Panther Valley sophomore Michael Williams has grown accustomed to being a swimmer for a school that doesn’t have a swim team.

“It certainly was a little weird and awkward at first,” said Williams, who is an independent swimmer for the school. “There are still some people in school that don’t know I represent Panther Valley in swimming.

“You have a different feeling when you’re a part of a team. But after a while, I got used to it. It has helped that the Tamaqua team has been very supportive the last two years, and I have made a lot of friends there.”

Williams is among a group of 11 independent local swimmers from four different high schools who have their sights set on upcoming league and district meets. He was referring to the fact that he practices and competes at Tamaqua High School in an effort to record times that he hopes will qualify him for the postseason.

Over the years, the Schuylkill League has been ladened with numerous independent swimmers who have medaled at both districts and states. But while the past proves that finding success as an independent swimmer is definitely possible, it certainly isn’t easy.

It involves adjustments and adaptations along the way from traveling to different pools, and dealing with evening practice times.

At meets, they often have to swim in their own lane away from the main team competition taking place, forcing them to battle to stay focused and register their best possible time.

Williams began his swimming career as a member of the Tamaqua Blue Waves in his early youth.

Terri Williams, his mother and coach, stated her son has practiced with the Blue Waves and can participate with them until age 18. Ben Tarano, who coached Terri Williams back in her competitive swimming days, is still a mainstay with the program and an influential force for her son.

The elder Williams also acknowledged Panther Valley athletic director Kristin Black, who completes the process by filing all the necessary paperwork for each meet. She also credited the assistance of Tamaqua head swimming coach Jen Paisley and Blue Waves’ head coach Jen Pinkey.

One of the sticking points in the process can be transportation, as Terri Williams and her husband Jon usually are often confronted with events involving their other school-age children.

“There are times when I have to be at his brother’s basketball game,” said Mrs. Williams. ‘My husband and I have to work out the schedules. But Michael is happy with what he is doing, and that’s what counts.“

Marian head coach Andrea Feathers has six independent swimmers who also do a majority of their work with the Tamaqua High School team.

Having that many swimmers trying to get work in can be difficult.

“We’re usually down to one lane,’ she said. “It can get very challenging to have six swimmers in one lane. So there are definitely obstacles not having your own pool or an entire team, but we always seem to work around them.”

Junior Makenzie Moyer, sophomores Zoe Katona and Delaney Erickson, and freshmen Michael Strucko, Isabella Horvat, and Kaitlyn Kisenwether comprise the combined Colt and Fillie contingent.

Katona and Strucko have both had strong seasons so far and should be part of the field for districts.

Katona has withstood the process of learning to keep her concentration.

“It can be very difficult to stay focused when you’re an independent swimmer. It’s tough,” said Katona. “You have to learn to pace yourself. Our whole team is struggling with it, especially the freshmen.

“It does take a while, and you have to make a lot of adjustments. We’re hoping we can grow as a team. We are learning from it, and over time, we will push through it.”

Feathers usually has to drive four or five swimmers to a practice – one has her license. She believes the team’s number will increase in the future, and it could be a problem for her transportation method.

“If we get some more kids, I guess I will have to get a bigger car,” she mused. “But that would be a pleasant problem to have. The kids have really swam well this season, and we don’t have any seniors.

“If we get a few more swimmers, we can register them as a relay team which would be really great.”

Since she took the job two years ago, Feathers doesn’t have any regrets.

“My AD was looking for a swim coach, and I told him that I would do it if he couldn’t get anyone,” she recalled. “As it turned out, that’s what happened.

“It really has been fun. I always try to give them the feeling of a team. We have done whatever we need to do. We’ve managed to make it work well, and we’ll continue to do it.”

Pleasant Valley head coach Andrea Santiago also has worked to overcome the obstacles that independent swimmers have to face.

Sophomore Logan Santiago and freshman Victoria Johns represent the Bears. They practice at either the Pocono Mountain East or Pocono Mountain West pools. Both of them got into competitive swimming as part of the Pocono Piranhas club - which has been a steady feeder program for Pocono area high schools.

“Our kids have to swim by themselves, and that can be hard,” said coach Santiago “Swimming is a mental sport, and these kids get tested. It’s hard being an independent swimmer.

“But the other kids around them have been very supportive.

Jacob Thielen is a coach with the Parkland Aquatics Club, and is working with Northwestern High School sophomore swimmers Hunter Slaski and Aiden Braadt, who both swam at districts last year.

Thielen has been working with Northwestern swimmers for a little more than a decade.

The Northwestern duo spends most of their time swimming at Allen High School under Thielen’s guidance, as well as Allen assistant swim coach Samantha Bolen. Thielen noted that Muhlenberg College is also an occasional option to get in swim time.

“Both of them could have a number of coaches helping them,” said Thielen. “It is difficult being an independent swimmer, but the ones we have seen have plenty of determination and drive to succeed.

“We have seen many Northwestern swimmers in the program, and they all have been very hard workers. The independent swimmers get plenty of support, and they definitely have benefited from it.”

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500 CLUB ... Northwestern head girls basketball coach Chris Deutsch reached a milestone Wednesday night when his team played at Salisbury.

