‘Dream come true’ as Fox Chapel’s Sarah Pasquella wins state swimming gold in 200 free

By: Michael Love
Friday, March 14, 2025 | 10:04 PM

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LEWISBURG — Fox Chapel’s Sarah Pasquella hoped to go faster in the 200-yard freestyle Friday at the PIAA Class 3A swimming championships at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.

While she was a hair slower than her time in winning the WPIAL title at Pitt two weeks ago (1 minute, 48.79 seconds), her 1:48.84 was good enough to give her a coveted state gold medal.

“To hear those words ‘You are a state champion’ come out of someone’s mouth, it is just amazing,” said Pasquella, who finished third in the 200 free last year. I am just over the moon. This has been my goal for four years now. To finally say that I am a state champion, my dream has come true. I am very happy.

“When I was on the block, I was thinking about what I had to do and I had a lot of energy. I dove in and did what I do best. I was hoping to get a best time, but I was able to go fast enough.”

Pasquella and North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, the WPIAL runner-up and fourth seed for the event at states, were right beside each other in the finals, and Bacu was right behind Pasquella at the wall in second (1:49.15).

Bacu swam faster than her WPIAL time of 1:50.90.

“It was great to have such talented swimmers beside me to push me and bring the best out of me,” Pasquella said. “I am really happy for Claire and her being able to get best times today.”

Pasquella will go after another state gold medal Saturday as the No. 2 seed behind Pine-Richland senior Sarah Shaffer in the 100 breaststroke.

“I am really excited for (the 100 breast),” Pasquella said. “It’s always been one of my favorite races. I am just going to go out there and see what I can do and get a best time on the board.”

Pasquella came back later in the evening and helped the girls 200 free relay reached the medals stand in fourth.

She led off with a 23.78 50 split. Senior Grace Kovach and sophomores Josie Stanczak and Charlotte Rusche followed and brought it home to a time of 1:35.80, a full second faster than their time from the prelims.

Fox Chapel seniors Owen Howell and Christian Dantey made it back for the championship finals of the boys 200 individual medley and 200 frees, respectively.

Dantey earned his second 200 free medal in as many seasons after just missing the finals (ninth overall) as a sophomore.

He raced to a time of 1:40.37, almost exactly the time he produced in the preliminaries, and finished sixth.

Howell came in as the second seed after claiming the WPIAL title Feb. 27 at Pitt.

He hoped to move up the ladder from fifth last year and challenge for a state title.

Howell found himself in a fast final heat. Like Dantey, he swam almost the exact same time he did in the morning preliminaries. His time of 1:51.60 was slightly elevated from WPIALs (1:51.40), but he landed on the medals stand in sixth overall.

Charlotte Rusche swam in the consolation final of the girls 200 free and finished 11th overall in a time of 1:52.54, an improvement of a half second from the preliminaries.

Senior Margaret Rusche, swam to a time of 57.33 in the consolation final of the 100 fly and finished 14th.

The top 16 place finishers earn points to their team’s score.

Kiski Area senior Justin Tucker returned for the consolation final in the 200 IM and clocked a time of 1:54.68 for 15th overall.

North Allegheny ended Day 1 fourth in the girls team standings with 82 points. District 1’s Upper Dublin leads with 121 points, while Wilson from District 3 is second (120), followed by District 1’s Hatboro-Horsham in third.

The Tigers began the swimming finals with 23 points from third- and seventh-place finishes in diving from Juliet Hood and Maggie Lapina, respectively.

Fox Chapel is seventh with 59 team points.

The North Allegheny boys are in the lead after Day 1 with 119 team points, 21 ahead of Upper Dublin and 24 clear of third-place LaSalle College. Upper St. Clair is fourth with 92 points.

Howell and Dantey’s finishes produced 26 total team points, good for 16th overall.

The Class 3A championship meet at Bucknell continues Saturday morning with the girls prelims in the 100 free, 200 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breast and 400 free relay at 8:05 a.m., followed by the boys prelims in those same events at 10:55.

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.

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