WPIAL swimming notebook
Top seeds struggle in quest for gold PITTSBURGH – Owning the No. 1 seed time doesn’t guarantee anything.
That point was driven home over two days at the WPIAL Swimming Championships at Trees Pool on the University of Pittsburgh’s campus.
Out of 44 events, a total of 19 No. 1 seeds, including individuals and relay teams, didn’t win gold medals. In Class AAA, top seeds had an especially tough time, winning gold medals in just 10 of 22 possible events.
One of the biggest surprises, at least on paper, came in the 200 freestyle relay where Central Catholic’s Joe DeBiase came into the race as the No. 8 seed but wound up with a gold medal.
DeBiase, a junior, won the event as a sophomore but came into this year’s race with a seed time of 1:50.52 compared to Mount Lebanon’s Colin Quirk, who had the fastest qualifying time (1:47.83).
In the final, DeBiase posted a time of 1:43.80, ahead of silver medallist Gene Kurtysh of Fox Chapel, who finished in 1:45.67. Quirk finished in 1:46.97.
DeBiase did it again in the 500 freestyle, where he came in as the No. 4 seed with a slow time of 4:59.26. Quirk was again top-seeded, with a qualifying time some 17 seconds better.
But DeBiase posted a time of 4:41.03 to Quirk’s 4:41.70 in the final to win the gold medal.
In Class AA action, 15 of 22 top seeds won gold medals, including Laurel Highlands’ Adam Collins in the 100 backstroke, and the Mustangs’ 200 medley relay team of Collins, Steve Hunchuck, Chris Hunchuck and Tony Marghella.
Connellsville sophomore Marie Nedley made good on her top seed in the 500 freestyle, edging North Allegheny’s Kimberly Jenkins at the wire.
So, did being the top seed give Nedley extra confidence heading into the finals?
“That’s a toughie …,” Nedley said. “I guess it does … well, sort of. I really don’t know what to think about that. I just try to swim the best time that I can, and then I’ll be happy.”
A day earlier, Nedley came into the 200 freestyle with the eighth-fastest qualifying time and surprised even herself with a bronze-medal finish.
During the offseason, the WPIAL works numbers from previous years to come up with its qualifying standards for both Class AA and AAA.
Swimmers may post qualifying times in as many events as possible during the regular season, but may only compete in a total of four events at the WPIAL finals.
Prior to the finals, the WPIAL’s website posts what they term “psyche sheets”, the list of qualifying times from lowest to highest for each event. The terminology is no mistake either, according to Uniontown coach Rian Davis.
“The WPIAL never used to make the qualifying times available before the finals,” he said.
“It used to be talked about, but in a behind-the-scenes fashion. Now, the times are posted for everyone to see, and swimmers can either get “psyched up” when they know they’re the No. 1 seed or know they’re close to the No. 1 seed, or they can get “psyched out” if they’re not in a position they thought they would be or if they see someone ahead of them they don’t particularly race well against and wind up blowing their races.”
No pool, no problem
Jefferson-Morgan’s Erin Barbetta can’t swim for the Rockets, because Jefferson-Morgan doesn’t have a pool or a team.
But that hasn’t deterred the sophomore from tackling the sport, or, more impressively, excelling at it.
Barbetta started swimming when she was eight years old at the Washington YMCA. When the Washington YMCA closed down, she practiced for about three months at the Uniontown Area YMCA, where she became friends with many of the Laurel Highlands swimmers.
Now, she works out every day after school at Canon-McMillan High School, where she is helped along by Big Macs assistant coach Chris Meeks. During the regular season, she met WPIAL qualifying standards at a meet hosted by Laurel Highlands at several hosted by Canon-McMillan.
On Thursday, Barbetta took home a WPIAL medal after finishing eighth in the 50 freestyle, the same race in which Uniontown sophomore Kaitlyn Johnson won a silver. Barbetta’s seed time coming into the race was 25.23, good enough for third.
Barbetta finished slightly slower her seed time, in 25.41, but still managed to bring home an eighth-place medal.
“I got off the block a little slow,” the soft-spoken Barbetta said.
The eighth-place finish was up 12 notches from her debut as a freshman a year ago. Barbetta also fared well considering she was battling a winter bug prior to the meet.
“She was a little sick this past weekend, but she still swam really well,” Meeks said.
Meeks has seen enough of Barbetta to know that she has a chance to be something special over her remaining two high school seasons.
“Speed-wise, she’s as fast as the boys.”
In the 100 freestyle, Barbetta placed 12th with a time of 56.22.
Chicken wing anyone?
A group of parents, siblings, students and fans from Bethel Park and North Allegheny arrived early at the WPIAL Swimming Championships both days.
Real early.
The mob of people descended on Trees Pool in an annual rite of winter which began about 10 years ago. The group arrived early, and set up chairs and tables of food just outside the entrance to Trees Pool in anticipation of the day’s events.
“We don’t tailgate at Steelers’ games, but we’ve been doing this since the mid-1990s,” said Bethel Park parent Larry Sweeney, whose daughter Kaitlyn, a freshman, grabbed a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly. “The tailgating just kind of happened. We wanted to get there early and get a good seat, and hey, you have to eat too!”
The Bethel Park group numbered 18 and arrived around 9 a.m., before most of the Class AA swim teams. The Class AA competition began at 11 a.m., with Trees Pool opening its doors to spectators at 10:15.
A long line had formed by the time anyone was admitted, and several would-be spectators were forced to wait outside the building during the meet because the seating area was full. When someone would leave, more people would be admitted, something which went on throughout the morning.
Sweeney’s group had no problems finding seats. The spectator area was cleared after the Class AA meet, and because of their early-bird mentality, the Bethel Park and North Allegheny groups were first in line when the doors opened for the Class AAA meet at 3:15 p.m.
“Every year when we get here people say, ‘Here come those crazies from Bethel Park,'” Sweeney said.
Maybe crazy, but also nice and comfortable in their seats.