Deutsch, now in his 20th season, coached his 500th game as the Tigers posted a 52-16 victory. During his tenure, his clubs have posted an impressive 341-159, record for a winning percentage of 682.

The Northwestern mentor is the only current one in the Times News area to have coached at a school for that many games.

Earlier this season, Rob Kovac joined the 500-game club. He has now been in charge for 512 contests, although they have been with two different schools. Kovac has coached 204 games at Panther Valley (113-91) and 308 at Jim Thorpe (153-155).

Another current area head coach has been on the sidelines for over 500 games, also with two different schools. In fact, he is only a handful of games away from reaching 600. Lehighton’s Joe Berezwick has coached 134 games with the Indians (57-77) and 460 (277-183) at Tamaqua before that.

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ENDING THE STREAK ... The Panther Valley boys basketball team defeated Pottsville by a 50-37 score on Tuesday night.

The victory snapped a long losing streak the Panthers had against the Crimson Tide.

PV had dropped 26 consecutive games to their Schuylkill League foe, including a 65-50 decision earlier this season.

The last time the Panthers had won versus Pottsville was Jan. 13, 2009 when Pat Crampsie’s club posted a 55-45 victory. In that game, Logan Stano and Bejtullah Mehmeti both scored 15 points while Ryan Blasko added 14.

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BOMBS AWAY! ... In Monday’s victory against Salem Christian, Marian had four players hit a three-pointer that hadn’t done so this season.

With those four, the Colts now have 12 different players that have connected from beyond the arc.

That figure is the most of any Times News area team this season.

The all-time record among TN teams is 13, accomplished two different times. Lehighton did it during the 2018-19 season, while Palmerton’s 2003-04 squad was the first to reach that mark.

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SPEAKING OF 3S ... In Tuesday’s win against Pottsville, Panther Valley hit six three-pointers to bring its season total to an area high of 140.

The Panthers have long been known as a team that excels from the perimeter.

Including Tuesday’s game, PV has now hit at least one three-pointer in 296 consecutive games. The last time the Panthers failed to connect from beyond the arc was Feb. 13, 2010 against Tamaqua.

The next longest streaks are Marian at 184, and Northwestern at 125.

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BRACKETOLOGY ... With the high school basketball regular season winding down, it’s probably a good time to remind everyone of the playoff criteria in District 11.

All teams that finish with a .500 or better record in either league play or overall automatically qualify. In addition, there are a minimum number of teams that will qualify in each class. The number is different in each class, and is arrived at by dividing the number of teams in that class by two and rounding up to the nearest even number.

Based on 2022-23 class breakdowns, here are the minimum numbers of teams that will qualify in each class:

BOYS

1A - 6; 2A - 6; 3A - 6; 4A - 6; 5A - 4; 6A - 6

GIRLS

1A - 4; 2A - 6; 3A - 4; 4A - 6; 5A - 4; 6A - 6

The District 11 website (districtxi.com) updates the standings and power ratings for each team on a nightly basis. The rankings are listed under the category Resources, and then under Power Ratings for Fans. The district site lists the record, power rating and games remaining for each team, and also color codes the teams that have already qualified. You can also see the result of every game a team has played this season by clicking on the school name.

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BUBBLE WATCH ... Since last week’s column where we listed the area teams who had already punched their tickets to the District 11 dance, two more boys teams - Marian and Panther Valley - have locked up berths. They join Palmerton in the District 11 playoff field.

On the girls side, Panther Valley has been added to the group that includes, Marian, Northern Lehigh, Northwestern and Palmerton.

While eight area teams are in the district field, there are several more who are sitting on the district bubble heading into the final week of the regular season.

On the boys side, Jim Thorpe, Northwestern and Pleasant Valley are still alive for district berths.

• The Olympians (9-11, 5-7) have to win both their remaining games - Friday vs. North Schuylkill and Tuesday at Pine Grove.

• The Tigers (9-10, 7-8) have to win two of their remaining three games - Friday at Northern Lehigh; Saturday at Brandywine Heights; Tuesday vs. Catasauqua.

• The Bears (8-10, 6-8) must win both their remaining league games - Friday at Stroudsburg and Monday vs. Pocono Mountain West. Pleasant Valley also has a non-league game with Moravian Academy on Wednesday, but because it only has a 21-game schedule (one fewer than the maximum allowed), that game won’t impact its qualifying.

On the girls side, Jim Thorpe and Weatherly could both still qualify.

• The Olympians (10-9, 5-7) need to win one of their final three games to automatically qualify for the field - tonight at North Schuylkill; Saturday at Nativity; Monday vs. Pine Grove. Even if the Olympians don’t reach the .500 mark, however, it appears that they have a good chance at qualifying by being among the top six in rating points in Class 4A girls.

• The Wreckers (4-14, 2-9) find themselves in a different spot from the other area bubble teams. Weatherly won’t reach the .500 mark, but can still be one of the four teams in Class 1A girls to qualify based on rating points. It is currently sitting in the fourth spot with a rating of .265278. The Wreckers hold a slight lead over both fifth-place Susquehanna Community (.263006), and sixth-place Notre Dame of East Stroudsburg (.224765).