OREFIELD - The details of their races were completely opposite.

But their end result was the same.

Marian’s brother-sister team of Michael and Lydia Strucko both captured gold medals on Day 1 of the District 11 Class 2A swimming championships on Friday. And while one jumped out to a fast start and then hung on, the other pulled away from some tight competition early to win by a wide margin.

The two Marian swimmers weren’t the only Times News area athletes to have success. Northwestern’s Hunter Slaski also turned in a winning performance to add to the sibling storyline.

Slaski, whose brother Hayden earned gold in last weekend’s district diving competition, nearly won two races on the first day of the two-day event. But his good friend - Marian’s Strucko - edged him out in the 200 freestyle.

“I’m very happy with the swim,” said Michael, whose personal-best time of 1:48.94 was .18 seconds faster than Slaski. “I came in pretty confident with the training, and I’ve been looking forward to districts the whole season. I’m happy with the swim, happy with how it went. I think it was a good swim, I got the win and had fun.

“It was close. My friend, he caught me a little bit at the end there ... I had some energy and just went for it, took it out fast and held on at the end there.Hunter’s my friend. We trained together a lot in previous years. He transferred (club) teams, but we still keep in touch. I know him. He’s a really good swimmer. It was fun to race him and go 1-2.”

Strucko doesn’t often swim the 200 free and doesn’t consider it one of his best events. But because of the district schedule, he opted to participate in it on Day 1.

“Last year I did the 500 (free) and the 100 back, which are my best events, but the problem is that they fall on the same day and they’re back-to-back events which isn’t ideal because you’re tired from the one and it kind of hurts the other one. So, this year I wanted to space my events out over the two days to be sure I could give my best to both,” said Michael.

“So, my best event on Day 1 would be the 2-free. It’s not really one of my main events, I don’t do it a ton. But it was the best shot for Day 1, so that’s what I chose to do.”

Strucko, who will be swimming the 100 backstroke in today’s second portion of districts, could feel Slaski closing in on him down the stretch.

“Both of our seed times were quite a bit slower than what we actually could go, so I was lane 6 and he was lane 3,” said Strucko. “We had a pretty nice gap (between us). I could see him coming back.

“I was ahead for pretty much the whole race until the last 50 when I saw him coming to get me, so I really had to put my head down and push to the finish. It was close.”

While Strucko opted not to do two races the same day, Slaski participated in multiple events on Day 1.

That second one earned him the gold that he just missed out on against his friend.

It also allowed him to share family bragging rights.

“That was one of the biggest motivations for me coming into today,” said Hunter about his brother’s diving gold. “He put a lot of pressure on me to get something, and I was ready to do it.”

Hunter’s winning effort came in the 100 butterfly, where he posted a winning time of 54.39. That was more than a second and a half faster than runner-up Noah Bevan of Pottsville (55.99).

Speaking of faster, Lydia Strucko didn’t giver her competition in the 200 IM a chance, finishing more than six seconds before runner-up Savannah Wilson of Tamaqua.

“I’ve been training hard the last couple of weeks, and I went in with some confidence and I was just really happy to swim with some very talented girls,” said Lydia, whose winning time was 2:12.38. “I try not to think about where I’m seeded. I just try to go into it with a positive attitude and mindset, and whatever happens, happens.

“Savannah’s a very talented flyer, so she was definitely with me for the first bit of the race. But I like to think that back is one of my stronger strokes, so I pulled away a little bit.”

In addition to teammate Wilson’s silver in the 200 IM, Tamaqua senior Lexi Buchala finished fourth in the 200 freestyle to reach the stand and collect a pewter medal for her efforts.

Tamaqua also took home a trio of bronze medals in the relays. In the girls 200 medley relay, the team of seniors Gabby Blasko and Lily McNutt were teamed with sophomores Wilson and Ava Jones and finished with a time of 2:02.05 - a little over two seconds out of second place.

In the boys relays, Tamaqua grabbed thirds in the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. The medley relay team was made up of seniors Jathan Krall, Stephen Behun, Jack Tharp, and Peter McGinley, while Tharp, Krall, and Behun were joined by another senior - Ethan DiBonifazio - in the 200 freestyle relay.

The competition continues Saturday with both the 100 and 500 freestyle, the 100 backstroke and breaststroke competitions and the final relay event (400 freestyle) of the championships.

Gold medal winners advance to the PIAA competition and other swimmers may qualify based on their finishing times when compared to other swimmers from across the state.

