Holman, Place step into leadership roles for Black Knights

A year ago both Sarah Place and Robin Holman were two of the young swimmers on a veteran Towanda girls' swimming and diving team.

The Black Knights were led by senior Danielle Lamphere and both Place and Holman were happy to have her leading the way.

This year things have changed. Lamphere has graduated and Place and Holman are now both juniors on a very young Towanda squad.

"It is definitely different," Place said. "I feel like we have to be role models for the young kids now."

"We have to be leaders, we aren't the underclassmen anymore," Holman said.

Both swimmers knew that things were going to be different when this year began.

"We had so many seniors that left, we knew we had to step up this year," Holman said.

And, while taking a leadership role was different, it has made this year a lot more fun for the two swimmers.

"It was a little weird at first, but I like it," Place said. "Last year was really Danielle's team and we all kind of new that, this year we feel like it is kind of our team.

"Last year everyone looked up to Danielle and this year everyone kind of looks up to us. We have our seniors this year, and there's not a lot of them, so we know that we have to also help lead this team."

One of the things the two girls is figuring out is how much fun it is to watch the younger swimmers improve meet after meet.

"When someone drops a time, that is so exciting for everyone," Holman said.

"We love it when someone drops a time, it's as exciting as anything we do on our own," Place said.

And both see plenty of improvement in those young swimmers.

"The freshman girls are going to be really good," Holman said.

"They have really stepped up this year," Place added.

The girls know that after losing some good swimmers this year they have to rely on everyone stepping up their performances.

"I think we work as a team more this year then we have before," Place said. "Last year Danielle was so far ahead of us and we knew that. This year, we know that we are all more equal, we all need to work together to get better."

"If we want to compete for wins, every single person has to step up," Holman added. "Everyone really has to contribute, every point matters."

The girls know that this year's team may be overlooked at times because of its youth, but both Place and Holman also know this is a talented team.

"People don't see us coming, but we have people coming," Holman said.

"Teams may not think we have that much because of what we lost, but we have a lot of good swimmers," Place added. "We know we can do well."

While the biggest thing this year is trying to make the team better, both Place and Holman would love to see their times improve to the point where they could do some of the things Lamphere did last year.

"Getting to states, that would be the highest goal," Place said. "We have to really push it harder then we ever have before.

"We would love to try and get some school records and then hopefully have a chance at states."

And after watching the boys team improve from a young squad a few years ago, to a veteran, winning team the past few seasons, the girls think the same thing may be on the horizon for the girls.

"I think we are similar," Place said. "When we were freshman we were still learning a lot, I hope by the time we are seniors we can be like them."

In the meantime the two juniors know they need to keep the younger kids upbeat, even if they have a bad day.

"Definitely, the hardest thing is keeping everybody up all the time," Holman said. "No one is going to do their best every meet. So, we know we have to keep them in good spirits all the time."

While there are plenty of challenges that go with being a leader on the team this year, neither Place or Holman would have it any other way.

"I'm enjoying this year more then I have any other year," Place said. "It feels like we have more responsibility this year. We have a bigger role this year. It's more of our team now."

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