Charney knows she has to swim against very tough competition in her events, but she just tries to take it one race at a time and improve her times.

Charney did that on Thursday at the first day of the District 4 swimming championships. In the 50 free, the Jersey Shore sophomore swam a 25.24, shaving half a second off her time and finishing with a silver medal around her neck as she took second.

“It means a lot. It’s definitely the symbol of my hard work this year,” Charney said.

Charney had to compete against solid competition such as Danville’s Brenna Ross and Lewisburg’s Emma Gerlinski and Emma Hopkinson as three along with Charney rounded out the top-4 in the event. Ross, an outstanding swimmer for Danville, took first in 24.443, just edging out Charney. Gerlinski was third in 25.88 and Hopkinson took fourth in 27.17.

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Jersey Shore's Reese Charney looks to the clock after swimming in the 50 yard freestyle during the PIAA District 4 swimming championships on Wednesday at Williamsport.

“It definitely pushes me some, but you know, when I get up there, I kind of black out, I don’t remember anything. It helps some (to have that competition), but it’s my race,” Charney said. “You kind of know where everyone is, but you’re in your own head.”

Charney helped Jersey Shore’s swim team have a solid first day of competition as her and teammate Kate Butzler both were individual medalists and the two helped Jersey Shore’s 200 medley relay take fourth and the 200 free relay finish fifth.

“We lost a lot of people last year, so it was a really big surprise for us to get (fourth). We were seeded eighth, so we’re really happy with it,” Charney said of the medley team.

That relay team also dropped an impressive seven seconds in the race as Charney, Alaina Gerst, Butzler and Lila Nestlerode swam a 2:05.67. The 200 free relay team of Butzler, Nestlerode, Addison Dangle and Charney swam a 1:50.09, good for fifth.

“I worked a lot on my backstroke starts and turns and we really focused on our taper. We trained really hard through the season,” Charney said. “We made sure we had a really good taper. We all worked really hard on our starts and turns, and just perfecting our strokes.”

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Jersey Shore's Reese Charney congratulates Danville's Brenna Ross after swimming in the 50 yard freestyle during the PIAA District 4 swimming championships on Wednesday at Williamsport.

In the 100 fly, Butzler shaved 1.4 seconds off her time to finish in 1:05.01, good for fourth and a medal on the podium. Bloomsburg’s Annabell Reck won in 59.01 and Danville’s Hannah Bartholomew took second in 59.17.

“I’m happy that I dropped 1.4 seconds and I’m happy that I was able to place. It’s a big deal for me,” Butzler said, noting that it was one of the tougher strokes.

“In this race I was focused on my own race. The last 25, I was able to dig deep and push through it,” Butzler added. “The girls besides me, they definitely pushed me through it the last 50.”

Having two relay teams reach the podium and two individuals place fourth or better is something both Charney and Butzler are more than happy about.

“It’s a big deal. We have a new coach (Kelly Butzler). She pushed us and helped us all drop significant times,” Kate Butzler said. “As a team doing this well, we have a really bright future.”

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Jersey Shore's Jaydon Passetti looks to his teammates after swimming in the 50 yard freestyle during the PIAA District 4 swimming championships on Wednesday at Williamsport.

“I’ve seen a lot of improvement, and almost every single swimmer on the team (has improved). I’ve seen everyone work really, really hard,” Charney noted. “We’ve all worked our butts off all seaso. I’ve seen everyone do so well, and I’ve seen everyone’s starts improve, turns improve and their attitudes improve.”

GIRLS RESULTS

Team standings (through first day): 1. Danville 222; 2. Athens 188; 3. Lewisburg 185; 4. Bloomsburg 156; 5. Central Columbia 124; 6. Jersey Shore 98.

