POTTSVILLE — Greatness is a strong word, but it was evident here at the annual Schuylkill League Swimming Championship Saturday in the Ned Hampford Natatorium.

Noah Powers, the exceptional talent from Blue Mountain, hit the highest of notes for another memorable league performance.

The University of Virginia bound athlete dominated, winning four gold medals. In addition to smashing his own meet record in the 50 freestyle in 20.88 seconds, he sped to the finish line without a challenge in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.43.

In addition to his individual success, he also helped his Blue Mountain teammates capture the 200 medley and 200 freestyle relay teams.

While Powers was garnering his accolades, Marian’s fast-rising junior Michael Strucko was having a blast, calling it a fun meet.

All Strucko did was pick up a pair of gold medals in the 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.

“I was kind of experimenting, having fun with it,” Strucko said. “This meet isn’t too serious … districts and states are the main events. I was having fun racing.”

Strucko wasn’t even at full strength, as he was coming off a bout of being sick. The fact he wasn’t 100 percent makes one think where his times would actually have been if it weren’t for his recent illness.

“I was sick for a whole week, so I’m just getting back into it,” he said. “I’m happy that I was able to come out on top. It was a good marker to see where I’m at to get back into training for districts and states.”

Blue Mountain’s Liam Magdeburg pushed Strucko to the end in the 200 free, as the Marian swimmer finished with a time of 1:52.03. The two-time state qualifier in the freestyle, as well as the 100 fly, is anxious to take it to the next level.

“(As far as I’m concerned) districts and states is where I want to get ready to compete,” said Strucko, whose winning fly time was 54.99.

Another Strucko was also reeling in gold medals for Marian.

Lydia Strucko also grabbed two, winning the 200 IM and 100 backstroke.

A state qualifier in both events last season, Strucko (2:13.90) took the IM by 5 seconds over second-place Savannah Wilson of Tamaqua (2:19.03). She placed first in the backstroke in 59.41, winning by nearly four seconds over Mahanoy Area’s Lillian Brown (1:03.29).

“I came into this with an open mind,” she said. “I’ve been training hard for the last two months. It’s been a lot of practicing. I’m definitely feeling the effects … I’m pretty tired.

“I’m not super happy with the times, but it was a really nice experience. I love swimming with these other fast girls.”

Her coach, Andrea Feathers, loves that reaction.

“Lydia always thinks she can do better…. But she had a good swim,” Feathers said. “She’s always so humble. But I think she performed well.”

The Tamaqua swimmers also performed well, especially Wilson.

She captured a gold medal in the 100 breatstroke, and also teamed with Kate Behun, Audrey Nattress and Ava Jones to win the 200 medley relay.

“I was very surprised, but happy,” Wilson said of the relay victory, which felt even better since the win came against rival Blue Mountain in a time of 1:55.73.

The foursome are hoping the momentum carries over to the next competition.

“This was great, now we are going for districts,” said Nattress, who admitted her superstition of her meal the night before. “What I eat — a seafood boil before, ice cream … and (in the morning) I had a bagel … it’s a normal thing.”

Behun, meanwhile, said she was a bundle of nerves.

“Once it started, I get over (the nerves),” she said.

Jones, a freshman, anchored the event and also had some fears, but said she was thrilled when she touched the wall.

“I was really scared,” said Jones. “This was a really good experience, everyone was worried, but now that it is over we can relax.”

Tamaqua head coach Jen Paisley has been grooming her athletes to peak at this time of the season.

Paisley has been watching the district results and said the goal was to get under two minutes.

“I wasn’t surprised with the (win) but the time was just fantastic,” said Paisley. “They realize that they’re only a seventh of a second from the school record … we’ve been pushing and training hard for this (all season).”

Wilson turned in a time of 1:07.34 to take the 100 breaststroke, with Marian’s Zoe Katona placing second at 1:09.72.

“I was hoping to break my own (PR) but I didn’t, but I was happy with the win,” said Wilson, who did break the school record. “It was a very good swim, so I am happy with the (gold) medal.”

“Getting the school record ... we got that one out of the way,” Paisley said. “It will be interesting to see if she can do that again at districts. I think this meet for all the kids is a big confidence builder. When they come here and see how fast and what they’re capable of (doing), I think it gives them that (confidence) boost, and can go into the district meet feeling good about what they can accomplish.

“Hopefully, we can have two more steps along the way — districts and states.”

Schuylkill League

Swimming Championships

At Pottsville’s Hampford Natatorium

Team legend

Blue Mountain (BM), Mahanoy Area (MA), Marian (Mar), North Schuylkill (NS), Panther Valley (PV), Pottsville (Potts), Schuylkill Haven (SH), Tamaqua (Tam).

