Upper St. Clair, Lebo prepared to battle NA for swim crown
Ryan Dudzinski of Upper St. Clair came from behind to win the 200-yard freestyle event in 1:47.40 during a meet against Mt. Lebanon. Despite his victory, the Panthers lost the dual meet to the Blue Devils, 163-149. Dudzinski enters the WPIAL AAA championships as one of the swimmers to watch. The Stanford recruit already holds the records in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke races. He is the defending champion in both events.
Mt. Lebanon’s Kathryn Nicholson comes up for air during the breaststroke portion of the 200-yard individual medley.
Hannah Bumgarner will compete in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle races for Mt. Lebanon during the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships set for Feb. 20 and 21 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. Action begins at 3 p.m. both days.
The only thing missing when Mt. Lebanon hosted Upper St. Clair in the final regular season swimming meet was North Allegheny. The Tigers, however, will be there to flex their fins when the WPIAL conducts its championships Feb. 20-21 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. Class AAA action begins both days at 3 p.m. Class AA competition starts at 10 a.m.
Between 2006-2014, North Allegheny has won eight of the nine Class AAA titles in boys’ swimming. USC broke the streak winning in 2011 and Lebo claimed the crown in 2005 before NA’s streak commenced. The Lady Tigers have won the past six titles in girls’ swimming.
“NA is one of the best teams in the country and are simply at a different level than everyone else in the WPIAL,” said USC skipper Dave Schraven. “So our hope is for (our) girls to finish as runner-up and to make top five in the state. I feel we are on target to accomplish that. The girls are having a terrific season.”
Until they lost to Lebo, 163-149, the USC men were having a terrific season, too. But, not winning a section title should not deter the Panthers from their main objectives.
“We just woke a sleeping giant,” said Lebo skipper Tom Donati. “USC has bigger fish to fry. Their goal is to win a WPIAL and state title and with five Division I swimmers they have a chance to do something pretty special. When you look at the kids they have and what events they are swimming, you shake your head and wonder what events aren’t they going to win at WPIALs.”
First-places don’t always equate to the top spot on the podium when the team trophies are distributed. For example, USC won seven of the 11 events yet lost the boys’ competition because of Lebo’s depth.
“Absolutely,” Donati said. “Depth makes a difference.”
In addition to helping Lebo top USC this year, numbers helped the Blue Devils finish third in the 2014 boys’ standings at WPIALs. The Lebo ladies were WPIAL runners-up to NA last year.
“Depth is why NA wins,” Donati continued. “They always have four kids in every event. So will I this year,” Donati added proudly. “USC can’t move up when they win all the events, but NA and us have the numbers to make it a meet.”
While the consensus is NA is the team to beat, USC and Lebo will figure in the final team standings during the girls’ as well as boys’ competition.
“You would have to believe that North Allegheny is the favorite on both sides,” said Bethel Park’s Dave Kutrufis. “They have strong returning swimmers from last year’s championship teams and are very well coached. But you can’t count out Upper St. Clair and Mt. Lebanon. Tom (Donati) and Dave (Schraven) always have their kids ready to go.”
While the USC boys have their sights set on a state championship, the girls are ready to contend with NA. In fact, they match the Tigers’ depth this year. Thanks to the Last Chance Meet, USC picked up an additional qualifier. By making the cut for the 100-yard breaststroke, Mia Beyerl gives USC the maximum of four swimmers in every event.
“Our girls achieved something that is very rare and difficult to do: we ‘filled’ our WPIAL roster,” Schraven said proudly. “I’m not sure when was the last time a team other than North Allegheny did this, but I’m sure it’s been a while.
“With all the accolades our boys team has received these past few years, it’s nice to see our girls have accomplished something even our boys haven’t,” Schraven added.
The Lady Panthers field a roster for the WPIAL finals that include: Mia Beyerl (fly, breast), Delaney Burke (breast), Lindsey Choate (50 free, back), Margaret Haggerty (fly and 500 free), Mariah Kelly (fly, back), Sophie Kennedy (diving), Maeve Lersch (50 free, back), Karina Liu (IM), Abby Matheny (200 and 500 free), Meghan Matheny (distance free races), Carolyn Novak (50 and 100 free), Carly Olsakovsiy (50 and 100 free), Olivia Shaffer (200 and 500 free), Victoria Shaffer (IM and 100 free), Riley Stevenson (IM, breast), Hannah Wilding (fly, back), Emily Yoos (200, 500 free) and Maddie Yoos (IM, breast).
On the boys’ side, Ryan Dudzinski leads USC. Not only his he the defending champion in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke races, he is also the WPIAL record holder in both events.
“Ryan has had a phenomenal career and we’re looking for him to improve upon his performance from last year,” Shraven said. “As good as he is, there is still plenty of margin for him to get even better.”
The senior will do that at Stanford University. Dudzinski will find racing for the Cardinal just as competitive as the WPIAL or the PIAA.
“The thing I think is pretty cool about his upcoming college career is that Michael Thomas, who had the top time in the country last year to beat Ryan in the 100 back, will continue his career at Cal,” said Schraven. “So those guys will have four more years to compete against each other on a regular basis.”
At USC, guys like Fynn Minuth, Patrick Lersch, Brandon Novak and William Tomos have provided stiff competition for the WPIAL as well. Minuth has tops times of 1:53.16 and 4:39.31 in the 200 IM and 500 free. Lersch is one of the top sprinters with best times of 21.73 and 47.14 in the 50 and 100 free this season. Novak goes 51.19 and 1:52.46 in the 100 and 200 free while Williams owns marks of 21.68 in the 50 free and 1:04.30 in the breaststroke.
Other top qualifiers for the Panther men include: Martin Bacik (fly, back), Amatheon Bohan (500 free, breast), Connor Byrnes (50, 200 free), Chris D’Amico (500 free), Ben Diffendal (100, 20 free), David Frauen (IM), Jacob Jaime (breast), Jake Johnsen (fly, free), Kevin Liu (IM, back), Ole Minuth (IM, 500 free) and Wong (fly, back).
Every meet, even the loss to Lebo, has prepared the USC men for the WPIAL championships.
“Our team has swum fast all season,” Schraven said. “Even during meets when we outmatched the competition, we raced hard and swam fast. That benefits us when it comes to WPIALs and states.
“Our meets with Mt. Lebanon will always competitive and exciting,” Schraven continued. “This year was no different. It’s always helpful to have good competition leading up to the championship meets.
“NA will be tough to beat and I anticipate a very close meet between us and Lebo. Our team though is built for states and that is our primary emphasis.”
Lebo, however, is looking forward to the WPIAL finals. The Blue Devils have qualified more than three dozen swimmers for the championships.
While Kallie Bicket and Emma D’Orazo qualified for the diving, the following individuals will compete in the swim finals this weekend: Hannah Bumgarner (200, 500 free), Emma Buerger (IM, back) Angie Gyuria (50 free, breast), Kathryn Nicholson (50, 100 free), Emma Graham (back). The Lebo ladies were WPIAL runners-up last season.
Qualifiers on the boys’ side for Lebo include: David Stoddard, Joe Frey (200, 500 free), Jack Lanphear (IM, breast), Noah Wechter (IM), Nathan Donatelli (IM, fly), Jackson Kish (50 free, fly), Gabe Nass (50 free), Jack Rice (50, 100 free), Andrei Mihaileseu (fly), Brian Ramesy (fly), Cameron Sexauer (500 free), Jake Bumgarner (back), Sam Trozenski (breast).