Mustang slips into 8th in 200 medley relay
When sophomore Jacob Johnson touched the wall to finish out the 200 medley relay in 1:39.64, the Laurel Highlands quartet finished ninth, a mere .05 seconds away from the awards podium.
The Mustangs’ fortunes quickly changed in the PIAA Class AA Swimming & Diving Championship at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium, however, when Wyoming Seminary, who had touched the wall first, was disqualified. Laurel Highlands moved into eighth place.
Brandon Thomas, who swam the butterfly leg, then returned to the pool a couple races later to finish fourth in the 100 butterfly in 50.30 seconds, ½-second faster than his time in the WPIAL finals.
“The other team was disqualified. Whatever happens was meant to happen,” said senior Cameron Lizza. “We missed (eighth) by five-hundredths of a second. We were heart-broken. When we found out (they were eighth), you’ve never seen a happier group of guys.
“We wanted to bring home a shiny medal.”
Lizza opened the relay in the backstroke. He handed off to Jonathon Lewis in the breaststroke, who gave way to Thomas in the butterfly. Johnson closed out the push for the medal stand in the freestyle.
The medal-winning time of 1:39.64 set a school record, lowering their time in the WPIAL finals by around ½ second.
The state medal was the first for Lizza.
“I have three WPIAL medals, but this is my first state medal. It’s a lot heavier,” said Lizza, adding, “I don’t want to ever take it off.”
Thomas was pleased with his medal-winning effort in the 100 butterfly.
“The race went pretty smooth. It was a fun race,” said the senior. “I’m happy with the outcome.”
Thomas felt the momentum from the medley relay carried forward for not only himself, but for the other swimmers as well.
“Our relay, that was a confidence booster. I believe it helped. We all did extremely well,” said Thomas, who swims in the 100 freestyle today. “It was a good first day.”
Salisbury’s Daniel Bonge won the gold medal in 49.94 seconds. Derry’s Zach Baum took silver with a time of 50.05 seconds, while Obama Academy’s Sead Niksic won bronze in a time of 50.19 seconds. The WPIAL took three of the top four places.
Cathedral Prep moved from second place to the gold medal because of the disqualification with a winning time of 1:37.19.
Thomas capped his busy first day by swimming the anchor leg of the Mustangs’ 200 freestyle relay. The Laurel Highlands quartet of Johnson, Lewis, Lizza and Thomas finished 18th with a time of 1:31.47, just a bit slower than their seed time of 1:31.28.
Elizabeth Forward finished slightly ahead of the Mustangs in 16th place. Kole Faychak, Ben Durant, Seth Andres and Severn Squibb finished in 1:31.38, entering the state meet with a seed time of 1:31.01.
Grove City won the gold medal in a state-record time of 1:24.77.
Mount Pleasant senior Cole Dombrosky finished 27th in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:49.51, slightly slower than his seed time of 1:48.31. Salisbury’s Mahlon Reihman finished first in a time of 1:39.38.
Belle Vernon sophomore Robby Spekis placed 30th in the 200 IM with a time of 2:05.97, slightly slower than his seed time of 2:04.71. Wyomissing’s Nathan Elzer won the gold medal in a time of 1:52.62.
Uniontown senior Jonathan Sharp entered as the eighth seed in the 50 freestyle, but finished tied for 16th in the final with a time of 21.72 seconds. The Mustangs’ Johnson was 28th in 22.50 seconds. Allentown Central Catholic’s Gabe Castano won the gold medal in a state record time of 20.50 seconds.
Elizabeth Forward freshman Kaelyn McClain finished 28th in the Class AA 200 freestyle with a time of 1:59.65, about two seconds slower than her seed time. West York’s Courtney Harnish won the gold medal in a PIAA record time of 1:44.73.
Mount Pleasant freshman Heather Gardner finished 11th in the Class AA 50 freestyle in 24.44 seconds, slightly above her qualifying time of 24.18. Ellwood City’s Taylor Petrak, who finished second behind Geibel Catholic’s Emily Zimcosky in 2016, finished first in a time of 22.94 seconds.