Mt. Lebanon chasing NA and SV in swimming
The North Allegheny girls and the Seneca Valley boys are expected to dominate the Class AAA competition during the WPIAL swimming championships set for March 2-3 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Tree Pool.
That doesn’t mean there won’t be drama.
Mt. Lebanon anticipates providing its share of surprises.
“I like where we are sitting,” said Lebo skipper Tom Donati.
He noted the Lebo boys are chasing Seneca Valley because the Raiders have the top divers in the district and an anticipated 1-2-3 finish at last weekend’s championships afford them a lead before the swim meet starts. Diving scores count toward a team’s total swimming score. The Lebo girls are the underdogs against North Allegheny, which is vying for its 15th title in a row.
“We are chasing teams but I love the position we are walking into,” Donati said. “We want to win and we’re going to have fun trying to get two banners.
Effort proved Lebo’s signature style this winter. The Blue Devils were 10-1 during dual meet competition, suffering their lone loss at the hands of the NA Tigers. Lebo also claimed the section title over rival Upper St. Clair.
“I love this team,” Donati said. “They have worked hard all year and raced well.”
Donati is especially excited about his senior boys: Andrei Tudorascu, Jacob Burton, Chase Dustevich, Christian Connell, Constantin Matros, William Stilley and Schaeffer Beck. Lebo also had several other qualifiers including: Ryan Frank, Sangay Lama, William Thomas, Michael Zhu, Matthew Klepchick and Daniel Hartman.
“They put the work in and have done a nice job. We are excited about them. We are deep. We don’t have stars but we have good swimmers.”
The Lebo girls have the superstar. Though a sophomore, Sylvia Roy is already a champion, not to mention an Olympic Trials qualifier. She is prepared to defend her titles in the 50-yard freestyle and 100 backstroke.
But she will have competition from outside and within.
Upper St. Clair junior Kaitlyn Connors was a 50 free winner as a freshman. She is seeded second in the 50 free with a 23.38 time, .37 off Roy’s pace. Connors is the defending 100 free champion and the No. 1 seed with an entry time of 51.72.
In their dual meet showdown on Feb. 15, Roy touched out Connors for the win in the 50 free.
“It’s going to be a great race,” predicted USC skipper Dave Schraven. “Sylvia is a strong swimmer and her best time is faster than Kaitlyn but Kaitlyn’s a competitor. Those two are better off in a race together because they bring out the best in each other.”
Donati agreed the 50 free will be a ‘heck’ of a race. “You can’t afford to make a mistake,” he said.
“Sylvia’s a sophomore now and the defending champion so she is no longer able to sneak up on anybody. She’s really improved though since last year. She’s bigger, and stronger. She will be ready.”
Roy will also be prepared for the competition in the backstroke. It comes from her sister, Vivian, as well as teammates: junior Mary Elsen Reinhart and freshman Lillyan Evan.
Donati anticipates a 1-2 finish for Lebo in the event and that Roy will defend her crown while putting herself in a good position for the PIAA championships, which are scheduled for March 16-19 at Bucknell University.
“Vivian’s a star but her sister is a bigger one,” said Donati, who expects to place four backstrokers in the Top 10.
“Sylvia is that good,” he added. “It’s fair to say she is one of the best swimmers in the WPIAL and when you have a girl like her, it gives you such a big advantage on the relays.”
The Roy sisters along with Marley Reese and Helen Albu highlight the medley relay. They will likely be joined by Albu, Evans and Adrienne Hagins in the 200 and 400 free relays. Other girls to qualify for WPIALs from Lebo include: Greta Coleman, Kalina Strotmeyer and Elison Resler.
“I’m really looking forward to the relays,” Donati said. “It’s going to be fun trying to get two banners on each side.”
Lexi Sundgren and Sophie Shao are two reasons why Lebo and the rest of the field face an uphill battle in the girls’ team competition. Both are seniors – Sundgren at NA and Shao at Fox Chapel. Both are also defending champions in two events.
A Duquesne recruit, Sundgren won the 200 and 500 free races in 2022 while Shao, who is Brown bound, won the 200 IM and 100 butterfly last year. In the fly, Shao is seeded No. 1 ahead of Lebo’s Adrienne Hagins and USC’s Amanda Aidar.
