H-S Athlete of the Week: Kasey Mahoney, Laurel Highlands
NAME: Kasey Mahoney
SCHOOL: Laurel Highlands
CLASS: Senior
SPORT: Swimming
MAHONEY’S WEEK: The PennWest Clarion commit won his first WPIAL championship last Friday when he topped the field in the 100-yard breaststroke for the Class 2A title in the boys division.
Mahoney won the race in a time of 56.64, which broke his PR (personal record).
Mahoney set the school record in the 100 breaststroke as a freshman.
In Friday’s race, West Allegheny’s Alex Aivalotis was second in 57.25 and Knoch’s Adrian Lavorini touched the wall in 57.99 for third.
Mahoney entered the race as the No. 2 seed behind Aivalotis, and he was in the fifth lane while Aivalotis occupied the fourth at Joe C. Trees Pool on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
“Alex was in the lane right next to me, so I was pretty much in the middle of the pool,” Mahoney said. “I knew I had a shot in the last 25 yards and was able to touch the wall first. It is really about chasing your top time, but swimming in a competitive race like that helps you to break your PR (personal record).
“I also attribute swimming in a large pool at Pitt in helping me to get my PR and break the school record again. The facility is one of the best around and the energy is way higher than at a regular season meet. All eyes are on you and the best feeling is standing on top of the podium.”
Winning the district gold meant Mahoney automatically qualified for the state meet on March 11-14 at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University in Lewisburg. Mahoney’s events will be swam on March 13 and 14.
“I was glad that I didn’t have to keep asking my coaches if they thought I swam well enough to qualify for the state meet,” Mahoney said. “In the other races, the tension is high when you have to wait a few days to learn if you did enough to qualify for the state meet.”
Mahoney also qualified for the state championships in the 200 IM and as part of the Mustangs’ 200 medley and 400 freestyle relay teams. Mahoney was third at the district meet in the 200 IM with a time of 1:55.32. He broke a school record in the event.
Mahoney was joined by Lincoln Metheney, Drew Tupta and Aidan Swaney in placing seventh in the 200 medley relay and ninth in the 400 freestyle relay in the WPIAL Championships. The 200 medley relay finished in 1:43.11 and the 400 freestyle relay touched the wall in 3:24.18. They found out Sunday evening that they had swam a state-qualifying standard time.
MEET ME AT THE Y: Mahoney, like most swimmers in the Uniontown area, began his career at the YMCA, where he continues to compete to this day.
He believes coming up at the YMCA has helped him stay grounded, as he wasn’t brought up in the huge aquatic facilities that rival college natatoriums. Mahoney is also flattered by the attention he receives from YMCA members who are there for a normal workout.
“I have met so many great people through the YMCA,” Mahoney said. “My high school coach (Bob McCombie) is also the coach at the YMCA, so we know each other very well. I will be at the YMCA to get a workout in and people will come up and tell me that they have read about me online or in the newspaper, and it is a great feeling when they recognize you.”
READY FOR STATES: Mahoney is looking forward to his final trip to the state meet, and he hopes he can claim gold, but if not, he just hopes to swim a PR, and will be content with the finish.
“My all-time high school goal is to win a state championship, but if I can’t accomplish that, I would like to do better than what my seed time is,” Mahoney said. “The state meet is a little different than the WPIAL because you have a preliminary race in the morning, and must qualify for the finals.”