2017 Herald-Standard All-Area Boys Swimming & Diving Team
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
The Mustangs’ Brandon Thomas swims the backstroke leg of the boys 200-yard medley relay during a non-section swimming meet against Mount Pleasant at Laurel Highlands High School. Thomas is the area’s Most Outstanding Performer after winning four WPIAL medals, including the silver in the 100 freestyle, and three PIAA medals this season.
Laurel Highlands’ John Ek rolls out of the tuck position during his dive in the Mustangs’ non-section meet against Uniontown and Connellsville on Dec. 21, 2016, at Uniontown Area High School natatorium. Ek finished second in the WPIAL finals and seventh in the PIAA Championship.
200 medley relay: Laurel Highlands
200 freestyle: Ian McCombie, Connellsville; Cole Dombrosky, Mount Pleasant
200 IM: Robby Spekis, Belle Vernon
50 freestyle: Jonathan Sharp, Uniontown
Diving: John Ek, Laurel Highlands
100 butterfly: Brandon Thomas, Laurel Highlands
100 freestyle: Brandon Thomas, Laurel Highlands
500 freestyle: Caleb Dankle, Albert Gallatin
200 freestyle relay: Connellsville; Elizabeth Forward; Laurel Highlands
100 backstroke: Cole Dorobish, Geibel Catholic; Noah Gebaldo, Yough
100 breaststroke: Robby Spekis, Belle Vernon
400 freestyle relay: Elizabeth Forward
MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER: Brandon Thomas, Laurel Highlands
COACHING STAFFS OF THE YEAR: Elizabeth Forward; Laurel Highlands
Honorable Mention: Jacob Johnson (Laurel Highlands), Cameron Lizza (Laurel Highlands), Dylan Rice (Laurel Highlands), Severn Squibb (Elizabeth Forward), Jake Niziol (Ringgold), Zachary Cochran (Yough), Marie Nedley (Connellsville coach).
NOTES: Thomas capped his remarkable career with two individual (4, 100 butterfly; 7, 100 freestyle) and one relay medal (8, 200 medley relay) in the PIAA finals after securing two individual (2, 100 freestyle; 3, 100 butterfly) and two relay medals (1, 200 medley relay; 4, 200 freestyle relay) in the WPIAL championship. Thomas amassed 14 WPIAL medals and five PIAA medals, including district gold in the 200 medley relay, silver medals in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay (2), and 400 freestyle relay, and bronze medals in the 200 freestyle relay and 100 butterfly (2). … Ek finished seventh in the PIAA Class AA diving championship, while teammate Rice placed 13th. The Warriors’ Gavin Guern was 21st. … The programs of Elizabeth Forward’s Tammy Blackwood and Laurel Highlands’ Ed Yauger and their hard-working staffs combined for 12 WPIAL medals and four more state awards. … Local swimmers brought home 21 WPIAL medals and four state medals … The Mustangs’ 200 medley relay won gold in the WPIAL Class AA finals and placed eighth in the PIAA championship after one of the teams was disqualified. … The Warriors’ 400 freestyle relay was denied the top step on the WPIAL awards stand by Northgate, whose Zech Boyce touched the wall .08 seconds ahead of Elizabeth Forward’s Severn Squibb. Not only did Squibb try to bring the Warriors home to gold, but the EF coaching staff worked hard on the sidelines, jumping and cheering with every stroke. … Sharp finished second in the 50 freestyle and was third in the 100 freestyle in the WPIAL Class AA finals. … Ek (silver), Laurel Highlands’ Dylan Rice (4), and Elizabeth Forward’s Gavin Guern (5) all advanced to the Class AA state finals in diving. … Dombrosky (7, 200 freestyle), Spekis (7, 200 IM; 6, 100 breaststroke), Johnson (5, 50 freestyle), Squibb (T-6, 50 freestyle), Dorobish (8, 100 butterfly; T-4, 100 backstroke), Gebaldo (T-4, 100 backstroke) all won individual WPIAL medals. … Elizabeth Forward (3, 200 freestyle relay), Laurel Highlands (4, 200 freestyle relay), and Mount Pleasant (7, 400 freestyle relay) won relay medals. … Dorobish and Gebaldo, swimming in different heats, finished tied for fourth in the backstroke. The swim-off closed the WPIAL Class AA championship with Gebaldo touching the wall first to earn the automatic berth into the state meet. … Uniontown’s Riley Gilleland had a two-fold goal for the 2016-17 season: to qualify for the WPIAL finals and not finish last in the race. Gilleland did both, finishing 14th in both the 100 and 200 freestyle. … As he did last year, Dankle bettered his seed time in the 500 freestyle, dropping nearly 11 seconds to finish 11th in 4:50.50. … Nedley stepped down from the Connellsville coaching reigns with the close of the state meet, capping a successful run with the Falcons.