Mustangs finish second in WPIAL swimming championships
PITTSBURGH – Adam Collins didn’t want to let go. Already having grabbed a gold medal in the 100 backstroke, the Laurel Highlands’ senior wanted to hold the Mustangs’ second-place team trophy just a little while longer.
“Both awards mean so much to me,” Collins said, as he and other giddy teammates celebrated after Laurel Highlands held off Moon, Hampton and Indiana to finish second in the team standings behind Shady Side Academy as the WPIAL Class AA swimming championships concluded at the University of Pittsburgh’s Joe C. Trees Pool Friday.
Collins just missed breaking the WPIAL record, and grabbing All-American consideration in the process, when he successfully defended his 100 backstroke title with a time of 53.68, just .06 slower than the time Shady Side Academy’s Tim Miller posted in winning the 2000 WPIAL title.
To be considered for All-American status in the event, a swimmer must post a time between 53.52 and 52.53.
“I’ve been looking forward to this all season,” Collins said. “I’m so tickled I got it.”
Collins then swam the opening leg of the Mustangs’ 400 freestyle relay in heat No. 3, with Chris Hunchuck and Ben Bonchosky swimming the second and third 100 yards, respectively, and Steve Hunchuck anchoring the squad.
Laurel Highlands’ mark of 3:23.94 easily won the third heat, and then stood up well enough for fifth place overall. It also gave the Mustangs back-to-back second-place finishes behind Shady Side Academy, a Class AA dynamo that has won five straight boys team titles and six of the past seven.
The Indians totaled 231.5 points, followed by Laurel Highlands (177), Moon (172), Hampton (168) and Indiana (151).
Going into the last event, the Mustangs led Moon by just seven points, with Indiana (10) and Hampton (15) also close.
Also on Friday, Connellsville junior Marie Nedley followed up her gold medal performance of a year ago with a silver in the 500 freestyle. Nedley came into the event seeded No. 1, but settled for second place behind Bethel Park freshman Becca Zimmer.
“I’m really satisfied with the way I swam,” Nedley said. “I just wanted to try to get back down here and medal.”
Steve Hunchuck wound up with a medal as well, finishing fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:02.90, just .12 behind fourth place and .19 out of third place and a bronze medal.
In Class AA girls action, Uniontown, led by junior Kaitlyn Johnson, finished the two-day event in 11th place, with 75 points. Seven different Lady Raiders competed in the championships, and six of them will return, including, Johnson, next season.
Uniontown nearly won its first-ever section title this year, taking Laurel Highlands to the last event of the final regular season meet before settling for second place under first-year coach Molly Harbst.
“We had an excellent meet,” Harbst said. “I really don’t need a title to be successful. As long as the kids come to practice and enjoy it, and I can focus them to have a competitive drive, they’ll get the job done.
“We came down here and nearly placed 10th, and I’m thrilled beyond belief. As long as the kids hit their personal records, I’m happy with that.”
Johnson, a junior, was the most successful Lady Raider, picking up her third top-three finish in the 50 freestyle, this time a bronze medal,. She finished third as a freshman, then after injuring her shoulder early last season, still managed to capture a silver medal at the WPIAL finals.
This year, Johnson also finished fourth in the 100 fly and swam legs of the 200 and 400 relay teams, which both medaled in eighth place.
Johnson swam her allotted four events Thursday, and did not compete Friday. But the Uniontown 400 freestyle relay squad of sophomore Jess Dzara, sophomore Missy Tesauro, junior Ellen Williams and senior Ashley Hager did, and finished in 25th place with a mark of 4:08.12.
Jefferson-Morgan junior Erin Barbetta took 10th place in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:03.11.
In other Class AA action:
-Kaitlyn Ramey, a junior from Southmoreland, finished 15th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:39.78, five and a half seconds below her seed time.
-Belle Vernon junior Alana Puscavich was 21st in the 500 free, dropping her seed time by nearly eight seconds and finishing with a mark of 5:43.45.
-Dzara, who shaved five seconds off her seed time to finish N. 24 in a time of 5:49.21.
-Uniontown freshman Katie Patek finished 23rd in the 100 backstroke with a time of 1:07.54.
-Belle Vernon junior Stacy Hoffman was 18th in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:13.29.
-Uniontown freshman Stephanie Altman was 24th in the 100 breaststroke with a mark of 1:15.94.
-Belle Vernon’s 400 freestyle relay team of senior Kelly Boatman, junior Aubree Petrone, senior Amanda Baker and Puscavich placed 17th with a time of 4:03.11, nearly four seconds better than their seed time.
-Jefferson-Morgan junior Michael Gulley was 24th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.68.
-Belle Vernon’s Matt Weightman was 21st in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 1:01.99, while teammate and sophomore Andre Maldonado was 26th (1:03.30) after dropping his seed time by two seconds.
-Leopards’ junior Jermey Matta was 25th in the 100 breaststroke with a mark of 1:08.43, a two-second drop from his seed time.
-Belle Vernon’s Brian Resestar was 26th in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:25.26, which was 12 seconds faster than his seed time.
-The Leopards’ 400 freestyle relay team of Maldonado, Resestar, Matta and freshman Zachary Wardle was 13th after posting a time of 3:35.52, which was a four and a half second drop of their seed time.
In other Class AAA action:
-Connellsville’s 400 freestyle relay team of junior Heidi Halfhill, freshman Gabrielle Keane, sophomore Emily Kozel and junior Marie Nedley was 15th with a mark of 3:53.35, which was seven and a half seconds lower than their seed time.
-Halfhill was 13th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 55.23.
-Uniontown’s Mac Festa was 34th in the 100 freestyle with a time of 52.69, and 18th in the 100 backstroke with a mark of 58.89.
-Alan Nedley, a Connellsville freshman, was 23rd in the 500 freestyle with a mark of 5:09.46, which beat his seed time by three and a half seconds.
-Bethel Park won the Class AAA girls meet with 366 points, followed by Fox Chapel (280), North Allegheny (204.5), Seneca Valley (194) and Penn Trafford (173). North Allegheny won the boys meet with 382 points, Central Catholic was second with 295 and Franklin Regional (169), Peters Township (153) and Mount Lebanon (150) rounded out the top five.