When Scranton Prep juniors Eva Kaszuba and Ella Schofield made the walk to the podium to accept their medals, it was the closing act on an unforgettable high school swimming season for Lackawanna League athletes.

Those accomplishments were the final ones of many during the past four months as the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships concluded Saturday night at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.

The big picture includes Tunkhannock’s fantastic finish in the boys’ Class 2A team standings. The Tigers, a member of the Wyoming Valley Conference, scored 147 points, just behind powerhouse Cathedral Prep, which had 198. The Scranton Prep boys’ team finished 19th with 38 points.

In the girls’ Class 2A meet, Scranton Prep finished fourth with 114 points, and Dallas was in a tie for seventh with Springfield Township and 97 points.

All four programs deserve recognition for success at the highest level of competition.

It also marks the conclusion of some remarkable careers.

In December, Scranton Prep senior and College of the Holy Cross commit Lukas Iannone set a school record for the 200-yard freestyle and breaking a pool record at the University of Scranton’s Byron Complex for the 200 individual medley. He spent the rest of the season bettering those marks.

On Friday, Iannone smashed his school record set earlier in the day with a silver-medal-winning time of 1 minute, 53.07 seconds for the 200 IM. The next night, he added another record-breaking swim in the 100 backstroke, winning a fourth-place medal in 50.70 seconds.

Elk Lake senior Brynn Warriner played a major role in building the program into a title winner and yearly contender for Lackawanna League honors. A District 2 champion in the 50 free and a state qualifier in the 100 free, she reached the consolation final in the 100 free and set a school record of 53.63 to finish 14th in the 100 free.

In the Class 3A meet, West Scranton senior Roy Ayala left one more lasting impression, shattering the school record in the 100 breaststroke in 56.97. Had Ayala, who finished 14th, competed in Class 2A, he would have won a fourth-place medal.

There is no argument that Ayala is the greatest swimmer in West Scranton program history.

He owns the school record in seven of the eight individual events: 200 free (1:50.53), 200 IM (1:57.00), 50 free (22.98), 100 fly (53.88), 100 free (50.74), 100 back (59.70), and the 100 breaststroke (56.97). He also set pool records in the 200 IM (2:00.15) at Tunkhannock, the 100 breaststroke (58.76) at Scranton High School, and a 1:00.66 at West Scranton Intermediate pool.

Then, there are the remarkable seniors from Abington Heights. Both the boys’ and girls’ teams won the District 2 Class 3A championships.

Jason Casper, Derek Williams and Geoff Stanton teamed with sophomore Charlie Voytek to set school records in the 200 medley relay, the 200 free relay, and the 400 free relay this season. Williams set a school record in the 50 free (21.04), and Casper crushed the record in the 100 fly (51.16).

In addition to the success of the Comets’ soon-to-be graduates, Micah White set the 11-dive record of 543.15, and sophomore Hadley Pallman set marks in the 100 fly (58.36) and 100 back (1:01.25).

The future looks bright, too, for Lackawanna League swimming.

Scranton Prep girls had four state-medal performances. In addition to Kaszuba and Schofield finishing fifth and eighth, Rebecca Oakes finished fifth in the 100 butterfly. All three juniors also teamed with senior Sophia Galko to win a silver medal in the 200 medley relay and a sixth-place medal in the 200 free relay.

The sport is thriving in the Lackawanna League. That is a credit to the athletes’ dedication and commitment.

This group raised the bar and deserves credit for leaving their collective marks on the sport.