200 medley relay: 1. Danville (Alivia Shen, Brenna Ross, Hannah Bartholomew, Ingrid McElroy), 1:50.78; 2. Lewisburg (Kimmy Shannon, Jilliane Donner, Emma Hopkinson, Emma Gerlinski), 1:55.18; 3. Bloomsburg (Brooke Fagan, Annabell Reck, Adrianna Howell, Callie MAclay), 2:02.82; 4. Jersey Shore (Reese Charney, Alaina Gerst, Kate Butzler, Lila Nestlerode), 2:05.67. 200 free: 1. Alivia Shen, Danville, 2:00.87; 2. Riley Noss, Central Columbia, 2:03.26; 3. Taegan Williams, Athens, 2:03.96; 4. Victoria Bartholomew, Danville, 2:06.16. 200 IM: 1. Kimmy Shannon, Lewisburg, 2:08.19; 2. Leyna Beishline, Central Columbia, 2:21.36; 3. Jilliane Donner, Lewisburg, 2:25.47; 4. Taylar Fisher, Athens, 2:27.75. 50 free: 1. Brenna Ross, Danville, 24.43; 2. Reese Charney, Jersey Shore, 25.24; 3. Emma Gerlinski, Lewisburg, 25.88; 4. Emma Hopkinson, Lewisburg, 27.17. 100 fly: 1. Annabell Reck, Bloomsburg, 59.01; 2. Hannah Bartholomew, Danville, 59.17; 3. Maya Hasenbalg, Danville, 1:04.48; 4. Kate Butzler, Jersey Shore, 1:05.01. 200 free relay: 1. Lewisburg (Kimmy Shannon, Jilliane Donner, Emma Hopkinson, Emma Gerlinski), 1:43.70; 2. Danville (Victoria Bartholomew, Maya Hasenbalg, Hannah Bartholomew, Ingrid McElroy), 1:46.12; 3. Athens (Olivia Thompson, Elizabeth Denlinger, Olivia Cheresnowsky, Taegan Williams), 1:47.26; 4. Bloomsburg (Brooke Fagan, Callie Maclay, Adrianna Howell, Annabell Reck), 1:49.26.

BOYS RESULTS

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Jersey Shore's Jaydon Passetti congratulates Danville's Breena Ross after swimming in the 50 yard freestyleduring the PIAA District 4 swimming championships on Wednesday at Williamsport.

Team standings (through first day): 1. Central Columbia 176; 2. Danville 158; 3. Athens 156; 4. Lewisburg 113; 5. Mount Carmel 93; 6. Shamokin 89.

200 medley relay: 1. Lewisburg (Mason Ordonez, Miles Fassero, Mitchell Malusis, Aidan Gross), 1:42.80; 2. Central Columbia (Bryce Rafel, Ethan Robertson, Connor Morgan, Alton Smargassi), 1:44.42; 3. Shamokin (Oskar Moraski, Eric Zalar, Vance Shiko, Anthony Feudale), 1:54.08; 4. Milton (Hunter Zettlemoyer, Camden Weaver, Xavier Godown, Max Ferry), 1:59.19. 200 free: 1. Mason Ordonez, Lewisburg, 1:46.30; 2. Ethan Robertson, Central Columbia, 1:51.61; 3. Trevor Reichner, Shikellamy, 1:51.64; 4. Ethan Denlinger, Athens, 1:54.87. 200 IM: 1. Ryan Hause, Danville, 1:59.49; 2. Mason Cianflone, Shikellamy, 2:04.49; 3. Jimmy Zhang, Danville, 2:06.08; 4. Connor Morgan, Central Columbia, 2:07.87. 50 free: 1. Chris DeForest, Athens, 23.09; 2. Malachi Moyer, Mifflinbug, 23.34; 3. Bryce Rafel, Central Columbia, 23.45; 4. Mason Fantini, Mount Carmel, 23.72. 100 fly: 1. Mason Cianflone, Shikellamy, 53.90; 2. Mithell Malusis, Lewisburg, 54.00; 3. Hayne Webster, Wellsboro, 57.37; 4. Alton Smargassi, Central Columbia, 57.91. 200 free relay: 1. Central Columbia (Ethan Robertson, Connor Morgan, Alton Smargassi, Bryce Rafel), 1:34.19; 2. Athens (Ethan Hicks, Ronel Ankam, Ethan Denlinger, Chris DeForest), 1:34.77; 3. Lewisbug (Mitchell Malusis, Aidan Gross, Miles Fassero, Mason Ordonez), 1:34.89; 4. Danville (Liam Liotta, Gavin Holocombe, Jimmy Zhang, Ryan Hause), 1:35.37.

RALPH WILSON/For The Express Jersey Shore's Kate Butzler swims in the 100 yard butterfly during the PIAA District 4 swimming championships on Wednesday at Williamsport.