Breaking down changes to the 2022-23 WPIAL swimming alignment
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Monday, July 18, 2022 | 12:29 PM
Franklin Regional’s Holden Thomas back dives in the boys backstroke event during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, March 4, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Franklin Regional’s Allyson Hilty dives in the girls 100 yard backstroke during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships Friday, March 4, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Swimmers line up ready to compete during the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships Friday, March 4, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Swimmers warm up prior to the start of the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships March 4 at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Burrell swimmers compete in the girls 200 freestyle relay during the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships March 3, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Freeport’s Kira Schrecongost competes in the girls 200 individual medley during the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships March 3, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
Kiski’s Levi Hansen competes in the boys 200 freestyle during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships March 3, 2022, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The WPIAL released new section alignments for the next two-year cycle in all sports, and changes will be implemented starting this fall.
This summer, the Tribune-Review will break down changes for each of the WPIAL sports.
Here’s a look at the upcoming WPIAL swimming season:
2021-22 WPIAL championships
Class 3A boys: Seneca Valley, 333.5 points
Class 2A boys: Hampton, 233 points
Class 3A girls: North Allegheny, 344 points
Class 2A girls: Mt. Pleasant, 296 points
Notable changes
• Five teams dropped down from Class 3A to 2A for the next two-year cycle — West Allegheny, Hampton, Kiski Area, Connellsville and Woodland Hills. Hampton’s girls team swam in 3A last year, and the boys won the 2A title, though both swam in a Class 3A section.
• There will be four sections featuring 27 teams in Class 3A this season, down from five sections and 35 teams last year.
• Class 2A will have six sections and 44 teams (45 girls), up from five sections and 42 teams a year ago.
• Boys teams from Latrobe, Mars and Trinity will swim in Class 3A sections but compete in Class 2A at the WPIAL meet.
• Among the notable moves in Class 3A, Franklin Regional left Section 3 and moved to Section 1 with fellow Westmoreland County teams Hempfield, Latrobe, Norwin and Penn-Trafford, as well as Armstrong.
Baldwin and Central Catholic/Oakland Catholic moved into Section 3. South Fayette and Trinity moved from the defunct Section 5 into Section 4.
• Class 2A’s major changes include an all new Section 6 that will feature McKeesport, Steel Valley and Thomas Jefferson (all from Section 5), as well as Section 1 transfers Brentwood and West Mifflin and East Allegheny from Section 3, plus Woodland Hills, which dropped down.
Cornell and Montour moved into Section 1 from 2. Freeport joins A-K Valley rivals Deer Lakes, Highlands, Knoch and Shady Side Academy, plus Hampton, North Catholic and Northgate in Section 3.
And Laurel Highlands moved into Section 5 from 4.
Heading out
• The four City League programs that competed in WPIAL sections since 2012 — Allderdice, Brashear, Carrick and Obama Academy — will not compete in the WPIAL for the next two-year cycle.
• Serra Catholic and Springdale will not field WPIAL swim teams this season.
Past champions
• North Allegheny has won 16 WPIAL titles in boys swimming and 26 in girls swimming, both tops in the district.
• Other boys teams to win five or more WPIAL titles include Clairton (12), Shady Side Academy (10), Mt. Lebanon (9), Connellsville (7), Indiana (5) and defending champion Hampton (5).
Bethel Park (8), North Allegheny (6), Hampton (4), Shaler (3), Shady Side Academy (2), Mars (1), Moon (1), Quaker Valley (1) and Seneca Valley (1) have won PIAA titles in boys swimming.
• In addition to North Allegheny, the leaders in overall girls WPIAL swimming titles are Bethel Park (20), Oakland Catholic (11), Shady Side Academy (4), Mt. Lebanon (3), West Allegheny (3) and Northgate (2). Oakland Catholic (9), North Allegheny (7), Bethel Park (4), Gateway (3), Moon (2), Mt. Lebanon (1) and Norwin (1) have won PIAA girls swimming titles.
Key dates
Nov. 18: First practice date
Nov. 25: First scrimmage date
Dec. 2: First play date
Jan. 5: First section date
Feb. 24-25: WPIAL diving championships
March 2-3: WPIAL swimming championships
March 15-18: PIAA championships
2022-23, 2023-24 alignment
Class 3A
Section 1: Armstrong*, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Latrobe**, Norwin, Penn-Trafford
Section 2: Butler, Mars**, Moon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley
Section 3: Baldwin, Central Catholic/Oakland Catholic, Fox Chapel, Gateway, Penn Hills, Plum, Shaler
Section 4: Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, South Fayette, Trinity**, Upper St. Clair
Class 2A
Section 1: Carlynton*, Chartiers Valley, Cornell*, Keystone Oaks, Montour, Seton LaSalle, Ellis School (girls only)
Section 2: Beaver, Beaver Falls*, Blackhawk*, Central Valley, Hopewell, Quaker Valley*, Riverside*, West Allegheny
Section 3: Deer Lakes, Freeport, Hampton, Highlands, Knoch, North Catholic, Northgate*, Shady Side Academy
Section 4: Burrell, Derry, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, Kiski Area, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant*, Valley
Section 5: Belle Vernon, Connellsville, Elizabeth Forward, Laurel Highlands, Ringgold, South Park, Uniontown
Section 6: Brentwood, East Allegheny, McKeesport, Steel Valley, Thomas Jefferson, West Mifflin, Woodland Hills
*Cooperative sponsorship
**Class 2A boys team competing in 3A section to align with girls team
Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.
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