Two years ago Abby Doss was simply trying to make the transition from Lourdes Regional to Shamokin as a freshman.
It was her first year in high school and Doss was just trying to balance making friends, staying on top of her studies, and practicing with the school’s swim team. It was a fully loaded schedule Doss had to keep pace with as she continued to build a reputation as an up and coming competitor in the pool.

Her first year ended at the top when she dusted the field to capture a gold medal at the PIAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Doss was rarely challenged until reaching the season’s final event and she delivered against the best swimmers in the state.

Doss entered her second year of high school with her head held much higher. Balancing her busy schedule and socializing appeared to be something she picked up quickly. She was motivated by her highly successful freshman campaign and returned to the water with a ton of energy.

At the conclusion of the season, Doss would win two more races outright for more PIAA gold. She would also be named the Class AA Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts. For those of you not counting that’s three state championships and swimmer of the meet honors and she’s only a sophomore.

Before we get into the gold and final meets of the season, let’s take a trip back to the beginning of the season when Doss was setting goals and finding training partners.

After her success in the 500 free most felt a repeat was in the cards for Doss, who cleared the field consistently throughout the season. Her biggest challenge was going to come in the 200 IM. Training was a must, but Doss wanted to be pushed as hard as possible. She decided to train with some of the guys on her YMCA team, which changed the course of her season.

It was through those training sessions Doss met Lewisburg’s Christian Coleman, who also had his sites aimed squarely at the PIAA meet. The two swimmers hit it off and became instant friends, training in the pool and getting into friendly jabbing outside of the pool.

A much leaner Doss came back for the 2017-18 season with goals even loftier than the ones set as a freshman. Her work in the pool with partners who pushed her everyday started to show. She won her first individual races of the season.

She continued that pace all the way through the regular season, defeating each and every competitor to complete a perfect record for her second high school season. She then headed to the District 4 meet for her first postseason test.

In the 500 free, Doss cleared the field almost by an entire lap. She posted the lone seed time to go under five minutes, which meant she would enter the event at the state meet as the top seed in the state. She delivered with that race, defending her title. In the 200 IM, Doss was just as good, clearing the field and earning one of the high seeds for the state meet. There she delivered with a gold.

There were plenty of swimmers to choose from, but Doss’ accomplishments in the pool seemed to shine brighter. She is an incredible competitor, who still has two years of swimming in front of her. She ended the 2017-18 season as the top swimmer in the Class AA field. With another season of hard work, Doss has a good chance to earning that title again