Fox Chapel notebook: Swimmers setting pool records

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, January 18, 2025 | 11:01 AM

The Fox Chapel swim team is full of athletes who are seeking an opportunity to put themselves in the best position to do well at the WPIAL and PIAA Class 3A championships. To that end, the Foxes have seen a number of pool records fall this season.

Sarah Pasquella, Josie Stanczak, Charlotte Rusche and Grace Kovach teamed up to set the pool records in the 200 free and 400 free relays.

Pasquella, a Michigan recruit, has continued to pile up accolades during her senior seasons. She has also picked up Fox Chapel pool records in the 200 free and 110 breast. Pasquella also grabbed a pool record at North Allegheny in the 100 breast.

Wrestler claims crown

Vie Filar has helped show the incredible growth the Fox Chapel girls wrestling program can produce from one season to the next. Filar, who finished just above .500 last season, improved to 7-2 by winning the Blue Devils Girls Winter Classic Jan. 11 at Mt. Lebanon High School.

Filar defeated a field of wrestlers from around the state to bring home the crown. She beat Nazareth’s Brianna Gold in the 235-pound final. Filar finished 10-9 last season.

The Foxes finished sixth as a team. Fox Chapel had three wrestlers — Evelyn Owens (136 pounds), Yoqi Zhou (142) and Andrea Wang (148) — finish in fourth place. Aita DiGioia (100) finished in fifth place.

Halfway home

At the halfway point of the season, the Fox Chapel girls basketball team is in good position to return to the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. The Foxes knocked off Plum Jan. 14 to improve to 4-2 in Section 1-5A and 9-5 overall.

Fox Chapel, which allows 42.2 points per game, has been involved with a lot of defensive battles.

Difficult stretch

The Fox Chapel wrestling team would like to defend its section title from last season, but the Foxes will have a challenging stretch to see if they still have what it takes.

The Foxes hosted the Allegheny County wrestling championships Jan. 17-18. Fox Chapel (8-2, 2-0) had to follow that up by wrestling Kiski Area. The Cavaliers were also undefeated in the section standings and are one of the top programs in Class 3A from year to year. Fox Chapel has seven wrestlers with double-digit win totals.

Jack Viti, Adam Haines, Joseph Geller, Landon Funk and Milo Chiu were all tied for the team lead with 12 wins.

Tags: Fox Chapel