MARK NANCE/For The Express Jersey Shore’s Reese Charney competes at districts. On Thursday, Charney wrapped up her career with the Bulldogs as she competed in the Class AA swimming championships at Bucknell.

It may not have been the ending she wanted, but Jersey Shore’s Reese Charney went out giving it her all at the PIAA Class AA swimming and diving championships on Thursday afternoon.

A day after taking ninth in the girls 50 free, the Bulldog finished 11th in the 100 back after she took 13th in the prelims earlier in the morning. Charney swam a time of 58.82 in the 100 back B finals, dropping 0.73 seconds in the process.

“There were some really fast girls this year, the times were crazy. So I’m really proud of how I did. My times stayed really consistent which was great and I got to finals in both my events,” Charney said. “I’m really happy. My goal was to break a 59 in the back stroke and I did that.”

Charney’s prelim time was 59.55 seconds, finishing 13th in the prelims and qualifying for the B finals. The top time in the prelims was by Cathedral Prep’s Maria Costa, who swam a 55.39.

Charney was an eighth-place finisher last year at the state meet and became the Bulldogs’ first swimmer to reach the podium in 2024 since Emma Butzler did so in 2018.

“It’s a really, really cool environment because you’re in a space filled with people who have the same mind set as you. Being with all my girls who think like me and everyone kind of has that liked mindedness. Everyone wishes each other good luck and shakes hands after races,” Charney said. “Even if you never met before, it’s really cool to meet people who think the same way as you. So racing against them, it’s a very positive form of competition which is really cool because within high school and even within teams, you don’t always get that.”

Charney wasn’t the only Jersey Shore swimmer competing on Thursday on the second day of Class AA competition. She was joined by teammate and fellow senior Kate Butzler.

Butzler swam in the 100 back prelims on Thursday morning and finished 32nd with a time of 1:03.23.

Butzler and Charney were both part of Jersey Shore’s 200 medley relay team which competed at states. That relay team competed on Wednesday on the first day of Class AA competition. Swimming alongside her sister was something she was more than happy to be able to do her senior year.

“It was amazing. It really didn’t hit me until today that it was the end. It was really, really special and I am so grateful that I got to do that,” Charney said.

Once Charney got out of the pool on Thursday, she mentioned she cried knowing her career as a Bulldog is over.

“It didn’t hit me until right before I swam my back stroke, but yeah. It hit me right then and I was like ‘wow, this is it’ and I got out of the water and saw my time, and I just started crying and gave Brooke a huge hug,” Charney said. “It was the weirdest feeling ever.”

Charney will compete at Clarion in swimming, and mentioned she’s looking forward to swimming at the next level.

“I can’t wait,” Charney said. “I actually got to meet some of the girls who are going to be incoming freshmen with me today.”

Lewisburg sophomore Emma Hopkinson finished 30th in the 100 free prelims with a time of 56.11. Hopkinson was a two-event qualifier this year, her first year qualifying for the state meet.

Lewisburg freshman Colin Shannon also competed in Thursday’s morning prelims by competing in the 500 free. Shannon swam a time of 4:58.63 in the prelims, which resulted in a 23rd-place finish for the Green Dragon.