Countdown to WPIALs: Indiana’s Payton Rayko in select company in Class AA

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, February 20, 2018 | 5:39 PM

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Tribune-Review sports reporter Michael Love and the TribLive High School Sports Network will be profiling 10 swimmers to watch leading up to the 2018 WPIAL championship meet, set for March 1-2 at the Pitt's Trees Pool.

TRIBHSSN is the exclusive audio and video home for the WPIAL Class AAA and AA championship meets, which will be broadcasted and video streamed live at TribHSSN.triblive.com.

Here is the third installment of a 10-part series featuring some of the area's top swimmers.

Payton Rayko

School: Indiana

Class: Junior

Events: 100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, 400 free relay.

2017 WPIAL Class AA results: 100 butterfly, 1st (58.30); 200 freestyle, 5th (1:55.98); 200 free relay, 2nd (1:50.11); 400 free relay, 5th (3:42.17).

There will be a number of new WPIAL individual champions in Class AA this year as almost all of the 2017 titlists graduated.

Indiana's Payton Rayko, however, is in select company.

She was one of just two swimmers to take home Class AA individual gold last year as an underclassmen. Obama Academy senior Sead Niksic (boys 100 back) was the other.

Rayko is back and hoping for big things at this year's WPIAL championships, set for March 1 and 2 at Pitt's Trees Pool. She took the 100 fly title after placing 11th in the event as a freshman.

“Over the course of the year, Payton has put up some pretty consistent times,” Indiana coach Garet Weston said.

“She wanted to break a minute (in the 100 fly) before WPIALs, and she came close. She's put in some extra training sessions in and out of the pool, including strength training. With some rest, she will be ready to go. She has motivation this year to defend her title.”

Rayko also swam to fifth in the 200 freestyle last year, but Weston said a decision was made to move her to the 100 backstroke on the second day of the championships. The 100 fly is contested on Day 1.

“We wanted to separate her events more and come into the 100 fly fresh,” Weston said. “She swam the medley relay, the 200 free and the 100 fly all in one day.”

Payton brought home four WPIAL medals last year. She was a part of the 200 medley relay and 400 free relay that placed second and fifth, respectively.

All four swimmers on both relays were underclassmen, and Weston said the excitement is high for those events, as well.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.

Tags: Indiana