Butler's Bocci wins state title
Sixteen months ago, David Bocci decided to make a change.
“I decided to give up the 200 IM (individual medley) and pursue the butterfly,” the Butler senior said. “I thought I stood a better chance in that event.
“I just went to work on it.”
That work paid off with a state championship in the 100-yard butterfly at the PIAA Class 3A Swimming Championships Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School.Bocci swam the event in 49.01 seconds for his first-ever PIAA gold medal.“As a dad, I'm so proud of my son,” Butler swim coach Dave Bocci said. “As his coach, I never put any kind of expectations on him in the pool.“He decided to make the change on his own. From there, it was all him. I was just along for the ride.”Bocci also took fifth in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:33.37. He joined Ben Borvendeg, Gideon Goettler and Sam Deemer for a fifth-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay.Borvendeg took fourth in the 50 freestyle with a 20.69 time. Deemer medaled in the 100 backstroke, claiming eighth in 50.81 seconds.“We finished fifth as a team, Butler's highest finish at states in a very long time,” Coach Bocci said. “These guys did a tremendous job.”David Bocci is headed to Clarion to continue his academic and swimming career. He's been a swimmer since age 5.“This was an awesome way to finish my high school career,” he said. “I took fifth in the 100 fly last year and the four guys ahead of me were seniors.“My goal ever since that meet was to get back to states and win it.”Coach Bocci said Borvendeg, a junior, is in that position now.“Very similar,” the coach said. “Ben's definitely got a shot at it next year.”Seneca Valley junior Daniel Simoes placed second in three events, swimming the 200 IM in 1:50.13 and the 100 freestyle in 45.47 seconds. He joined Kevin Donaldson, Gavin Blazer and Haihan Xu on the Raiders' runner-up 400 freestyle relay.Simoes earned a fourth medal as SV's 200 free relay unit of himself, Blazer, Zach Lozowski and Donaldson took fifth.“I'm shocked I did that well in the 100 free,” Simoes said. “I wasn't expecting that at all.”Simoes was seeded fifth in the 100 free.The Raiders' Xu medaled in the 100 breaststroke, taking seventh in 57.28 seconds.Simoes has not committed to a college yet, but is receiving interest from Cornell, Bucknell and Penn State.He still has work to do in his high school career.“I'm mostly excited about our relays,” Simoes said. “We're all underclassmen. We're all coming back. Next year will be exciting.”In the girls meet, Seneca Valley's 200 medley relay quartet placed fifth with a time of 1:45.44.The foursome included Ria Dietz, Edie Sawyer, Kendall Craig and Peri Gaguzis.Gaguzis also earned a medal (top eight) individually by finishing sixth in the 500 freestyle at 5:02.53.Sawyer just missed out on getting to the medal stand in the breaststroke, finishing ninth, while Craig was tenth in the individual medley.<i>Staff writer Derek Pyda contributed to this report</i>
