Eric Nulton was the veteran this time, the top seed for Saturday’s 100 butterfly at the District VI/IX AA Swim Meet held in the Tippin Gymnasium pool on the campus of Clarion University.
The Tyrone senior came through with flying colors winning his second straight district title in his specialty, the 100-yard fly, in a time of :55.66, to advance to the state tournament held at Bucknell University. The Double-A state meet will be held March 16-17, with the AAA meet also at Bucknell on March 18-19.
“It was a relief that I could defend my title again,” Nulton said. “It just feels good to have it over with now. I’m looking at Bucknell (to further his education) and I’m not sure if I’m going to swim or not.”
Nulton also placed third in the 500 freestyle with a timing of 5:15.70 and his freshman brother Ethan Nulton placed fourth in the 200 IM (2:19.03) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (1:02.32).
“Eric has meant a lot over the four years he has been swimming on the team at Tyrone,” explained coach Todd Cammarata. “His work ethic is really good and he sets the example by working hard in the pool, doing everything that is ever asked of him. He always wants to make the sets a little harder. That pushes everybody else on the team. It will be quite a loss for us to see him go, but he has helped to set a little bit of a tradition for some of the younger kids. Hopefully we are going to keep going after he’s gone.”
Led by Eric Nulton, the Tyrone boys swim team rose to a prominence that enabled the squad to win 10 matches in two of the last three years and an overall 26-13 mark since 2002.
The top two placers in each event automatically advance to the state meet, plus once the times all across the state are posted, the next 16 best times in the state will also earn a PIAA berth.
