Mar 16, 2024 By Jim Downey 2 min read

Mount Pleasant junior Lily King had two impressive swims Friday evening, and both led to gold medals on the opening day of the PIAA Class AA Swimming & Diving Championships at Bucknell University.

Teammate Kiersten O’Connor had a pair of equally noteworthy performances for an individual gold, plus a relay gold medal.

O’Connor opened the Lady Vikings’ 200 medley relay with a solid backstroke leg. Kaylie Korpiel followed in the backstroke and Maddie Barrick swam the butterfly leg before handing the relay over to King.

King was able to overcome a slight deficit and pull away with a 21.62-second leg to help Mount Pleasant defend its state title with a time of 1:46.78.

King had a quick turnaround for the 200 freestyle, but that didn’t seem to bother the junior as she touched the wall in 1:45.51 for first place.

O’Connor sprinted her way to the 50 freestyle gold medal in 23.48 seconds.

Lainey Brown, Korpiel, Riley Shinsky and O’Connor won the B final and placed ninth overall in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:40.61.

Belle Vernon’s Megan Shusteric won the B final of the 200 freestyle. Shusteric, swimming in Lane 8, finished with a time of 1:56.79 to place ninth overall.

The Lady Leopards’ Martyna Maley, Ava Bosetti, Shusteric and Melina Stratigos finished 25th overall in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:56.61.

Ringgold’s Natalie Noll finished 21st overall in the 100 butterfly.