Peters Township swimmers capture WPIAL runner-up trophy
Stephen Hopta couldn’t sleep the night before his big race during the WPIAL swimming championships held March 2-3 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. Lack of rest, however, did not deprive the Peters Township sophomore of his golden moment. Hopta won the 100-yard backstroke and helped the Indians secure the runner-up trophy in the team competition behind six-time champion North Allegheny.
“I thought about my race all night,” Hopta said. “I wanted to bring it home for us.”
Hopta certainly brought it home for himself and the Indians. He won in 50.03 and touched out Upper St. Clair junior Jack Fitzpatrick by a scant .36 margin for a win that sparked the Indians to a second-place showing behind NA, which captured its 11th team title in 12 years.
“Stephen has a great final and his backstroke win got the team fired up,” said PT skipper Michael Meyers. “It was an awesome swim.”
After the first day of competition, Hopta had no option but to swim well because he said that he felt he let the team down on the first day of the competition, when the Indians finished third in the 200-yard medley relay to NA and Hempfield. The bronze put the Indians in third-place in the team standings behind the Tigers and Spartans after the first day of racing.
“I blamed myself for the medley,” said the junior. “So, I really wanted to make it up to my teammates.”
Paul Luniewski made up more ground as his third-place showing in the 100-yard breaststroke as well a bronze-medal showing in the final race of the meet, the 400-yard freestyle relay, solidified Peters Township’s hold on the runner-up team trophy. NA won the championship with a whopping 433 points while Peters Township followed with a 238 score. USC finished third with 210 points.
“Paul getting third in the breast was a big plus. He did great. Came on strong,” said Meyers. “And that relay really fought hard for third place.”
Hopta led off the relay. Mitchell Golias and Benon Brewer followed before Jake Rose anchored the unit to a finish in 3:10.16. NA shattered the meet record set in 2014 by Upper St. Clair with a 3:03.20 time.
“We knew NA would have another powerhouse team but we had a good one too,” explained Hopta. “We set our sights on runner-up.
“As the year went on, we got real close and became very team oriented,” Hopta continued. “With Coach Meyers being in his first year here, he really brought about great changes and we all adapted to the workouts.”
PT’s efforts paid off particularly during the first day of competition as the Indians shattered four school records.
They started the meet with a record in the medley relay and followed with marks in the 200 and 50 free as well as the 200 freestyle relay.
The foursome of Golias, Brewer, Mike Kehm and Rose clocked a 1;25.32 in the 200 free relay and finished second to North Allegheny, which set a new meet record with a 1:22.93 time. The medley unit of Hopta, John Martin, Luniewski and Kehm took third with a 1:34.52 time. NA also won that race with a 1:33.93 mark.
Individually, Hopta finished fifth in the 200 free with a 1:41.58 time while Kehm took third in the 50 free, clocking in at 20.90. Again North Allegheny won both those races, including breaking another WPIAL record in the 50 free when Mason Gonzalez grabbed the gold in 20.05.
Kehm added sixth 100 free while Rose added 11th and Golias 14th. Also adding points to PT’s score were Kevin Martin (ninth), Brewer (10th) and Alex Lepri (16th) in the 500 free.
Of PT’s finish, one of the best in school’s history, Meyers dubbed it ‘awesome.’
“They all swam well and had great attitudes,” he said. “All are happy. All have smiles.”
Especially Hopta, who agreed, particularly after his well-earned victory.
“Actually, it worked out better than I thought. I’m very happy. Shocked a little but very excited,” he concluded.
Note: Jack Fitzpatrick from Upper St. Clair was the only other individual gold medalists in the meet from the area, winning the 200 individual medley events respectively. Read more about his individual achievements online. His full story will appear in next week’s edition of The Almanac.