Fox Chapel freshmen make big splash at WPIAL swim meet

By: Michael Love
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 7:45 PM

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Ellie Lange and Delaney O’Toole didn’t let the pressure of their first WPIAL swimming championship overtake them.

In fact, the Fox Chapel freshmen thrived.

Lange and O’Toole won Class 3A titles in their individual swims Thursday and also helped the 200-yard medley relay team capture gold.

Lange outdistanced the field in the girls 200 individual medley with a winning time of 2 minutes, 3.33 seconds.

“It was just a great experience to start (the meet) off in such a positive way (in the 200 medley relay), and that definitely helped me in my swim,” Lange said. “The energy was really great, and I just focused on doing the best I could do. I hadn’t dropped that much time in a while. There was such great competition, so I was really excited.”

Then it was O’Toole’s turn in the 50 freestyle. She sprinted to first in a time of 22.97. A new 50 free champion was guaranteed with the graduation of four-time champ and WPIAL record holder (22.57) Sylvia Roy from Mt. Lebanon.

“Knowing the atmosphere and how everyone was doing with our points, everyone was doing great,” O’Toole said. “We were well-prepared. It was exciting to see everyone do so well. I just focused on myself and my own race. At the end of the day, you just want to (swim) the best you can.”

The 200 medley relay of Lange, O’Toole and juniors Cameryn Brindza and Josie Stanczak kicked off Thursday’s Class 3A session with a bang. The Foxes captured the WPIAL title in a time of 1:43.94 and also ended North Allegheny’s three-year hold on gold in the event.

The Tigers came in second (1:44.82).

“It is such a great feeling to win (a WPIAL title), especially a relay because you are doing it with your closest friends,” said Stanczak, who later would finish fourth in the 100 butterfly (56.86). “When Delany hit the wall, it was so exciting. We all just started hugging and high fiving. It was honestly the best feeling.”

Foxes junior Charlotte Rusche followed the relay with a runner-up finish in the 200 free (1:51.93). North Allegheny’s Claire Bacu, second last year in the 200 free to Fox Chapel grad Sarah Pasquella, captured the title in a time of 1:50.13.

“I swam Claire since my freshman year in both the 200 free and 500 free, and it’s definitely familiar,” Rusche said. “Going against her, it makes me want it more every time. She is so good. It was just a good, competitive swim. It was a good swim for me. It’s the fastest I’ve been in a year.”

The Foxes had three swimmers in the final 200 free heat with sophomores Maren Shelkey-Bray and Nico Ressler finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.

North Allegheny returned the favor in the girls 200 free relay as the Tigers (1:35.49) edged the Fox Chapel quartet of Stancak, Rusche, sophomore Tuuli Airik, and junior Norah Kovach (1:36.66) for the title.

The Foxes came in as the No. 1 seed.

The Fox Chapel girls, with their three first-place finishes leading the way, finished Day 1 with 206 team points, second to North Allegheny’s 279.

In all, Alle-Kiski Valley swimmers brought home numerous medals.

The Plum girls 200 free relay of sophomore Olivia Miller and seniors Elle Irwin, Charlotte Faust and Delaney Hunsinger had one of the bigger time drops in the event, knocking almost 4 seconds off their seed time to move up from 10th to fourth place in 1:40.45.

Fox Chapel senior Arman Alborzi also made a big jump from the 14th seed in the boys 100 fly to sixth. He dropped 3 seconds to finish in a time of 52.18, a second behind sophomore teammate Nathan Agens, who landed in fifth (51.20).

Only the champion in each event at WPIALs earns an automatic bid to the PIAA championships set for March 11-14 at Bucknell. The remaining at-large entries will be determined based off of times at each district or regional meet.

Class 2A

Knoch senior Adrian Lavorini had hopes to move up in the 200 IM on Day 1 of WPIALs on Thursday, both from a fourth seed coming in and also from last year’s third-place finish.

He was able to put a check in both boxes.

Lavorini raced to second in the 200 IM with a personal-best time of 1:54.77. He went 1:54.84 last year when he took third behind Northgate’s Sam Cavanaugh and Mt. Pleasant graduate Joseph Gardner.

Cavanaugh took home his second gold medal with a time of 1:50.77.

“I have definitely improved a lot (in the 200 IM),” Lavorini said. “I still need to work on my backstroke splits, but all my other splits have gone a lot faster. I really enjoy the 200 IM. I was just looking for a better time than last year.”

Lavorini is the fourth seed for Friday’s 100 breaststroke.

Junior Jacob Ruediger swam a 1:57.31 to win the second-to-last heat of the 200 IM and put pressure on those in the final heat. He ended up faster than three in the final heat, and he bumped up to sixth place and joined Lavorini on the medals podium.

Lavorini and Ruediger helped the Knoch boys 200 medley relay, which also included sophomore Brady Bleicher and senior Aedan Smith, rise from the eighth seed to third. The quartet dropped exactly 5 seconds from their seed time to 1:40.72.

“I was very surprised,” Lavorini said. “I knew we would drop a lot of time from our seed time. The atmosphere of being here at Pitt, I knew as a team we would go faster. Brady had his best time, I had my best time, Aedan had his best time, and so did Jake. And we were close to the team record.”

Swimming continues Friday with the second Class 3A session starting at 9:45 a.m. and Class 2A to follow at 3 p.m. Champions will be crowned in the 100 free, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay.

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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