P.J. Koerwitz pointed with pride to the poster board affixed adjacent to his home pool, listing a wide swath of team goals for Gilmour this winter. Once an objective is completed, a big check mark is drawn on the poster. Dec. 14 during the All-Catholic meet, the checks were prevalent for the Lancers across the board. As was the heat check Koerwitz delivered in what was arguably the best race of the afternoon. The Gilmour standout junior reigned in his lone individual-event swim, outdueling fellow returning first-team News-Herald boys swimming and diving all-star Darren Bittner of Lake Catholic in 100-yard freestyle. 2024 News-Herald boys swimming and diving all-stars Of more immediate importance to Koerwitz, however, were the checks the Lancers drew in capturing the boys team crown with 619 points, well ahead of the Cougars (412). Gilmour got individual titles, in addition to Koerwitz's in 100 free, from Luke Woodhouse (200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke) and Conor Tietjen (100 butterfly). "That was very special for us," Koerwitz said. "We had that on our board. We had, 'Beat Lake Catholic,' as well as, 'Win All-Catholic,' both on the goal sheet. So to be able to cross those off, and then look at Lake for sectional, district and state as a competitor and know that we can compete with them is a very good sign for us." That boys 100 free between Koerwitz and Bittner, as expected, was a show as the holidays near. It was tight at the turn, as Bittner went 23.43 seconds on his split, a .39 drop from when he was fourth during the Division II SPIRE Sectional last winter, to Koerwitz's 23.44. Koerwitz had the final say, though, with a smooth 25.07 home, good for a .12 cut from his own sectional pace a year ago, when he was D-II SPIRE runner-up, and .59 from the Viking Invitational in 2023. He was seventh at state in D-II 100 free as a sophomore. He hit the wall with a 48.51, bettering his 2023-24 regular-season PR with what would have been the fourth-fastest time in The News-Herald coverage area in the event last regular season. Bittner went 48.70, a steep 1.20 cut vs. his 2024 sectional pace. The mutual benefit, in turn, was clear as Viking looms next weekend at Cleveland State. "I definitely think, at least for us, having others to race with, especially in this area, is very beneficial for us," Koerwitz said. "I'm looking forward to meets like Viking and other meets like that I'm at where I'm racing fast competition — especially meets like Viking and Big 8, which we have next week. Going into it, and knowing I'm going to be racing bigger names and having people I know I can compete with, even if I lose or win, either way I'm happy with that, just knowing that I can record a fast time." Being that far ahead of schedule indicates to Koerwitz right where he is in mid-December, and that perch from a December heat check feels pretty good. "As of this point right now, it's just showing me the progress I've had," Koerwitz said. "Especially because last year, it's kind of I'm picking up where I left off. Especially just because, as I'm looking toward the end of the season, it's how am I doing now and what can I do to kind of improve on that? And kind of push pace for the rest of the season." Lake Catholic's boys 400 free relay closed out All-Catholic in style, hitting for a 3:22.09 that was nearly two seconds faster than its 2024 sectional pace en route to a breakthrough D-II state top four. Elsewhere in individual events, other encouraging work was recorded: • The Cougars' Evan Ream swept distance free, including a clinic of a 4:48.66 in 500 free featuring confident mid-29 splits on his fifth through seventh 50s. Bittner dropped a 50 free hammer, going 22.25 as the junior continued his impressive start to his campaign. • Tietjen's 100 fly title was a .09 improvement vs. last year's sectional swim, when he broke into the top 10, as well as 1.62 over 2023 Viking pace. • Other coverage area individual-event champions at All-Catholic were Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin's Lexi Laven (200 free), Gilmour's Anna Johannessen (100 butterfly), Tinsley Zhang (500 free) and Lorelai Kaufman (100 breast) and Lake Catholic's Holly Suponcic (100 backstroke) and Tino Perkovic (100 back). 🏊‍♂ Here are NH area top 3s from All-Catholic & EdgewoodI need to move on in my day, so I can't wait for 400FRs out at SPIRE for this purpose ... my apologies pic.twitter.com/QlAklfaZvf — Chris Lillstrung (@CLillstrungNH) December 14, 2024