5 WPIAL swimmers, 2 relays to go for PIAA Class 2A gold as top seeds after Day 2 prelims

By: Michael Love
Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 1:08 PM

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LEWISBURG — Day 2 of the PIAA Class 2A swimming championship Saturday morning at Bucknell University brought more fast times from WPIAL swimmers, and they will be well-featured in this evening’s championship heats in the 100-yard freestyle, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay.

Girls

Mt. Pleasant junior Lily King set the pace in the girls 100 free with a state-record prelim swim of 48.48 seconds.

WPIAL swimmers own the top four seeds, five of the top six, and six of eight in the championship heat Saturday evening as Northgate’s Elise Nardozzi (50.76) and South Park’s Katie Jackovic (51.27) are the second and third seeds, respectively.

Thomas Jefferson junior Genevieve Cody is fourth (51.64), Freeport freshman Kasey Schrecongost is sixth (53.21), and Indiana sophomore Sydney Anderson is eighth (53.44).

Shady Side Academy freshman Ava Jochims owns the top spot in the 500 free (4:55.65), while Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller is third (4:59.84).

Hampton sophomore Lainey Sheets (55.08) and Mt. Pleasant junior Kiersten O’Connor (56.00), the top two finishers at the WPIAL championships, are seeded second and third, respectively, for the 100 backstroke finals.

Schrecongost will swim her second straight finals heat as the No. 8 seed after swimming to a 58.36 in the 100 back prelims.

Indiana junior Peyton Scott, the defending state champ in the 100 breaststroke, is the No. 1 seed for this evening’s finals after she swam a 1:02.81 in the prelims.

WPIAL champion Giona Lavorini, a junior from Knoch who topped Kessler at WPIALs on March 1 at Pitt, is seeded second (1:03.04).

Greensburg Salem sophomore Allison Stinnett is the fourth seed (1:05.85) in the 100 breast.

WPIAL 400 free relay champion Kiski Area, with Miller, Abby King, Amara Sterlitz and Leah Kunkle, added 1.96 seconds from its seed time but left the prelims as the No. 1 seed (3:37.25).

Mt. Pleasant is the fifth seed (3:38.01), Northgate is sixth (3:39.22), Gateway is seventh (3:39.67) and Freeport is eighth (3:40.05).

Boys

Two-time defending PIAA boys 100 free champion Preston Kessler has qualified for the finals. The Indiana junior, who made it a three-peat in the 200 free Friday, is the fourth seed after a prelim time of 46.43.

Kiski Area junior Justin Tucker, the WPIAL runner-up in the 500 free, is the No. 2 seed in the event Saturday evening. He shaved a tenth of a second off his WPIAL time, finishing at 4:39.38.

Shady Side Academy junior Soren Cooper, the WPIAL champion, is seeded third (4:39.87), while Quaker Valley sophomore Marcus Zhan is sixth (4:46.63), and Kiski senior Landon Seman is seventh (4:46.73) after knocking off four seconds from his seed time.

Two-time defending 100 back champion Joseph Roth, a senior from Riverside, will go after title No. 3 this evening as the top seed. He dropped a half second to finish in 48.88.

North Catholic junior Luke Lamb finished three one-hundredths of a second behind Roth in the prelims, and he is the second seed for the finals (48.91).

Hampton junior Chris Belch is the sixth seed (51.68), while Mt. Pleasant senior Logan Snively is seeded seventh (53.27).

Mt. Pleasant junior Joseph Gardner will go after his second PIAA title in as many days — he won the 200 individual medley Friday — and attempt to win back-to-back titles in the 100 breast as the No. 1 seed after a prelim time of 55.57.

Gardner again will battle Alex Bauer as the Indiana senior, the WPIAL champion, is seeded second (56.69).

Northgate senior Zachary Schuster is seeded fourth (57.57), Laurel Highlands sophomore Kasey Mahoney is sixth (58.04) and West Allegheny sophomore Alex Aivalotis is eighth (58.47).

The Indiana 400 free relay of Kessler, Bauer, Joshua Reed and Rey Nunez is seeded first with a time of 3:09.98, while Mt. Pleasant is third (3:12.20).

Northgate (3:13.83), Latrobe (3:14.20) and Riverside (3:14.64) are seeded fifth through seventh, respectively.

Schedule

The boys consolation and championship finals involving the top 16 from each preliminary event will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.

PCN then will have live coverage of the girls consolation and championships heats starting at 6:50.

Before swimming awards and medals are handed out, the Class 2A girls divers will decide their championship meet on PCN. In action from the WPIAL are Quaker Valley junior Ruby Krotine, Northgate senior Lilia Mackenzie, Hampton sophomore Gabriella Elk, Quaker Valley senior Kaitlyn Blackmer, Derry junior Caeli Keenan, Quaker Valley junior Ruby Olliffe and Beaver senior Elizabeth Michael.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.