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Depth determines Mt. Lebanon’s success in swimming

Blue Devils look to contend at WPIAL finals

By Eleanor Bailey 5 min read
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Matthew Burton of Mt. Lebanon takes a bite of air while gliding through the water during 200-yard freestyle action.
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Syliva Roy slams into the wall first with a pool record time of 23.59 in the 50-yard freestyle during a recent dual meet at Upper St. Clair. The Mt. Lebanon junior enters the WPIAL championships as the defending champion in the event. She is also the reigning champ in the 100-yard backstroke.
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Dan Hartman comes up for air during the butterfly leg of the 200-yard individual medley during a recent dual meet competition for Mt. Lebanon.

By Eleanor Bailey

Almanac Sports Editor

ebailey@thealmanac.net

When the WPIAL hosts its swimming championships Feb. 29 to March 1 at the University of Pittsburgh Trees Pool, North Allegheny is expected to run away with the team titles as the Lady Tigers have won a league-high 29 titles, 15 of them in a row, and the boys have 16 total, including last year’s crown.

“The NA boys can win a state title, easily,” emphasized Mt. Lebanon head coach Tom Donati. “The NA girls will win,” he also predicted. “They are the favorite but Fox Chapel and Seneca Valley will put pressure on them.

“NA will dominate because they have so many kids. Even if they don’t win an event, it’s NA, NA, NA after that. They are so deep. Other teams can’t match that . They have numbers.”

So do the Blue Devils. They qualified 28 swimmers for the championships. The problem is most of their contenders are freshmen and sophomores.

“We are excited to take so many to WPIALs but both teams are very, very young,” Donati stressed. “It will be a valuable experience for them. We are going to go there, get better and try to move as many of them onto states.”

Sylvia Roy is a shoo-in for the PIAA championships set for March 13-16 at Kinney Natatorium on the Bucknell University campus in Lewisburg. She is the defending PIAA champion in the 100-yard backstroke and a state silver medalist in the 50 freestyle. A junior, she is a four-time district champion, winning those two individual events during her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Roy is a Junior National medalist with a bronze in the 200-meter back. A sectional champion, she participated at the U.S. Open last fall. Additionally, the Virginia commit has qualified for the Olympic Trials to be held June 13-23 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

“Sylvia is a different beast. Our big gun,” said Donati. “She is one of those kids who are all about ‘what can I do for the team’ rather than concerned about herself. She can do anything.”

For example, after shattering the Upper St. Clair pool record in the 50 free during a section meet earlier this season, Roy won the 100 breaststroke by three seconds. While she also gained a WPIAL cut-time, she seldom, if ever, competes in that race.

“She’s just a great kid and a hard worker,” Donati says. “She has size and strength. Sylvia is one of the better swimmers in the country and a great leader. She’s one of the reasons why I think we surprised a lot of people this year after losing three Division I swimmers last year to graduation.”

The Lebo girls posted a 7-3 record during dual meet competition this winter. Their losses were to USC, Fox Chapel and NA.

The Lebo boys finished 8-2 overall. They lost to NA and USC.

Ryan Frank has developed into a marquee swimmer for the Blue Devils. A senior, who is being courted by Ivy League schools, is expected to challenge for the gold medal in the 100 breast.

Frank enters the WPIAL meet with the fastest time. His mark of 55.98 shattered the Mt. Lebanon pool record set by Josh Matheny. A former USC standout, Matheny currently swims for Indiana University and is vying for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

“When you break a record like that, that’s pretty special,” Donati said. “Ryan had always been a good swimmer but he really started improving this year and having drastic drops in time. He’s grown into a monster and gained a lot of confidence. He could make states in any event besides the 100 back, that’s how athletic he is.

“Ryan’s been a great leader for the boys because we are so flush with sophomores and freshmen,” Donati continued. “Because of that and the fact the boys are really deep, we are right back in it again. A top five team no doubt.

The Blue Devils are chasing not only NA but USC as well as Central Catholic in the boys’ competition. The WPIAL awards the champion and the runner-up with hardware.

“What it really comes down to though is whoever performs has a chance to walk away with a trophy,” Donati said. “We are good enough to do it but we are extremely young.”

Ellie Reinhart, Kalina Strotmeyer and Kate Mooney are the only senior members among the Lebo girl qualifiers for the district championships. Reinhart, who is being courted by Holy Cross and Fordham, is ranked among the top backstrokers behind Roy.

Among the other female qualifiers for Lebo are: Helen and Sarah Albu, Greta Coleman, Lillian Evan, Kathryn Hart, Evelyn Smith, Quinn Thompson and Leah Werzyn.

Among Lebo’s other male qualifiers are: Matthew Burton, Thomas Harold, Daniel Hartman, Matthew Klepchick, Casper Korwinski, Sangay Lama, Noah Loboda, Everett Meade, Caspian Rebol, Rinzen Sherpa, Anton Skorski, William Thomas, Malcolm Thompson, Thomas Vilardaga and Michael Zhu.

RECORD SETTER

Malcolm Thompson recently shattered the pool diving record at Upper St. Clair. The Mt. Lebanon junior racked up 281.60 points in a dual meet against the Panthers.

Earlier this season, Thompson, who used to play football, broke the pool record at Mt. Lebanon.

“Malcolm is just a great kid. At every meet, everybody comments on how talented and athletic he is. He can be special here,” said Lebo swim coach Tom Donati.

Thompson was among four local male divers and seven area female competitors participating in the WPIAL championships held Feb. 24 at North Allegheny High School. The top four finishers advanced to the PIAA championships.

USC had three male entrants in Kobe Yuyi, Carter Wells and Carter Richie. The Lady Panthers qualifiers included: Delaney Burnette, Livia Tranquilli and Isabella Meyer, all freshmen.

The other female competitors included: River Hendrych-Bondra from Bethel Park; Peters Township’s Lydia Tuth and Julia Linneman as well as Canon-McMillan’s Emily King.

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