Upper St. Clair swimmers have fun at WPIALs
Ynyra Bohan, Maeve Lersch and Maddie Yoos cheer on Lindsey Choate during the 200-yard medley relay race.
Kevin Liu of Upper St. Clair is all smiles after defending his title in the 100-yard backstroke.
Abby Matheny abides by Cyndi Lauper’s motto. When she hits the water, the girl just wants to have fun, too. After winning the 200-yard freestyle race at the WPIAL swimming championships held March 3-4 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool, the Upper St. Clair sophomore indicated as much.
“I didn’t plan on winning,” she said after her triumph. “I just wanted to race and have fun. I was nervous but as soon as I dove in, that went away. The race really didn’t go as planned because I really, really went out fast. But it worked out.”
Matheny said that the 200-yard medley relay team’s showing inspired her. The Panthers swept the race. The girls coasted to victory in 1:44.97 while the boys posted a 1:32.43 time. Maeve Lersch, Maddie Yoos, Ynyra Bohan and Lindsey Choate comprised the girls’ unit. Jack Fitzpatrick, Kevin Liu, Braedon Wong and Brandon Novak made up the boys’ foursome.
“The relay really got me psyched,” said Matheny, who also added silver in the 500 free and bronze in the 400 free relay with Olivia Shaffer, Meghan Matheny and Hannah Wilding. “I really didn’t think I was going to win but for us that was a great start. We were really doing awesome.”
The WPIAL meet featured equally amazing finishes. Though the Panthers took third overall in the boys’ and the girls’ team standings, Wong also led a sweep of the 100-yard butterfly race. Mt. Lebanon freshman Trinity Ward captured the event on the ladies’ side. Wong won in 49.72.
“It went as I expected,” said Wong, who noted previously he had taken it out too fast to start the race but dialed it back a bit and that resulted in a great race and time. “I’m really excited because this is my first individual win,” added Wong, who has been on successful relays for USC. “It feels good. It’s a big pay off considering all the hard work I have put into this.”
Wong plans to go harder still. The senior, like many of the other top competitors, are now qualified for the PIAA championships set for March 15-19 at Bucknell University.
“I expect to swim as hard as I can and as best that I can,” he said. “I do want to win. I think I can go faster.”
Meanwhile, Ward went so fast she shaved almost two seconds off her seed time and beat the competition by more than that margin. She won the female fly in 55.46.
A swimmer since third grade, she said that she loves the sport. “The thrill of racing is absolutely amazing. It brings out the best in you. I love just racing and going as fast as I can. But, I really did not expect that time. I have to thank all my coaches for all the hard work they put into helping us improve.”
As the meet progressed, area swimmers improved. Angie Gyurina and Jack Rice led a Lebo sweep in the 50-yard freestyle races. Gyurina won in 23.79 while Rice won in 21.21. Though both were seeded first in the event, neither started their careers as sprinters. In fact, Gyurina has only been swimming for two years. She started as a basketball player. She continues however, to run track.
“I’m a competitor,” she explained about her ability to win. Regarding her race, which allows for no margin of error, she said, “My breakout wasn’t the best but the biggest thing that worked for me was my turn.”
After her win, Gyurina knew it was Rice’s turn. “We said to each other before the meet began, ‘We could both win the 50 free. Let’s do it,'” she said.
Rice switched to the shorter distance only recently and without much hesitation. The junior said that he was a 100- and 200-yard freestyler but he embraced the change. “”Yes, I love the 50 free. It’s a shorter event.”
Rice acknowledged, however, it is not that simple to win. “It all has to be perfect,” he said. “I felt (my race) was the most perfect it could have been. My start and my turn were the best I’ve done all year. I just went for it.”
Rice, too, hopes to go for it at states. He looks to shave his time down to 20.9 and hopes that maybe it will be good enough for first. But, he held back a bit in anchoring the team of Mason and Maxwell Gonzalez as well as Jack Wright to a silver medal in the 200 free relay. “I felt the relay went well but I tried to keep it safe. You don’t want to DQ,” he explained. “But, all in all, I felt like the day could not have gone better for us.”
Things went well for Brian Ramsey in the 200 IM. The Mt. Lebanon senior edged top-seeded Kevin Liu from USC. He won the race in 1:52.14. Liu secured second with a 1:53.30 time. Ramsey gaged his race based on his friendly foe’s position. “I saw I was close to him in the back and there was no one else ahead of him so I just put my head down and fought through it,” Ramsey said. “I was happy (with my performance). That was a three-second drop from my time. The breaststroke was what sealed it for me,” he added of the third leg of the race.
Liu, however, rebounded to lead USC in a sweep in the backstroke. The defending WPIAL champion won in 48.97 while Wong followed in 50.36. Fitzpatrick garnered the bronze in 50.89.
Other top eight performances for the Panthers included: eighth for Choate in the 50 free; fifth for Wilding and seventh for Bohan in the fly; third for Matheny, Lersch, Wilding and Choate in the 200 free relay; third for Novak, Liu, Amatheon Bohan and Ole Minuth in the 300 free; eighth for Shaffer in the 500 free; third, Maddie Yoos and eighth Nick Mudry in the breaststroke; fourth, Wong, Bohan, Novak and Minuth in the 400 free.
Ewing qualifies
David Ewing of South Fayette qualified for the PIAA AA championships set for March 16-19 at Bucknell University. He finished fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and sixth in the 200 free.
Bethel Park had two swimmers finish in the top eight: Kelsey Love, 200 free; and Nick Friday, 50 free.