District 11 2A Swimming

(top four finishers, plus locals)

Girls

200 Medley Relay - 1. Blue Mountain 1:51.95, 2. Pottsville 1:59.52, 3. Tamaqua (Gabby Blasko, Lily McNutt, Savannah Wilson, Ava Jones) 2:02.05, 4. North Schuylkill 2:02.16, 8. Marian Catholic (Lydia Strucko, Zoe Katona, Kaitlyn Kisenwether, Delaney Erickson) 2:07.34; 200 Freestyle - 1. Phoebe Ballek (Salisbury) 1:57.67, 2. Olivia Amorim (Salisbury) 1:59.11, 3. Mollie Sarnes (Blue Mt.) 2:04.97, 4. Lexi Buchala (Tamaqua)2:05.61, 12. Isabella Jones (Tamaqua) 2:17.97; 200 IM - 1. Lydia Strucko (Marian Catholic) 2:12.38, 2. Savannah Wilson (Tamaqua) 2:18.96, 3. Tyla Block (Allentown Central Catholic) 2:24.10, 4. Amanda Dettmar (Saucon Valley) 2:31.18; 50 Freestyle - 1. Julia Cort (Saucon Valley) 24.26, 2. Donja Tripp (Notre Dame Green Pond) 24.28, 3. Victoria Ellex (Blue Mt.) 24.86, 4. Angelina Dechert (Saucon Valley) 25.27, 12. Janna Brown (Tamaqua) 27.53, 19. Ava Jones (Tamaqua) 28.38; 100 Butterfly

- 1. Olivia Amorim (Salisbury) 1:00.50, 2. Adalia Laselva (Pottsville) 1:01.87, 3. Paige Bensinger (Blue Mt.) 1:02.62, 4. Christelle Waked (Notre Dame Green Pond) 1:06.11, 8. Audrey Nattress (Tamaqua) 1:10.03, 11. Lily McNutt (Tamaqua) 1:11.55;

200 Freestyle Relay

- 1. Blue Mountain 1:41.67, 2. Saucon Valley 1:41.80, 3. Schuylkill Haven 1:48.26, 4. Allentown Central Catholic 1:48.48, 8. Tamaqua (Janna Brown, Ava Jones, Isabella Jones, Lexi Buchala) 1:51.35, 11. Marian Catholic (Octavia Zito, Makenzie Moyer, Delaney Erickson, Kaitlyn Kisenwether) 2:13.44.

Team Standings

(Through event 13)

1. Blue Mountain 224, 2. Saucon Valley 144, T3. North Schuylkill and Tamaqua 113, 5. Central Catholic 105, 6. Salisbury 98, 7. Pottsville 75, Mahanoy Area 73, Schuylkill Haven 69, Marian 68, Moravian Academy 67, East Stroudsburg North 22.

Boys

200 Medley Relay - 1. Blue Mountain 1:41.74, 2. Moravian Academy 1:47.31, 3. Tamaqua (Jathan Krall, Stephen Behun, Jack Tharp, Peter McGinley), 1:49.15 4. Allentown Central Catholic 1:49.34; 200 Freestyle - 1. Michael Strucko (Marian Catholic) 1:48.94, 2. Hunter Slaski (Northwestern) 1:49.12, 3. Aidan Rodrigues (Moravian Academy) 1:52.25, 4. Noah Bevan (Pottsville) 1:52.34, 12. Michael Williams (Panther Valley) 2:08.37, 15. Alex Zehner (Tamaqua) 2:09.90; 200 IM - 1. Oliver Ritchey (Moravian Academy) 2:02.52, 2. Gavin Mahon (Allentown Central Catholic) 2:11.23, 3. Christian Fisher (Blue Mt.) 2:13.53, 4. Gabriel Kamarousky (Blue Mt.) 2:14.48, 9. Jack Tharp (Tamaqua) 2:23.80; 50 Freestyle - 1. Noah Powers (Blue Mt.) 20.72, 2. Matheson Blair (Blue Mt.) 21.59, 3. Nick Janis (Allentown Central Catholic) 22.71, 4. Vincent Prestileo (Pottsville) 22.85, 6. Stephen Behun (Tamaqua) 23.11, 12. Peter McGinley (Tamaqua) 24.45 13, Jacob Hehn (Tamaqua) 24.55, 15. Ethan DiBonifazio (Tamaqua) 24.83, 19. Andrew Metters (Marian Catholic) 26.13, 21. Ethan Movassaghi (Marian Catholic) 27.64; 100 Butterfly - 1. Hunter Slaski (Northwestern) 54.39, 2. Noah Bevan (Pottsville) 55.99, 3. Gavin Mahon (Allentown Central Catholic) 58.27, 4. Thomas King (Saucon Valley) 59.05, 9. Jacob Hehn (Tamaqua) 1:03.22; 200 Freestyle Relay

- 1. Blue Mountain 1:29.02, 2. Pottsville 1:33.95, 3. Tamaqua (Jack Tharp, Ethan DiBonifazio, Jathan Krall, Stephen Behun) 1:33.99, 4. Saucon Valley 1:38.07, 5. Marian Catholic (Ethan Movassaghi, Reece Steibler, Andrew Metters, Michael Strucko) 1:41.31.

Team Standings

(Through event 14)

1. Blue Mountain 234, 2. Pottsville 168, 3. Moravian Academy 135, 4. Tamaqua 124, 5. Central Catholic 104, 6. Saucon Valley 98, 7. North Schuylkill 88, 8. Pocono Mountain East 68, 9. Marian 48, 10. Salisbury 33, 11. Mahanoy Area 23, 12. Schuylkill Haven 12.