Franklin Regional, Mt. Pleasant swimmers strike gold at WPIAL meet

By: Michael Love
Thursday, February 26, 2026 | 7:34 PM

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Thomas Westerman’s smile said it all.

The Franklin Regional junior stood on the top of the medals podium at the WPIAL swimming championships for the first time Thursday.

Westerman trimmed more than 1.5 seconds off his seed time in the 200-yard freestyle at Pitt’s Trees Pool. When he touched the wall with his time of 1 minute, 40.91 seconds, he was a Class 3A champion.

“It really feels amazing,” said Westerman, whose previous best finish in the 200 free was fifth last year (1:41.95). “All that hard work, all those hours you put in, and to see it come to life, it just feels great. I definitely had a great week of preparation.”

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 times at each district or regional meet.

Westerman returns to the pool Friday as the third seed for the 500 free. He also finished fifth in the 500 last year.

Latrobe senior Charlie Thomson made a switch in his Day 1 swim, moving to the 100 butterfly from the 50 free, where he placed fifth last year.

Thomson’s move paid off as he bumped up two spots on the medals podium with a third-place finish in 49.64. Thompson was faster than his seed time by nearly 2 seconds.

“I felt that I had a lot more room for improvement in the 100 fly, and I had been improving a lot,” Thomson said. “I was a little nervous for my race at first. But I was just trying to calm myself. The first 50 usually feels like nothing. It’s that second 50 that hits you. It’s nice to swim against such great competition.”

Thompson came back in the 200 free relay and helped the Wildcats quartet, with senior Chris Heese, junior Dylan Steele and freshman Landon Updegraff, take fourth (1:26.60).

Franklin Regional, with Westerman as the anchor, joining senior Chris Wu, junior Andrew Silvis and senior Peter Ducruet, was one spot behind in fifth (1:27.13).

Heese started his individual WPIAL meet with a fourth in the 50 free (21.12). He joined Updegraff, Thompson and Steele on the meet-opening fifth-place 200 medley relay (1:37.18)

The Latrobe boys collected 90 points Thursday and sit in fifth place in the Class 3A boys standings heading into Friday’s events. North Allegheny has a sizeable lead (287 points) over Upper St. Clair (134), Mt. Lebanon (128) and Bethel Park (100).

Franklin Regional is eighth (80) and Penn-Trafford 10th (50).

The Latrobe girls lead the Westmoreland County Class 3A teams in sixth with 67 points as the Wildcats 200 medley relay of junior Isabelle Hough, sophomore Beth Cratty and seniors Matilda Price and Hannah Carasia led the way in fourth with a time of 1:49.33.

Norwin rounds out the top 10 in 10th with 49 points.

The Latrobe 200 free relay of Hough, Cratty, Price and Carasia swam 3 seconds faster than their seed time (1:43.31) to take fifth (1:40.64), and Norwin junior Amber Klingensmith swam to fifth in the 100 butterfly (57.02).

Class 2A

Westerman wasn’t the only swimmer from Franklin Regional to capture gold.

The Panthers girls 200 free relay team of senior Magdalena Hull, junior Jamie Kociela, freshman Anna Tomasic and junior Scarlett Zolnak was the fastest, clocking a winning time of 1:36.80, a drop of 3.25 seconds from their seed time.

“There was definitely a lot of adrenaline going, and I wanted to make sure I got a safe start as my starts tend to be right on the edge,” said Zolnak, the relay’s anchor leg. “From there, I wanted to swim as fast as I could. This was so amazing because we trained hard together to have this moment. It’s amazing for all four of us to succeed together.”

Then the Mt. Pleasant boys 200 free relay of senior Cody Fusco, sophomore Colby Emerick, junior Lucas Poole and senior Gunnar Probst put their stamp on the meet with a championship in a time of 1:30.38.

The Vikings quartet edged Indiana for the title (1:30.87). The Indians had won the last three boys 200 free relay crowns.

Fusco also held his seed (fourth) in the 200 free but lowered his finals time to 1:48.38.

Westmoreland swimmers made their mark all over the event standings.

Tomasic had quite the WPIAL debut for the FR girls.

She joined a trio of local swimmers in challenging Winchester Thurston senior Thea Siegel, the top seed in the girls 50 freestyle.

Tomasic sprinted to the wall in 23.70 seconds, good for second overall and just 12 hundredths away from Siegel.

Southmoreland senior Allison Stinnett, fourth in the 200 IM on Day 1 last year, placed third in the 50 free Thursday with a time of 24.20.

Tomasic also helped the Franklin Regional girls 200 medley relay, with Kociela, senior Amelia Oates and junior Aidah Holm, place third in 1:50.57, a second and a half drop from their fourth seed and 17 hundredths of a second faster than the Mt. Pleasant quartet of freshman Claire Keefer, senior Lainey Brown, freshman Sadie Pool, and junior Riley Shinsky (1:50.74).

Westmoreland swimmers also rolled to top finishes on the boys side of the 50 free.

Indiana junior Joshua Reed repeated as champion in 20.90, but Belle Vernon senior Brady Malekovich, fourth in the event last year, put pressure on Reed and sprinted to a runner-up time of 21.22.

Mt. Pleasant senior Gunnar Probst took third (21.25). Probst was second to Reed last year.

Hull held her seed in the girls 200 free, finishing third overall with a time of 1:55.47. She also was third last year (1:55.54).

“I thought I swam really well,” Hull said. “It wasn’t a best time for me, but it was great to be able to do it with my teammates.”

Hull swam the final heat with Zolnak, who placed fifth (1:56.88). A third FR swimmer, junior Poebe Boswell, came from the second-to-last heat and took eighth (1:58.51).

“The three of us work so hard in that event, and to have all three of us together on the podium is so special,” Hull said.

Holm added a bronze medal in the 100 butterfly as she swam to a time of 58.70, more than a half-second ahead of area rival Alexa Darazio, a junior from Derry (59.16).

The Franklin Regional girls head into Day 2 with 167 points, eight away from Class 2A leader Indiana. Mt. Pleasant and Derry are tied for sixth (80 points).

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: Franklin Regional, Latrobe