USC, Mt. Lebanon jockey for swim spot
Sophia Donati churns through the water during the 100-yard butterfly race. The sophomore is among 24 swimmers from Mt. Lebanon who qualified for the WPIAL Class AAA championships to be held March 2-3 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
Maddie Yoos won the breaststroke and anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay that clinched Upper St. Clair’s victory against Mt. Lebanon and sealed the section title.
Upper St. Clair’s Jack Fitzpatrick was a double winner against Mt. Lebanon, posting victories in the 100-yard butterfly and backstroke races.
Trinity Ward was a double-winner and record-setter but Mt. Lebanon dropped a dual meet to Upper St. Clair. Ward won the 200 IM and 100-yard backstroke.
When talking to swim coaches across the WPIAL, the consensus is the team title already belongs to North Allegheny. The only question that remains is who will be runner-up to the Tigers during the championship meet to be held over two days, March 2 and 3, at the University of Pittsburgh Trees Pool.
“NA’s boys are unbeatable,” said Upper St. Clair coach David Schraven of the Tigers, who have won 10 of the last 11 titles. The Panthers interrupted that streak in 2011. “Their girls, while not as dominant as their boys, are also heavily favored to win,” Schraven added. The NA girls have won eight WPIAL titles in a row.
Folks, however, got a glimpse of who the challengers are to the second slot in the WPIAL as USC swept its duel meet at Mt. Lebanon. The boys won, 169-140, while the Lady Panthers posted a narrow victory, 159-155.
“Wow,” said Lebo skipper Tom Donati of the dramatic meet in which USC’s third-place showing in the 400 free relay clinched the win for the Lady Panthers. “It’s always excitement with our crosstown rival.
“But, if we want to get a trophy (at WPIALs) it will have to go through USC. After our meet, they have to be the favorite for runner-up. We have a lot of work to do, but the thing I love about my team is that they will put the work in to succeed.”
Indeed, the Lebo ladies and guys were in the weight room at 5:15 a.m. the morning after their loss to USC.
“Back to work,” Donati said with a wide grin. “This is why our expectations are high. We will continue to improve our journey. We know a section title is important but the championship season is what we all remember.”
The WPIAL championships begin with Class AAA action at 10 a.m. March 2 with timed finals in the 200-yard medley relay, 200 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 free, 100 butterfly and 200 free relay. Class AA finals in those events follow at 3 p.m. Races in the 100 and 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay cap the meet on March 3.
“Our team has worked exceptionally hard this year and our training is unfolding as expected,” said Shraven. “I anticipate great swims at WPIALs as well as states. Both teams will be locked in tight battles for the WPIAL runner-up position. Our focus is on each individual taking care of their own business, supporting their teammates and if we do that we will be happy with the results we achieve.”
Because the Lady Panthers did just that against Lebo, they are delighted to have claimed the section banner. Schraven said the title is especially “sweet” because he has never coached a group of girls that have got along as well as this year’s squad. “They are all friends and truly care for and support each other,” he said. “I think their determination (against Lebo) was driven by their desire not to let their teammates down.”
Not one single girl let the other down. In fact, of the 15 swimmers and four divers on the roster, each one of them scored. Down the stretch, USC won more of the close races.
“The swimmers from both teams swam their hearts out. The meet could have gone either way,” noted Schraven.
Individually, Abby Matheny (200 free), Ynyra Bohan (fly), Olivia Shaffer (500 free) and Maddie Yoos (breast) won races. Yoos followed her performance by anchoring the 400 free relay team of Elinor Connor, Kirsten Benedit and Mia Beyerl to the finish it needed to clinch the victory. Maeve Lersch, Neele Minuth, Maddie Suter and Matheny combined for a win in the 200 free relay.
With a total team victory like USC had, Schraven was hesitant to single out any particular swimmer but he did note the efforts of Yoos. USC’s senior captain won the breast by a scant .73 and then came back to anchor her relay. Her split time on the relay was three seconds faster than she’s clocked before. “Maddie has a special performance in the breast followed up by an extraordinary effort to bring our team from behind on the relay,” Schraven said.
“We knew the girls’ meet was going to be very close and we certainly were right about that. I couldn’t be more proud of our girls’ squad.”
The USC boys did themselves proud, too. Winning two individual races each were Nick Mudry (200 IM and breast) and Jack Fitzpatrick (fly and back). Fitzpatrick also anchored the winning 400 free relay team of Brandon Novak, David Frauen and Ben Diffendal.
“We felt heading into the meet that our boys probably had too much depth for them. Our boys were focused on getting race experience in their primary events heading into WPIALs. I’m very pleased with how they swam.
“We enjoyed the meet but we’ve immediately returned our focus to the upcoming championships.”
USC has 12 girls and 13 boys qualified for the WPIAL championships.
Among the girls are: Beyerl, Bohan, Connor, Lauren Connors, Claire Hsu, Lersch, Matheny, Minuth, Shaffer, Riley Stevenson, Maddie Suter and Yoos.
Among the boys are: Chris Balta, Jack Billetdeaux, Amatheon Bohan, Chris D’Amico, Diffendal, Fitzpatrick, Frauen, Jacob Jaime, Graham Kretschmar, Mudry, Brendan Neal, Novak and Reese Samuel.
Meanwhile, Lebo has qualified 24 swimmers for the WPIAL finals. Among them are: Maggie Baker, Lauren Barnett, Kalliope Bicket, Lucas Bumgarner, Sergio Coury, Jack Cusick, Sophia Donati, Sydney Donati, Maddie Dorish, Avery Filey, Sebastian Feley, Emma Graham, Abbey Greene, Marley Howell, Owen Johns, Leo Matros, Elizabeth Mcdyer, Petru Mihailescu, Kathryn Nicholson, Charles Rice, Jack Rice, Devon Scott-Davis, Peter Victor and Trinity Ward.
In the meet against USC, Jack Cusick (200 and 500 free) and Trinity Ward (200 IM and back) won two individual events each and broke records. Sophia Donati and Jack Rice claimed gold in the 50 free races. Rice also won the 100 free. Sydney Donati and Owen Johns captured the diving. Kathryn Nicholson won the 100 free.