North Allegheny teams repeat, Sylvia Roy, McClellan Clark shine on Day 2 of WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships
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Friday, February 28, 2025 | 2:05 PM
The North Allegheny boys swim team holds the championship trophy as it celebrates a WPIAL Class 3A swimming crown Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The North Allegheny girls swim team hoists the championship trophy at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The North Allegheny girls swim team hoists the championship trophy at the WPIAL Class 3A championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Fox Chapel’s Sara Pasquella holds up the runner-up trophy during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Mt. Lebanon’s Sylvia Roy competes in the girls 100 backstroke during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The North Allegheny swim team celebrates after taking the ceremonial plunge after both the boys and girls teams added another WPIAL Class 3A championship to the Tigers’ resume Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The Upper St. Clair boys swim team hoists the runner-up trophy during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Kiski Area’s Joey Roos competes in the boys 500 freestyle during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu stands atop the podium after winning the 500 freestyle during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Shaler Area’s Noah Lang competes in the boys 500 freestyle during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Peters Township’s Ava Komoroski stands atop the podium after winning the 100 freestyle during the 2025 WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, Feb. 28, 2025, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s trek into WPIAL girls swimming history is alive and well after capturing a 17th straight title Friday at Pitt’s Trees Pool. The Tigers finished with 415 points to win to finish first at the Class 3A championship meet.
On the boys’ side, North Allegheny made it three straight championships as the Tigers ended up on top with 395.5 points.
“We put in so much work, it’s nice to see that hard work pay off,” North Allegheny coach Patrick Wenzel said. “We talk a lot about being disciplined, being excellent, and when you do those things, winning happens.”
Mt. Lebanon’s Sylvia Roy and Central Catholic’s McClellan Clark, a pair of seniors, etched their names into history by setting WPIAL records.
Clark, who won gold Thursday in the 200-yard freestyle, broke his own WPIAL record Friday in the 500 freestyle in 4 minutes, 25.06 seconds, bettering the mark he set last year (4:25.06). The Tennessee recruit has now won three straight gold medals in the event.
Roy, who won a gold medal in the 50 freestyle Thursday, set a new WPIAL record in the 100 backstroke by winning in 52.53. The Virginia recruit became the third WPIAL swimmer to capture medals in two events for four consecutive years. In her scholastic career, Roy has swept both the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke events.
“She teaches everybody, that you can have fun, and still do what you have to do to be successful,” Mt. Lebanon coach Jeff Donato said. “She loves this team, and she loves this sport, I’m so excited to see what’s she going to do at Virginia.”
Roy set three WPIAL records during the championships, two individual and one during the 400 free relay.
“You think of the best swimmers of all time, and she’s one of them,” Donato said. “I mean she’s still raw and not even close to her potential. It’s so exciting to see a kid believe in herself and believe in the program.”
Peters Township sophomore Ava Komoroski won the girls 100 freestyle in 51.68.
On the boys side, Nazar Zoukovski from Upper St. Clair repeated in the 100 freestyle in 45.38.
“It was obviously exciting, winning my first (sophomore) year,” Zoukovski said. “I saw the seeding times for this year, and I was still worried, but it worked out.”
The junior won a bronze in the state championships last year in the 100 freestyle.
“Who knows what’s coming this year, but hopefully it’s something bigger,” said Zoukovski, who helped the Panthers boys team finished second with 227 points.
North Allegheny’s Grant Regule (45.90) and Zachary Totin (46.31) took silver and bronze in the 100 free.
Fellow Tiger Claire Bacu won back-to-back gold medals in the 500 freestyle in 4:54.94. The junior took bronze in the 200 freestyle Thursday. Her teammate, Julia Tengowski, earned silver in 5:08.50.
It was another repeat for Luke Lamb of North Catholic in the boys 100 backstroke. Lamb, who is committed to the Naval Academy, set a WPIAL record last year in Class 2A. With the Trojans in a co-op with Mars, he won the event in 3A in 47.86.
In the girls 100 backstroke, Pine-Richland senior Sarah Shaffer edged Fox Chapel senior Sara Pasquella by four tenths of a second to win in 1:02.11.
Latrobe’s Chris Heese won the boys 100 backstroke in 55.94.
The 400 freestyle relays capped off the two-day championships. Fox Chapel (3:27.93), followed by North Allegheny and Mt. Lebanon were the top three teams on the girls’ side.
For the boys, North Allegheny won gold in 3:17.05, with Central Catholic and Fox Chapel taking silver and bronze.
North Allegheny’s girls title streak is second behind Bethel Park’s boys team’s 20 consecutive WPIAL swimming championships from 1981-2000.
“Every year, there’s a bull’s-eye on their back,” Wenzel said. “Every year they step up and do what needs to be done. Diving was awesome for us this year (two gold medals) on both sides, and that set the tone, and we never looked back.”
For the boys, Mt. Lebanon was third with 210 points, Fox Chapel finished fourth with 204.5 points, and Central was Catholic fifth with 182.
Fox Chapel (306 points), Pine-Richland (223), Mt. Lebanon (173) and Seneca Valley (148) rounded out to the top five.
Only the champions from the two-day competition receive an automatic bid to the PIAA championships March 12-15. at Bucknell. The remaining swimmers from the WPIAL will be chosen at large this weekend based on times across the state.
North Allegheny’s girls have won three state titles in a row, while the boys are seeking their first since 2019.
Wenzel said his teams always keep that big picture in mind.
“That’s always our big goal,” he said. “We want to go up there and be our best when the state championship is on the line. We will continue to keep working, continue resting and hopefully, we can have some good results.”
Tags: Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Latrobe, Mars, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Catholic, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Upper St. Clair
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