Mar 18, 2026 By Jonathan Guth 5 min read

Southmoreland senior Allison Stinnett is at least an honorary member of the Mount Pleasant swimming and diving team.

What a minute, aren’t the two schools heated rivals?

That, at least in the eyes of the media and those beyond the nucleus of the team, may be true, but when it comes to getting into the pool, the Scotties and Vikings work together like a well-oiled machine.

Southmoreland doesn’t have a pool or a full team to compete in dual meets, but Mount Pleasant has offered its facilities to the Scotties, which Stinnett has graciously accepted. In fact, she began her swimming career at the Mount Pleasant Aqua Club in second grade.

The Scotties and Vikings practice together, and Southmoreland swims its home meets with Mount Pleasant.

“It has been awesome swimming at Mount Pleasant’s Aqua Club,” Stinnett said. “We swim and travel with Mount Pleasant, and they have been very welcoming. There are questions about the rivalry between the two schools, and it may occur with some of the other sports, but not in swimming.

“Everyone is super supportive of each other in swimming, and it doesn’t matter how you do. I think because it is such a grueling sport, the respect is there for what everyone does.”

Stinnett credits practicing and competing with Mount Pleasant in helping her to become a five-time state medalist in three events, and she has committed to Bowling Green State University to continue her academic and swimming careers.

Stinnett can add one more achievement to her long list, as she has been selected as the Swimmer of the Year on the Herald-Standard All-Area Girls Swimming and Diving Team.

Stinnett finished her high school career last Saturday at the PIAA Class 2A Girls Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University in Lewisburg with a pair of medals after placing third in the 100-yard breaststroke and seventh in the 50 freestyle.

Stinnett reached the podium in the 100 breaststroke for the third-straight season. She was third last year and fourth as a sophomore. She placed in the 50 freestyle for the first time in the state meet after swimming 24.33 in the finals. Stinnett had a personal-best time of 24.04 in the preliminary round to advance to the finals.

Stinnett was eighth in the 200 IM at last year’s state meet.

“I think everything is starting to sink in now,” Stinnett said. “I am super happy with how my races turned out. I was a little nervous, but it was a fun race in the 100 breastroke.

“I didn’t PR (personal record) but it will go down as my favorite race. It was a little bit of a grind there at the end of the season, but I already want to go back to the season. I wish it wasn’t over.”

Stinnett’s PR in the 100 breaststroke came last year in the WPIAL championship meet when she swam 1:03.74 and won the silver medal in the event.

Stinnett was fourth in the WPIAL in the breaststroke this year behind Shady Side Academy’s Ella Kiger, Cornell’s Mimi Chamberlain and Mount Pleasant’s Lainey Brown, but she was the top finisher in District 7 at the state meet. Schuylkill Valley’s Mabel Walborn won the race in 1:03.10 and St. Mary’s Maddie Lanzel was second in 1:03.74. Stinnett came in at 1:03.99.

Stinnett will never forget the friends she made in high school, but looks forward to being on a full team in college.

“Everyone has been great at Southmoreland and Mount Pleasant, but I do look forward to being on a team,” Stinnett said. “I am super excited for this because Bowling Green has been doing really well this year. I recommend swimming for someone who is looking for a sport because it is super fun.”

The following makes up the first and second team All-Area performers in the Herald-Standard coverage area:

FIRST TEAM

200-yard medley relay: Mount Pleasant (Claire Keefer, Lainey Brown, Sadie Poole, Riley Shinsky)

200-yard freestyle: Caylee Psenicska, Albert Gallatin

200-yard IM: Addie Ciez, Laurel Highlands

50-yard freestyle: Allison Stinnett, Southmoreland

Diving: Eleanor Carei, Uniontown

100-yard butterfly: Sadie Poole, Mount Pleasant

200-yard freestyle relay: Mount Pleasant (Lainey Brown, Giada Bando, Bentley Mizikar, Sadie Poole)

100-yard freestyle: Josie Nikolic, Belle Vernon

500-yard freestyle: Caylee Psenicska, Albert Gallatin

100-yard backstroke: Joss Rutter, Uniontown

100-yard breaststroke: Allison Stinnett, Southmoreland

400-yard freestyle relay: Mount Pleasant (Sadie Poole, Giada Bando, Lainey Brown, Riley Shinsky)

SECOND TEAM

200-yard medley relay: Uniontown (Joss Rutter, Hannah Foster, Addison Caruso, Shelbie Covert)

200-yard freestyle: Megan Shusteric, Belle Vernon

200-yard IM: Hannah Foster, Uniontown

50-yard freestyle: Riley Shinsky, Mount Pleasant

Diving: Ella Paul, Mount Pleasant

100-yard butterfly: Addison Caruso, Uniontown

200-yard freestyle relay: Belle Vernon (Josie Nikolic, Isabella O’Wade, Ali Watson, Megan Shusteric)

100-yard freestyle: Riley Shinsky, Mount Pleasant

500-yard freestyle: Megan Shusteric, Belle Vernon

100-yard backstroke: Claire Keefer, Mount Pleasant

100-yard breaststroke: Lainey Brown, Mount Pleasant

400-yard freestyle relay: Uniontown (Addison Caruso, Shelbie Covert, Hannah Foster, Joss Rutter)