Chambersburg’s boys swimming team was a force to be reckoned with in the pool last winter, with the Trojans rolling to runner-up postseason finishes at both the Mid-Penn Conference and District 3-3A Championship meets before securing a seventh-place finish at states.
As good as Coach Chad White’s boys were last season, they might be even more lethal this year. Chambersburg returns nearly every key swimmer from last season’s powerhouse squad, including five competitors who won state medals.
While the Trojans are expected to light the pool on fire, Waynesboro has sustained heavy graduation losses and will have to quickly develop talent if it hopes to repeat the success of last season’s undefeated campaign. In our boys swimming previews we’ll take a closer look at both the Trojans and Tribe, the two squads in our area that field high school programs.
Stay with Local.News1 in the days to come as we continue to preview the winter sports season.
Below are team-by-team previews for the boys swimming teams in the Local.News1 coverage area:
Waynesboro Tribe
Coach: Sharon McIlquham
Division: Mid-Penn Colonial
Last season: 10-0
Top projected returners: Nathan Baker (So., Freestyle), Andrew Bryan (Jr., Freestyle), Breilyn Davila (Sr.), Cello Dimino (Sr., Freestyle/Butterfly), Oliver Garraway (Sr., Freestyle), Luke Halstead (So., Freestyle), Levi Horst (So., Butterfly/IM), Ethan McDonald (Sr., Freestyle), Dominic Valentine (Sr., Freestyle), Will Yost (Jr., Freestyle)
Meet the Tribe: Duplicating last year’s undefeated campaign will be easier said than done for Waynesboro, which graduated a big chunk of its talent, most notably JB Bonner, who is now swimming for St. Mary’s College … Bonner was a Mid-Penn medalist in both the 100 backstroke (7th) and 50 freestyle (8th), and was a district qualifier in both events … The Tribe graduated four other Mid-Penn qualifiers in Gabe Blake, Aiden Hess, Riley Morgan, and Owen Shockey, as well as their entire diving corps in Tank Benedict, Kyle Swanson, and Bryan Alford … Look for juniors Andrew Bryan and Will Yost, both district qualifiers last winter, to pick up the slack … Bryan qualified for districts in the 50 freestyle, while Yost did the same in the 500 freestyle … Waynesboro returns one other postseason qualifier in senior Cello Dimino, who qualified for Mid-Penns in both the 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
Opener: Tuesday, Dec. 9, at home vs. Big Spring
Chambersburg Trojans
Coach: Chad White
Division: Mid-Penn Commonwealth
Last season: 8-2
Top projected returners: Griffin Adamek (Sr., Backstroke/IM), Xavier Covington (Sr., Backstroke/Butterfly), Nolan Diehl (Jr., Diving), Colby Evans (Sr., Freestyle/Backstroke), Alex Kaczmark (Sr., Freestyle/Butterfly), Cullen McGraw (Jr., Freestyle), Cristian Pong (Sr., Butterfly), Kahne Smith (Jr.), Kruz Swope (So.), Amir Tasker (Jr., Freestyle), Levi Uglow (Sr.), Ethan White (Jr., Freestyle/Breaststroke/IM)
Meet the Trojans: Loaded would be a good word to describe the 2025-26 Chambersburg squad, which returns nearly every key piece from a team last year that posted runner-up finishes at the Mid-Penn and District 3-3A meets, and sprinted to a seventh-place showing at states … The Trojans will be led by a group of five swimmers — Amir Tasker, Cullen McGraw, Cristian Pong, Alex Kaczmark, and Ethan White — who claimed PIAA medals last winter … Tasker placed seventh at states in the 200 freestyle (1:40.58) and also guided Chambersburg to a fifth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay. He won four district medals and was the Mid-Penn champion in the 100 freestyle … No distance was too long to cover for McGraw, who placed eighth in the state in the 500 freestyle (4:39.36) and was a member of Chambersburg’s fifth-place 400 freestyle relay squad. He was the district’s second-place finisher in the 500 freestyle, and finished third in the Mid-Penn in the same event, as well as the 200 IM … Pong landed on the PIAA awards stand last winter with an eighth-place finish in the 100 butterfly (50.06). He won four district medals and was the Mid-Penn champion in both the 100 backstroke and 100 butterfly … Kaczmark and White both earned their fifth-place PIAA medals as members of the Trojans’ 400 freestyle squad … Kaczmark landed podium finishes in multiple indivdiual events at both Mid-Penns and districts … White was a district bronze medalist in the 500 freestyle, and was a Mid-Penn qualifier in the 200 IM … The Trojans graduated their top diver in PIAA qualifier Keagan Myers, but return a district qualifier on the board in Nolan Diehl and a Mid-Penn qualifier in Parker Miller … Xavier Covington is projected to return for the Trojans after qualifying for districts in the 100 backstroke, 50 butterfly, and 100 butterfly last season. Covington nailed down two individual medals at Mid-Penns … Griffin Adamek returns for his senior year after qualifying for districts in the 100 backstroke and Mid-Penns in the 200 IM … Colby Evans, a senior, returns experience as a Mid-Penn qualifier in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke … Chambersburg graduated Thomas McCullough, a Mid-Penn qualifier in both the 100 and 200 freestyle.
Opener: Tuesday, Dec. 2, at home vs. Bishop McDevitt