BOYS

200 medley relay - 1. Blue Mountain A (Moyer, Powers, Sarnes, Varney) 1:43.86, 2. Pottsville A 1:46.73, 3. Pottsville B 1:55.32, 4. Marian A 1:57.31, 5. Tamaqua A 1:58.56, 6. Schuylkill Haven A 2:05.52; 200 freestyle - 1. Strucko (Mar) 1:52.03, 2. Magdeburg (BM) 1:53.19, 3. Sarnes (BM) 1:57.56, 4. Meyers (NS) 2:00.53, 5. Hart (BM) 2:04.08, 6. Strauss (Potts) 2:05.14; 200 IM - 1. Miller (SH) 2:07.53, 2. Kamarousky (BM) 2:18.56, 3. F.J. Mangianello (NS) 2:35.23, 4. Campbell (NS) 2:35.38, 5. Luna (NS) 2:36.52, 6. F.D. Mangianello (NS) 2:53.36; 50 freestyle - 1. Powers (BM) 20.88 (meet record), 2. Bevan (Potts) 23.16, 3. Bressler (Potts) 24.02, 4. Varney (BM) 24.06, 5. Hehn (Tam) 24.11, 6. Metters (Mar) 24.61; 100 butterfly - 1. Strucko (Mar) 54.99, 2. Moyer (BM) 55.64, 3. Mohl (Potts) 1:04.52, 4. M. Prestileo (Potts) 1:06.72, 5. Campbell (NS) 1:10.57, 6. Hehn (Tam) 1:11.33; 200 freestyle relay - 1. Blue Mountain A (Moyer, Kamarousky, Varney, Powers) 1:32.31, 2. Pottsville A 1:36.80, 3. Blue Mountain B 1:38.47, 4. North Schuylkill B 1:43.58, 5. Tamaqua A 1:46.41, 6. Pottsville B 1:49.06; 100 freestyle - 1. Mentzer (NS) 50.67, 2. Scala (BM) 52.51, 3. Kamarousky (BM) 52.67, 4. Varney (BM) 52.84, 5. Steibler (Mar) 54.43, 6. Bressler (Potts) 54.46; 500 freestyle - 1. Sarnes (BM) 5:03.49, 2. Magdeburg (BM) 5:07.78, 3. Wright (Potts) 5:30.86, 4. March (BM) 5:42.87, 5. Hart (BM) 5:50.48, 6. Luna (NS) 6:12.85; 100 backstroke - 1. Powers (BM) 52.43, 2. Moyer (BM) 58.23, 3. Mentzer (NS) 59.82, 4. Scala (BM) 1:01.03, 5. Metters (Mar) 1:01.95, 6. Williams (PV) 1:04.78; 100 breaststroke - 1. Miller (SH) 1:04.75, 2. Walsh (Potts) 1:09.67, 3. Davis (Potts) 1:09.76, 4. Meyers (NS) 1:11.31, 5. Faust (BM) 1:17.87, 6. Barron (Tam) 1:19.17; 400 freestyle relay - 1. Blue Mountain A (Scala, Hart, Sarnes, Kamarousky) 3:28.39, 2. Pottsville A 3:30.72, 3. North Schuylkill A 3:46.54, 4. Marian A 3:49.78, 5. Pottsville B 3:50.82, 6. Blue Mountain B 4:04.07.

GIRLS

200 medley relay - 1. Tamaqua A (Behun, Wilson, Nattress, A. Jones) 1:55.73, 2. Blue Mountain A 1:58.07, 3. Pottsville A 1:58.95, 4. Schuylkill Haven A 2:00.87, 5. Mahanoy Area A 2:04.74, 6. North Schuylkill A 2:14.87; 200 freestyle - 1. H. Stauffer (SH) 2:02.92, 2. Wolfe (NS) 2:05.13, 3. G. LaSelva (Potts) 2:08.97, 4. Lafko (BM) 2:10.90, 5. J. Crossen (BM) 2:11.76, 6. Lutz (BM) 2:25.55; 200 IM - 1. Strucko (Mar) 2:13.90, 2. Wilson (Tam) 2:19.03, 3. L. Clemson (Tam) 2:43.76, 4. Betz (Tam) 2:48.03, 5. Krall (Tam) 3:03.68; 50 freestyle - 1. Kaplafka (BM) 25.37, 2. H. Stauffer (SH) 25.41, 3. T. Salefski (NS) 26.47, 4. A. LaSelva (Potts) 26.50, 5. C. Stauffer (SH) 26.84, 6. Scheuer (BM) 28.80; 100 butterfly - 1. Hensel (BM) 1:04.34, 2. Domermuth (SH) 1:05.20, 3. Nattress (Tam) 1:07.34, 4. Chilinskas (MA) 1:10.89, 5. G. Salefski (NS) 1:12.25, 6. E. Crossen (BM) 1:19.20; 200 freestyle relay - 1. Schuylkill Haven A (Wehr, C. Stauffer, Domermuth, H. Stauffer) 1:46.45, 2. Blue Mountain A 1:52.11, 3. Tamaqua A 1:52.20, 4. Mahanoy Area A 1:53.75, 5. North Schuylkill A 1:55.55, 6. Marian A 1:56.80; 100 freestyle - 1. Kaplafka (BM) 56.29, 2. Wolfe (NS) 58.01, 3. Domermuth (SH) 58.33, 4. A. LaSelva (Potts) 59.22, 5. Katona (Mar) 59.31, 6. Martinko (Potts) 1:00.19; 500 freestyle - 1. Brown (MA) 5:38.84, 2. Lafko (BM) 5:52.90, 3. J. Crossen (BM) 5:53.11, 4. Behun (Tam) 5:57.89, 5. K. Zulli (BM) 6:24.55, 6. Lutz (BM) 6:25.38; 100 backstroke - 1. Strucko (Mar) 59.41, 2. Brown (MA) 1:03.29, 3. G. LaSelva (Potts) 1:05.78, 4. Behun (Tam) 1:07.70, 5. Nattress (Tam) 1:10.49, 6. Lavas (NS) 1:16.06; 100 breaststroke - 1. Wilson (Tam) 1:07.34, 2. Katona (Mar) 1:09.72, 3. Hensel (BM) 1:11.74, 4. Martinko (Potts) 1:12.85, 5. Chilinskas (MA) 1:16.29, 6. Van Orden (Potts) 1:21.60; 400 freestyle relay - 1. Blue Mountain A (Hensel, J. Crossen, Lafko, Kaplafka) 3:54.11, 2. Pottsville A 4:03.59, 3. Tamaqua A 4:05.26, 4. Marian A 4:17.63, 5. North Schuylkill A 4:30.18, 6. Schuylkill Haven A 5:38.18.