning at 10 a.m. at Parkland.DISTRICT 11 AA SWIMMING(at Parkland Natatorium)GIRLSTEAM STANDINGS(after day one)1. Southern Lehigh (SL) 282, 2. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 140, 3. Tamaqua (T) 123.5, 4. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 121, 5. Moravian Academy (MA) 119, 6. Blue Mountain (BM) 83, 7. Saucon Valley (SV) 76, 8. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 63, 9. Salisbury (S) 48, 10. East Stroudsburg North (ESN) 38.INDIVIDUAL EVENTS(top four; plus other locals)200 Medley Relay - 1. Southern Lehigh (Jimi Feldman, Raechel Rodriguez, Santina Schiaretta, Gwynn Kylish) 1:53.96, 2. Allentown Central Catholic 1:56.51, 3. Tamaqua (Olivia Stanek, Rebecca Kanaskie, Danielle DeCindio, Abigail Brickler) 1:57.78, 4. Moravian Academy 2:00.73;200 Free - 1. Sydnee Karam (BC) 1:55.15, 2. Maria Holstrom (ACC) 1:57.77, 3. Mary Zimmerman (SH) 2:02.73, 4. Tori Touzeau (SL) 2:05.89; 16. Abigail Brickler (T) 2:18.54;200 IM - 1. Raechel Rodriguez (SL) 2:13.77, 2. Rebecca Kanaskie (T) 2:13.91, 3. Zoe Geis (SL) 2:20.43, 4. Kaylee Davis (MA) 2:20.47; 7. Scarlet Ojeda (NL) 2:22.91, 17. Olivia Stanek (T) 2:37.86;50 Free - 1. Jenna Forrester (SL) 24.51, 2. Allison Adams (SH) 25.15, 3. Kyra Manson (MA) 25.55, 4. Gwynn Kylish (SL) 25.89; 7T. Danielle DeCindio (T) 26.06, 24. Jillian Bartel (W) 29.32;100 Fly - 1. Jill Spirk (BC) 59.51, 2. Kyra Manson (MA) 1:00.87, 3. Scarlet Ojeda (NL) 1:03.19, 4. Danielle DeCindio (T) 1:03.29; 7. Angelina Krupko (MC) 1:07.25;200 Free Relay - 1. Southern Lehigh (Raechel Rodriguez, Gywnn Kylish, Samantha Talecki, Jenna Forrester) 1:41.56, 2. Schuylkill Haven 1:42.42, 3. Tamaqua (Rebecca Kanaskie, Emily Andrews, Abigail Brickler, Danielle DeCindio) 1:47.33, 4. Salisbury 1:47.44.BOYSTEAM STANDINGS(after day one)1. Allentown Central Catholic (ACC) 187, 2. Blue Mountain (BM) 177, 3. Pottsville (Pot) 162, 4. Salisbury (S) 144, 5. Saucon Valley (SV) 114.5, 6. Schuylkill Haven (SH) 93, 7. Moravian Academy (MA) 73, 8. Mahanoy Area (Mah) 72, 9. Tamaqua (T) 49.INDIVIDUAL EVENTS(Top four; plus other locals)200 Medley Relay - 1. Blue Mountain (Mark Boran, Nathanael Marino, Stephen Johnson, Joey McLaughlin) 1:41.31, 2. Allentown Central Catholic 1:43.80, 3. Saucon Valley 1:47.29, 4. Mahanoy Area 1:47.88;200 Free - 1. Mahlon Reihman (S) 1:43.46, 2. Trey Shackleton (NW) 1:43.75, 3. Jose Avila (NL) 1:50.76, 4. Michael Smerlick (Pot) 1:51.06; 5. Timmy Dando (MC) 1:53.05;200 IM - 1. Nathanael Marino (BM) 2:00.19, 2. Mark Boran (BM) 2:04.04, 3. Joseph Bozzi (PX) 2:08.14, 4. Jacob Holland (SV) 2:11.68; 9. Mac Allen (Palm) 2:17.94, 11. Jacob Sirkot (W) 2:20.39, 13. Nick Lehman (NL) 2:24.47;50 Free - 1. Gabe Castano (ACC) 21.93, 2. Stephen Johnson (BM) 22.65, 3. Josh Marx (Pot) 22.66, 4. David Webb (Pali) 23.33; 12. Wyatt Delans (NL) 24.34;100 Fly - 1. Jarod LaSelva (BC) 53.38, 2. Maxwell Daniel (SV) 56.79, 3. Benjamin Turrano (T) 58.33, 4. Zac Johnston (ACC) 58.46; 10T. Keith Cullen (W) 1:04.23, 16. Nick Lehman (NL) 1:06.98;200 Free Relay - 1. Blue Mountain (Stephen Johnson, Joey McLaughlin, Mark Boran, Nathanael Marino) 1:30.27, 2. Pottsville 1:33.78, 3. Salisbury 1:33.93, 4. Schuylkill Haven 1:36.25; 9. Tamaqua (Ben Turrano, Jeff Letterhouse, Bryan Ramirez, Andrew Castagna) 1:51.84.