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Upper St. Clair swimmer wins WPIAL title

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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Taylor Connors is all smiles after winning the 200-yard freestyle event. The Upper St. Clair junior won the race in 1:50.34.

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Adrienne Hagins surfaces for air during the butterfly leg of the 200-yard medley relay. The freshman helped Mt. Lebanon to a silver medal in the event behind first-place North Allegheny. The Blue Devils clocked in at 1:45.74 while the Tigers won in 1:42.59.

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Upper St. Clair's Taylor Connors churns through the water on her way to victory in the 200-yard freestyle. 

Anxiety can be a friend or foe. Just ask Taylor Connors.

The Upper St. Clair junior tackled her nerves and breezed to victory during the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships held Thursday at University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.

“Last year, I let the nerves get to me,” Connors said. “This year, I am trying to focus on how good I should be.”

Connors topped the podium in 2020. She won the 200-yard freestyle race in 1:50.34, more than two seconds off her seed time.

In 2019, Connors took 10th in the 200 IM and fourth in the 100 free.

“I was so nervous. Behind the block I was shaking,” she said. “The nerves made me go faster.”

Connors had to swim fast because North Allegheny’s Molly Smyers (1:50.62) and Lexi Sundrgen (1:53.37) matched her stroke for stroke until the final 50 yards. Smyers was the defending champion.

“My coach told me to go out slow and try to build up, which I did, and it ended up working,” Connors said of her race strategy.

“I just planned on going out there and giving it everything that I had.”

Connors has given five years of her life to swimming. Influenced by her older sister, Lauren, Connors committed to the sport once she entered high school.

“My sister as always been a big inspiration for me,” Connors said. “She has always been there to cheer me on. That’s part of it.

“I do like it,” she added.

And Connors loves winning.

“I’m so excited,” she said after her victory. “I was hoping for the win, but I don’t think I expected it.”

Expectations were for Olivia Livingston to win the 100 yard freestyle. The Gateway senior and Louisville recruit won as she did the 50 free for the fourth year in a row with a time of 50.15

Yet, Connors said her win in the 200 gave her a boost even though she took third in the race with a 51.66 time

“Definitely, it gives me confidence. I had a rough year last year so this was a great way to build up my confidence.”

Duncan, Dorish secondA second-place showing in the 100 free with a new-school record time of 51.51 sparked Abbie Duncan. The South Fayette senior concluded her WPIAL career also with a silver in the backstroke. The Ohio University recruit finished in 54.77, a half second off the winning pace set by NA’s Tori Buerger. Mt. Lebanon’s Hannah Morrelli and Vivian Roy followed Duncan in sixth and seventh place, respectively.

Mt. Lebanon’s Maddie Dorish finished in second place in her premier stroke. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Dorish clocked a 1:04.34 and finished runner-up to Butler’s Laura Goettler. Abby Mele from Canon-McMillan finished in third place and Lebo’s Meredith Reese finished in eighth place.

Connors, Duncan and Dorish were not the only swimmers gaining confidence as they prepare for the PIAA state championships March 11-14 at Bucknell University.

Connor’s teammates scored second in the 200 free relay, one second off the winning pace of 1:36.12 set by NA. Connors led off while Elinor Connor, Caroline Wright and Abby Rutkowski followed.

Connors anchored the 400 free relay team of Rutkowski, Connor and Sophia Schlicting to the bronze medal with a 3:34.55 time.

Individually, Rutkowski finished fourth and Sophia Schlichting finished eighth in the 200 free while Bethel Park’s Sally Hathaway took sixth and Lebo’s Vivian Roy finished seventh.

Rutkowski added eighth in the 100 free while Schilichting was fourth in the 500 free followed by Rebol in sixth and Hathaway in eighth

Though Livingston was too much in winning her fourth 50 free title and lowering her WPIAL record to 23.09, Dorish reached the podium in third place and Rebol finished in seventh place.

Dorish and Rebol combined with Meredith Reese and Mary Hoffman for third in the 200 free relay (1:37.61). Hoffman, Rebol, Morelli and Roy combined for sixth in the 400 free relay.

Morelli, Dorish, Adrienne Hagins and Reese were runner-up to NA in the 200 medley relay.

Cassidy Sweeney from Peters Township placed third in the 100 butterfly, while Abby Mele from Canon-McMillan finished fourth and Hagins finished in eighth.

Sweeney also led the Indians to an eight place in the medley relay. Carly Frizzell, Lily Markowski and Maddie Langlois also comprised the team.

“Cassidy did great. She’s really on track,” PT coach Mike Meyers said. “She looked real smooth. She held her stroke the whole time. She’s a gamer. She really likes to swim.”

North Allegheny ran away with their the team title, setting a WPIAL record with 12 straight. The Tigers totaled 422 points. Lebo finished runner-up with a score of 242. USC finished fifth with a score of 165.

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