NTL SWIMMING: HICKS PETTITT LEAD ATHENS BOYS TO THIRD-PLACE FINISH AT BLUEJAY FIRST CHANCE INVITE; LADY 'CATS PLACE FIFTH (14 PHOTOS) (December 7, 2025)

Valley Sports Report
BLOOMSBURG — Junior Eli Hicks earned Athens' lone win, and junior Brayden Pettitt posted four top-three finishes to lead the Wildcats to a third-place finish in the boys portion of the Bluejay First Chance Invitational, while the Athens girls finished fifth in the team standings.

The Wildcats had a host of District 4 qualifiers in their season-opener, led by Pettitt, who punched his ticket in the 100-yard butterfly and breaststroke, and the 50-yard freestyle, as well as Hicks (50- and 100-yard freestyles), junior Dominick Musick (200-yard IM and butterfly), and junior Jacob Shores (100- and 200-yard freestyles).

Also qualifying for the boys were junior Matt Rossettie and junior Austin Quattrini in the 50 free, senior Ty Lezak and freshman Shayan Ankam in the breaststroke.

On the girls side, senior Elizabeth Denlinger qualified in the 100 free and the breaststroke, while senior Olivia Thompson punched her ticket in the 50 free and 100-yard backstroke, and senior Evelyn Panek qualified in the 50 and 100 freestyle sprints. Junior Kaitlyn Leonard qualified in the 50 free.

WILDCAT BOYS FINISH THIRD IN TEAM STANDINGS
Williamsport won the team title with 349 points, while runner-up Danville had 330 points, and Athens tallied 274 points. Bloomsburg was fourth with 234 points.

Hicks won the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 50.7 seconds, while Shores was sixth in 55.19 seconds, and Rossettie was 13th in 1:00.08.

Hicks finished third in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 22.93 seconds.

Pettitt finished second in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 56.18 seconds, and Musick was third in 1:01.52.

Pettitt also finished second in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:00.81, while Ankam was 10th in 1:15.64, and Lezak was 11th in 1:17.21. 

Pettitt, Lezak, Musick, and Hicks teamed to finish third in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:47.54.

Pettitt, Musick, and Lezak teamed with Shores to finish third in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:37.46.

Shores finished third in the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 2:04.37

Musick finished third in the 200-yard IM in a time of 2:23.95, and sophomore Alexander Stedge was 12th in 3:09.71.

Shores, Rossettie, Stedge and Quattrini teamed to place sixth in the 400-yard freestyle relay in a time of 4:08.44.

Lezak finished 10th in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 6:37.73, and Quattrini was 10th in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:17.11.

ATHENS GIRLS PLACE FIFTH IN TEAM STANDINGS
The Wildcats finished fifth in the team standings with 196 points, well off the pace of team champ Williamsport, which amassed 332 points, and runner-up Danville, which had 324 points.

Denlinger placed fourth in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 1:00.32, while Panek was fifth in 1:03.19, senior Madeline Henderson was ninth in 1:07.92, sophomore Brooke Lyon was 10th in 1:07.93, and senior Kayla Marshall was 14th in 1:08.71.

Thompson, Leonard, Panek and Denlinger teamed to place fourth in the 200-yard freestyle relay in a time of 1:52.09.

Panek placed fifth in the 50-yard freestyle in a time of 27.52, while Thompson was sixth at 27.67 seconds, and Leonard was 14th in 29.17 seconds.

Thompson placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:10.74.

Thompson, Henderson, Panek and Leonard teamed to finish sixth in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 2:07.92.

Leonard finished eighth in the 100-yard butterfly in a time of 1:26.07, and Denlinger finished eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:19.0.

Athens opens its dual season Tuesday when it hosts Tunkhannock.

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF LIZA HENDERSON.

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