Fox Chapel contingent seeks PIAA swimming gold

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 6:15 PM

Margaret Rusche is laser focused on bringing home an individual medal in the girls 100-yard butterfly Friday at the PIAA Class 3A swimming and diving championships at Bucknell.

The Fox Chapel senior, a four-year state qualifier in relay and individual events, knows it will be a challenge. But with her eighth-seeded position after posting a time of 56.86 seconds at the WPIAL championships Feb. 27 at Pitt’s Trees Pool, she is confident she can find her way onto the medals podium.

“I am super excited,” said Rusche, who will help lead a sizeable contingent of Foxes swimmers to the state meet Friday and Saturday.

“It’s my fourth year here, so I am really looking forward to the opportunity and go with all my teammates one last time. Christian (Dantey), Owen (Howell), Sarah (Pasquella), and I have been there together for four years. It will be fun to share this with them one more time, and also all of our younger teammates. We’ve worked hard all season, and especially since WPIALs, to be ready to swim fast at states.”

Rusche finished 26th in the in the 100 fly (58.85) at last year’s PIAA meet.

“I’ve never been this highly seeded in the fly before, so I am hoping to do what I can to get on that podium. It’s been my goal for four years now. Every year, I have been just off making the ‘B’ final, but I am really confident in my opportunity this year.”

She will come back Saturday morning and swim the preliminaries of the 100 backstroke as the 18th overall seed. She clocked a time of 57.96 at WPIALs.

It is her first swim at states in the 100 back since her freshman year in 2022.

Fox Chapel swimmers and divers will be joined by a group from Plum and Kiski Area.

The Class 3A preliminaries begin with the girls events at 8:05 a.m. each day and continue with the boys at 10:55.

The consolation and championship finals for those who finish in the top 16 after the prelims will be 4:35 for the girls and 6:55 p.m. for the boys both days. The top eight will receive medals.

The finals both days will be broadcast live on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.

In all, Alle-Kiski Valley swimmers will be featured with eight relay and 21 individual swims in the preliminaries.

Fox Chapel senior Jackson Hagler will take center stage in the boys diving finals at 12:40 p.m. Saturday as he shoots for state diving gold. He is the third seed after finishing runner-up at WPIALs to North Allegheny senior Ethan Maravich.

Hagler, who scored 515.75 points at WPIALs, was third at last year’s PIAA meet after placing 19th as a freshman and earning an eighth-place medal as a sophomore.

Fox Chapel senior Sarah Pasquella, two-time WPIAL champion in the 200 freestyle, swims the event Friday.

Third last year, the Michigan commit now is the hunted as the top seed after posting a WPIAL title time of 1:48.79.

“I am ready to get to Bucknell and get some best times and see where that puts me,” Pasquella said. “We’ve all been working really hard since WPIALs and are in great shape to race the clock and swim fast.”

She also is the No. 2 seed to Pine-Richland’s Sarah Shaffer for Saturday’s 100 breast after the two finished their head-to-head WPIAL swims separated by just four one-hundredths of a second.

“Both my (individual) events are pretty deep, and I am sure they will bring the best out of me,” said Pasquella, who also will be highly seeded for the 200 free relay (second, 1:35.14) on Friday and 400 free relay (third, 3:27.93) on Saturday with senior Grace Kovach and sophomores Josie Stanczak and Charlotte Rusche.

Charlotte Rusche is well situated in medal contention as the seventh seed in the girls 200 free (1:51.92).

Dantey and Howell find themselves in individual medal contention both days.

Howell, the WPIAL champion in the 200 individual medley (1:51.40), is seeded second to Central Bucks West senior Blaise Hoffman (1:50.51), last year’s PIAA runner-up.

“The 200 IM is a lot tighter this year,” Howell said. “Last year, there was a top guy who was way ahead of everyone else. It should be a much closer race at the top. There also will be a great opportunity for a number of people to make a jump up places.”

Dantey and Howell are right next to each other in the 100 breast as the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, respectively, after they finished three one-hundredths of a second apart at WPIALs.

Dantey will seek a podium finish in the 200 free as the seventh seed (1:40.08).

“The (two-week) break since WPIALs, with where I have been in my training, was pretty good for me,” Dantey said. “We want to make the best of what we can do at states, so we prioritized resting closer to states as opposed to resting for WPIALs and trying to hold it for states.”

Kiski Area senior Justin Tucker hopes to make his mark in a pair of individual events. He is among the fastest in the 500 free as the third seed (4:32.64), and he is in contention to make it back to the evening session in the 200 IM (16th seed, 1:54.27).

Last year, Tucker shined at the PIAA Class 2A championships with a fifth in the 200 IM (1:54.29) and a third in the 500 free (4:36.01).

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.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Kiski Area