Milton Area School District has accepted Warrior Run’s club team members on its swim team beginning this year.
The new Milton team started on Nov. 14 and will end mid-February 2026 with ten swimmers from Milton and nine from Warrior Run. The team will be operating under two coaches: Milton Swim Coach Ms. Lilly Wirt, and Warrior Run Swim Coach Ms. Angie Cohoon. There will be about nine swim meets in total for the season, along with Districts and States.
According to Milton Athletics Mr. Rod Director Harris, the merger began last summer when Warrior Run reached out to Milton, asking for a co-op swim team, since they don’t have an official team. Mr. Harris said he then presented the idea to Milton and Warrior Run’s superintendents “to make sure that they are both on board.”
After the idea was accepted by both school boards, Mr. Harris said they created a memorandum, which was given to the board of each school and the athletic directors after it was accepted and then uploaded to P.I.A.A.
The only drawback Mr. Harris said he has been aware of is the difficulty for Warrior Run swimmers to understand that they are now Milton swimmers, meaning they will also wear Milton’s uniform. Since Milton’s swim team is getting bigger, there will be more competition for certain events at meets since there can only be three swimmers in one event for each team. It will be based more on skill, he added.
Milton and Warrior Run will be splitting the program’s cost 50/50, along with all swimmers paying the $50 activity fee for the whole school year, Mr. Harris said. Although for Warrior Run, students will have to pay the activity fee for both Warrior Run and Milton, added Mr. Harris.
According to Coach Wirt, both swim teams, acting as one, will be practicing at the Eastern Lycoming Branch YMCA on Mondays and at the Greater Susquehanna YMCA Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Transportation was something many of the swimmers were concerned about, Mr. Harris added. When the swim team goes to the Eastern Lycoming Branch YMCA on Mondays, Milton swimmers will be picked up from the high school first at 3:15 p.m. Warrior Run swimmers are picked up from their school at 3:30 p.m.
“While we’re very grateful to have access to the Milton Y pool, it is very small and less than ideal for a large team,” Coach Wirt said.
Along with the addition of new members to the swim team, there will be some new equipment. “The YMCA is planning to purchase starting blocks for the pool and swim fins soon,” said Coach Wirt. Tools such as swimming fins are used to create more resistance when swimming to help strengthen the swimmers’ kicks and pulls, she added.
