At the midway point of their swim season, Al Bostdorf and his Blue Raiders have faced enough adversity to challenge any team.

But despite illness and lack of swimmers, Tamaqua has still managed to improve.The Raider girls were rewarded for that hard work and improvement on Thursday when they posted a 90-71 Schuylkill League victory over Mahanoy Area. In the boys meet, the Golden Bears pulled out a 90-54 win."I was pleased with the kids' effort today," Bostdorf said. "We've had eight meets in 15 days, we missed two days of school due to the weather, our school board does not allow us to practice on Sundays, and we've had a flu bug going around for the past couple weeks as well."Despite the shorthanded lineup, the Tamaqua girls used some strong individual and relay performances to nab the dual meet.Rebecca Kanaskie led the way as she took first in both the 200 IM and the 100 breast and played an integral part in two relay wins. Abigail Brickler (50 free, 100 fly) and Lexi Kerstetter (200 free,100 back) also picked up a pair of individuals for Tamaqua."I've been hitting the times I want to hit, so that's good," Kanaskie said. "I was a little sick last week, so there was a little bit of a rough patch. But I'm putting it behind me, and with a strong team behind me, we're doing great."Bostdorff was content with his team's progress at this point, saying, "With the rougher part of our schedule behind us, the kids have been responding well. Outside of staying healthy with the flu going around, we've been working and training hard and focusing on the last part of this regular season."On the boys' side of the pool, the Raiders may not have had the overall team result they desired, but still shone in plenty of ways.Billy Shilko won the diving competition, while teammate Jeff Letterhouse prevailed in the 100 back. The team of Shilko, Letterhouse, Nathan Steigerwalt and Bill Frederick also grabbed the win in the 400 free relay."They all did what they should be doing at this time of the season," Bostdorff said. "Considering the situation, it's nice to see. Also, we're swimming three divers that don't always train for swimming, but it has to be done with the undermanned roster we have."A few meets remain on the Raiders' slate, before the Schuylkill League Meet kicks off the postseason in a couple weeks."We have three more meets next week," said Bostdorff. "So we're basically trying to get healthy, get in a few more good workouts, and trying to make sure we get the kids in the events that they stand the best chance to excel."JOIN THE CLUB... Last Thursday, Caroline Kanaskie eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in an away meet, adding her name to the list of elite Raider swimmers. "My sister got it when she swam here, so it's kind of a big deal to get my time to shine," Kanaskie said.POOL RECORDS... Marian sophomore Danny Berlitz swam in the meet and made his presence felt as he competed individually to establish league and district qualifying times. Berlitz came away with pool records in the two events he swam - the 200 freestyle and the 100 breaststroke."This season has been going pretty good," Berlitz said. "I did the 200 IM and the 500 free here last week and broke those two pool records. It's pretty cool, and there are some technical things I can work on."GIRLSTamaqua 90, Mahanoy Area 71200 Medley Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Rebecca Kanaskie, Sarah Maue, Abigail Brickler, Kayla Sherry) 2:07.75, 2. Mahanoy Area.200 Free - 1. Lexi Kerstetter (Tam) 2:10.65, 2. Brianna Dumond (Tam), 3. Maddyson Minalda (MA).200 IM - 1. Kanaskie (Tam) 2:25.44, 2. Maue (Tam), 3. Payton Bernardyn (MA).50 Free - 1. Brickler (Tam) 27.12, 2. Sherry (Tam), 3. Kendall Bernardyn (MA).100 Fly - 1. Brickler (Tam) 1:14.07, 2. K. Bernardyn (MA), 3. Caitlin Honus (MA).100 Free - 1. Dumond (Tam) 1:00.18, 2. Sherry (Tam), 3. Katie Loughlin (MA).500 Free - 1. Maue (Tam) 6:16.23, 2. M. Minalda (MA), 3. Taylor Evans (MA).200 Free Relay - 1. Mahanoy Area (Lean VanHorn, Loughlin, Honus, K. Bernardyn) 1:56.40, 2. Tamaqua.100 Back - 1. Kerstetter (Tam) 1:04.36, 2. Sam Wagner (Tam), 3. Justina Mackenzie (MA).100 Breast - 1. Kanaskie (Tam) 1:16.34, 2. P. Bernardyn (MA), 3. VanHorn (MA).400 Free Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Dumond, Brickler, Kanaskie, Kerstetter) 4:10.66, 2. Mahanoy Area.BOYSMahanoy Area 90, Tamaqua 54200 Medley Relay - 1. Mahanoy Area (Liam Mansell, Kris Boxter, Caleb Snyder, Kyle Loughlin) 1:48.77, 2. Tamaqua.200 Free - 1. Boxter (MA) 2:07.42, 2. Daniel Wall (MA), 3. Brandon Hullihan (MA).200 IM - 1. Snyder (MA) 2:34.39.50 Free - 1. Mansell (MA) 23.87, 2. Loughlin (MA), 3. Cameron Jones (MA).Diving - 1. Bill Shilko (Tam) 198.75, 2. Bill Frederick (Tam), 3. Dalton Adams (Tam).100 Fly - 1. Mansell (MA) 1:01.82, 2. Jeff Letterhouse (Tam).100 Free - 1. Snyder (MA) 52.47, 2. Chris Miller (Tam), 3. Timothy Dilcher (MA).200 Free Relay - 1. Mahanoy Area (Snyder, Boxter, Loughlin, Mansell) 1:39.73, 2. MA, 3. Tam.100 Back - 1. Letterhouse (Tam) 1:10.96, 2. Wall (MA), 3. Hullihan (MA).100 Breast - 1. Boxter (MA) 1:06.69, 2. Nathan Steigerwalt (Tam), 3. Miller (Tam).400 Free Relay - 1. Tamaqua (Shilko, Steigerwalt, Letterhouse, Frederick) 4:18.82, 2. Mahanoy Area.