Menear tops Herald-Standard All-Area Girls Swimming & Diving Team
Mapletown sophomore Ella Menear swims the freestyle leg of the 200 IM on her way to the gold medal at the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School. Menear captured two WPIAL gold medals, one PIAA gold and a state bronze medal to be recognized as the area’s Most Outstanding Performer. (Photo by Jim Downey)
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Laurel Highlands’ Maria Mrosko catches a breath in the 100 butterfly during a non-section virtual meet against Uniontown on Feb. 8. Mrosko, who will attend Dennison University this fall, capped her career with two individuals in both the WPIAL and PIAA championships.
Mapletown sophomore Ella Menear is flanked by her parents (and coaches) Rick and Christy Menear as she displays the gold medals won in the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship. (Photo by Jim Downey)
Jim Downey | Herald-Standard
Elizabeth Forward’s Hailey Yurkovich swims the opening backstroke leg of the 200 medlay relay in the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School. Yurkovich helped the Lady Warriors to a seventh-place finish.
Laurel Highlands sophomore Ella Ciez reaches out during the breaststroke leg of the 200 medley relay in the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School. Ciez earned top honors among the area's swimmers in the 100 freestyle.
Laurel Highlands' Elizabeth Thomas reaches back as she swims in the 100 backstroke during the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School.
Ringgold's Andrea Kassa swims the 200 freestyle during the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School.
Belle Vernon junior Delaney Patterson receives her fifth-place medal in the 200 freestyle at the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championship at Upper St. Clair High School.
California's Anastasia Georgagis won the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke in the 2021 WPIAL Class AA Swimming Championships at Upper St. Clair. Georgagis finished in 1:06.60 to earn honors as the area's top performer in the breaststroke.
Mapletown’s Ella Menear certainly had quite the season in a year filled with uncertainty at the hands of the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly every wall the sophomore touched brought home gold, along with a pool record or two.
Menear’s accomplishments — two WPIAL gold medals, two Upper St. Clair pool records in the district championship, one PIAA gold and one state bronze medal — merit acknowledgement on the 2021 Herald-Standard All-Area Girls Swimming & Diving Team as the Most Outstanding Performer.
The impressive group of swimmers to earn first-team honors along with Menear include:
200 medley relay: Mount Pleasant
200 freestyle: Hailey Yurkovich, Elizabeth Forward.
200 IM: Ella Menear, Mapletown.
50 freestyle: Ella Ciez, Laurel Highlands/SaraJo Gardner, Mount Pleasant.
Diving: Paige Richter, Mount Pleasant
100 butterfly: Maria Mrosko, Laurel Highlands.
100 freestyle: Ella Ciez, Laurel Highlands.
500 freestyle: Hailey Yurkovich, Elizabeth Forward/Natalie Glessner, Elizabeth Forward.
200 freestyle relay: Mount Pleasant.
100 backstroke: Ella Menear, Mapletown.
100 breaststroke: Anastasia Georgagis, California.
400 freestyle relay: Laurel Highlands/Elizabeth Forward.
MOST OUTSTANDING PERFORMER: Ella Menear, Mapletown.
NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Cecilia Mrosko, Laurel Highlands.
COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Mount Pleasant.
Honorable Mention: Riley McLaughlin, Elizabeth Forward; Jamie Belding, Elizabeth Forward; Maddy McClain, Elizabeth Forward; Delaney Patterson, Belle Vernon; Melina Stratigos, Belle Vernon; Marlee Davis, Belle Vernon; Martyna Maley, Belle Vernon; Elizabeth Thomas, Laurel Highlands; Cecilia Mrosko, Laurel Highlands; Ashlyn Hornick, Mount Pleasant; McKenna Mizikar, Mount Pleasant; Reegan Brown, Mount Pleasant; Trinity Graft, Mount Pleasant; Andrea Kass, Ringgold; Paige Doleno, Ringgold; Alexandra Pohodich, Frazier; Madelyn King, Uniontown; Morgan Metts, Uniontown; Elizabeth Jackson, Connellsville; Molly Maloy, Connellsville.
NOTES: Menear improved upon her freshman season success when she won the WPIAL bronze medal in the 200 IM and silver in the 100 butterfly by winning gold in both events in pool record-breaking times. She then made school history by winning the PIAA gold medal in the 100 backstroke. Menear took bronze in the 200 IM. … Local female swimmers amassed an impressive 35 WPIAL medals and eight PIAA medals. The haul included a district gold medal won by the Mount Pleasant 200 freestyle relay, silver medals from LH’s Maria Mrosko, Elizabeth Forward’s Yurkovich and the Lady Vikings’ 200 medley relay, and bronze-medal performances by the Fillies’ 200 medley relay, 400 freestyle relay, Thomas and Maria Mrosko and the Lady Warriors’ Glessner and Yurkovich. … Local swimmers had a dominating day at the WPIAL championships by winning at least three medals in nine events. … Menear (1st), Maria Mrosko (3rd), Georgagis (4th), McClain (5th), and Thomas (6th) filled the podium in the 200 IM. … Teammates Yurkovich, Glessner and McClain went 2-3-4 in the 500 freestyle, and the Fillies’ Cecilia Mrosko placed eighth. … Menear (1st), Thomas (3rd), Gardner (4th), and Brown (5th) dominated the 100 backstroke. … Yurkovich, Glessner and Patterson went 3-4-5 in the 200 freestyle. … Maria Mrosko was fourth in the 100 butterfly and fifth in the 200 IM to run her state medal total to six. … The Lady Vikings’ 200 medley relay (8th) and 200 freestyle relay (7th), Yurkovich (500 freestyle, 8th), and Thomas (100 backstroke, 7th) also won PIAA medals.