DISTRICT 4 SWIMMING: ATHENS BOYS' 400 FREE RELAY PUNCHES TICKET TO STATES; BOYS PLACE THIRD , GIRLS FIFTH AT DISTRICTS (24 PHOTOS) (February 26, 2026)

Valley Sports Report
WILLIAMSPORT — Athens juniors Brayden Pettitt, Eli Hicks, Dominic Musick and Eli Hicks punched their ticket to States here Thursday night with a gold-medal effort in the 400-yard freestyle relay here at Day 2 of the District 4 Boys Swimming Championships at Williamsport High School.

The Wildcats placed third in the Class AA standings with 258 points. Danville won the team title with 279 points, while Bloomsburg was second with 266, Central Columbia was fourth with 216, and Mifflinburg was fifth with 216.
 
The Athens junior quartet won the District 4 title in the 400 free relay in a time of 3:23.42 — nearly 4 1/2 seconds faster than runner-up Danville (3:27.83).

The Wildcats will now have to wait until wild cards — based on times — are handed out next week to see if there will be more state qualifiers.

Pettitt place third in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 58.73 seconds, while senior Ty Lezak finished sixth in 1:07.63, and freshman Shayan Ankam as eighth in 1:10.88.

On Wednesday, Pettitte broke his school record in the 200-yard IM, and was part of the record-breaking 200-yard freestyle relay.

Junior Jacob Shores finished seventh in the 500-yard freestyle in a time of 5:43.26, and junior Austin Quattrini was 11th in 5:59.25.

Junior Matt Rossettie finished 14th in the 100-yard freestyle in a time of 56.58 seconds.

LADY WILDCATS PLACE FIFTH IN TEAM STANDINGS
Seniors Evelyn Panek, Olivia Thompson, Elizabeth Denlinger, and junior Kaitlyn Leonard posted the best finish of the day for the Wildcats, placing third in the 400-yard freestyle relay in a school-record time of 3:52.56.

Panek placed fifth in the 100-yard freestyle in a school-record time of 56.42 seconds, while juniors Alana Reyes (1:03.07) and Leonard (1:03.73) finished 16th and 17th, respectively.

The Wildcats broke four records during the two-day meet, and Panek was involved in all four, breaking the 50- and 100-yard freestyle records, as well as part of the record-breaking 200- and 400-yard freestyle relays.

Thompson placed fifth in the 100-yard backstroke in a time of 1:05.73. 

Denlinger finished eighth in the 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:15.28, and senior Madeline Henderson was 13th in 1:19.74.

The PIAA Swimming & Diving Championships are set for March 11-14 at Bucknell University.

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