Hay goes the distance for Peters Township
Abby Hay
Abby Hay charges through the water during the anchor leg of the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Peters Township sophomore coasted to victory in the 500 free to successfully defend her title earlier in the meet.
Abby Hay finished runner-up in the 200-yard individual medley. The Peters Township sophomore won the event in 2016 but Butler’s Laura Goettler needed a record to beat her this year. Goettler shattered the WPIAL record set by Mt. Lebanon’s Kaitlyn Orstein, winning the race in 2:01.78. Hay was second in 2:03.06.
Abby Hay had no explanation for her nearly 14-second drop in time as she coasted to victory in the 500-yard freestyle race during the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships held March 2-3 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
“I don’t know,” answered the Peters Township sophomore. “I’m floored.
Michael Meyers and other competing coaches, however, are not.
“It’s all hard work,” said Meyers.
And talent, too.
Hay has athletic genes as her mother, Kathy, was a standout runner at Peters Township and her father, Tom, was an eight-time All-American with five WPIAL as well as five PIAA titles. He excelled at Michigan and qualified for the 1992 Olympic Trials.
Tom Donati has seen both father and daughter swim. He coached Mt. Lebanon to back-to-back runner-up team titles to North Allegheny, which won its ninth straight WPIAL team championship. Also, as a member of Bethel Park’s record-setting teams in the 1980s, he swam against Hay’s father.
“Tried,” Donati corrected with a laugh then said, “Abby’s talented, smooth and can go forever. And, she loves to win. You can’t teach that. Abby took charge of the race from the start and did not let go.”
Indeed, there was no doubt Hay was in charge and determined to win. She broke out quickly, clocking her best time ever in the first 200 yards. Her closest competitors, Abby Matheny and Olivia Shaffer from Upper St. Clair, finished nearly seven seconds off the pace, posting times of 5:02.59 and 5:03.54 respectively.
“Abby is tough minded,” Meyers said. “She sets a goal and sticks to it. She took out that first 200 and did not let anyone near her. She was not going to be beaten.”
“I really wanted to win but I didn’t expect that. Not at all,” Hay said of the drop in time.
In defending her title, the Peters Township sophomore swam a 4:54.78. That was more than two seconds off the pace she swam in last year’s state championship meet and well under her seed time of 5:08.57. She won the WPIAL title in 2016 in five minutes flat.
“That’s crazy,” noted Meyers of the time drops, “because we are not tapered fully.”
Hay agreed. “I wasn’t tapered at all and all last week, I was actually sick. So, I didn’t expect that. Not at all,” she added. “I was really going smooth.”
The waters proved rough for Hay when she attempted to defend her title in the 200-yard individual medley. While she lowered her school and personal record in the event, Hay finished second with a 2:03.06 time.
Butler’s Laura Goettler won the event in 2:01.78, shaving almost two-tenths of a second off the 2004 record set by Washington & Jefferson College and Mt. Lebanon product, Kaitlyn Orstein.
“Abby did her best time ever and broke her own school record,” Meyers said. “You can’t be disappointed when you do your best and swim your best time ever.
Hay concurred. She relished the race against Goettler as well as North Allegheny’s Torie Buerger, who finished third in 2:03.75.
“We are all really good friends. Sometimes we room together when we travel to club meets. We race against each other all the time and I love racing against them. So I am used to that.”
While Hay dominates the distance races and the individual medleys at the scholastic level, she prefers the longer events in which she competes for U.S. Swimming. Her favorite strokes are the 400 IM and the 200 butterfly.
“If I had to pick a high school race, it would have to be the IM because you go from all the different strokes. You use all your muscles and the transitions are fun.”
During the WPIAL championships, Hay had her share of fun in relay action, too.
She helped the medley team of Carly Frizzell, Cassidy Sweeney and Olivia Yocca finish fifth. Plus, she anchored the 400 free relay team of Olivia Yocca, Devon Milley and Sweeney to an eighth-place showing in 3:36.52. During her leg of the race, she swam :51 which Meyers described as “crazy” but exciting because he only anticipates better things at the PIAA championships to held March 15-18 at Bucknell University. The top three finishers and those meeting qualifying standards will advance to the state championships.
“We are expecting a great meet,” Meyers said.
Hay makes not promises.
“We’ll have to wait and see. You never know until it happens,” she said.
Yet, in putting up a defense of her past performances, Hay handles the situation.
“There was pressure because last year I was an unknown. But I can’t let it get to me,” she said. “I just come to swim.”
NOTE: Cassidy Sweeney had a top five finish in the 100-yard butterfly. The Peters sophomore clocked in with a 57.86 time.