“They are phenomenal swimmers,” Donati said of Sundgren and Shao.
“The NA girls are awesome, almost untouchable. It will be the usual crowd, Fox Chapel, Lebo and USC, trying to swim the meet of their lives to beat them,” he added.
The Class AAA meet, which starts at 9:45 a.m. both days, will be run in the usual fashion.
The 200 medley relay, 200 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 100 fly and 200 free relay will be held March 2. The events on March 3 are the 100 and 500 free, 100 back, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay.
Upper St. Clair qualified 20 swimmers and three divers for the WPIAL Class AAA championships.
The swim finals are set for March 3-4 at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool. Racing begins at 9:45 a.m.
Kaitlyn Connors is expected to be one of the top performers as the junior is the defending champion and seeded first in the 100-yard freestyle with a 51.72 time. A 50 free champion as a freshman, she is the No. 2 seed in the event behind 2022 winner Sylvia Roy of Mt. Lebanon. Their time differential is .37.
Amanda Aidar will compete in the 200 IM and 100 butterfly, where she is seeded behind defending champion Sophie Shao from Fox Chapel.
“We have high expectations for them,” said USC skipper David Schraven. “They have been consistently swimming fast and they are both state qualifiers. That is the goal. Ultimately we want to swim well and get as many possible to states.”
The top finishers and those meeting qualifying standards make the cut for the PIAA championships to be held March 14-16 at Bucknell University.
Nazar Zoukovski is the top seed in the 100 freestyle. The freshman’s top time is 47.25, .04 ahead of Mt. Lebanon’s Andrei Tudorascu.
The boys graduated six swimmers that qualified for states last year while Connors, Aidar and Kendall Drew, who will swim the 100 back and 50 free as well as relays, and diver Addison Burnett competed at last year’s PIAA championships.
“We’ve qualified a lot of boys. We just don’t know what to expect because of what we lost but we anticipate they will pick up the slack. We need to have a great meet to make states and score points.”
Shraven noted that while the girls are top heavy with juniors, the boys are a more balanced club with representation from each class. Both teams posted 7-3 records during dual meet competition, losing only to North Allegheny, Fox Chapel and Mt. Lebanon.
“The NA girls are going to be tough to beat. They are the heavy favorites. The boys meet should be closer. We will do well to crack the Top 5 on both sides.”
In addition to Burnett, who placed last year at states, her younger sister, Delaney, a freshman, and Kobe Yuyi qualified for the diving competition, which was scheduled for Feb. 25 at North Allegheny.
USC’s other female qualifiers include: Maren Davis (200 IM); Blair Gillespie (fly, breast); Fernanda Kile (200 and 500 free); Lauren Mittleider (200 and 500 free); Clara Senchyshak (200 free) and Evangeline Sullivan (breast).
Other qualifiers on the boys’ side include: Colby Bernard (fly, back); Whitten Burns (50 free, 100 breast); Matthew Libbi (200 and 500 free); Alex Petkov (200 IM, breast); Pavel Schabanow (200 IM, 100 back); Maxwell Shipley (100 and 200 free); Liam Tomb (100 fly, breast); Griffin Tomsheck (200 IM, breast); Ben Whiteford (fly, back); and Matvey Zoukovski (100 free).
Other qualifiers
Bethel Park has one of the top swimmers entered in the 50 free in Luke Kallaur. He owns the second-best time in the WPIAL in 21.79, which is .37 off pace of Hempfield’s Dominic Falcon. Kallaur will also participate in the 100 free.
Other top individual entrants for the Black Hawks are: Lenny DeMartino (100 and 200 free); Luke Myers, Sam Hoppe and Cally Edner in the 200 IM; Trent Powell (fly and back) and divers Cody Bondra-Hendrich and Jasper Harter-Hughes.
BP’s 200 boys’ free relay team is seeded No. 1.
Individuals qualified for Peters Township are: Isaac Lee (200 free, fly), Aiden Filer (50 free), Trevor Urbanic and Allen Liu (breast) and Kathryn Pazuchanics (200 IM, breast)
South Fayette individual qualifiers include: Zoe Poe (200 free), Maddie Berg (200 free), Abby Poe (100 and 200 free) Carolyn A. Forelock (500 free), John Grimenstein (200 IM, back) and Brady Wiggers (500 free).