Gateway swimmers chasing medals at WPIAL championships

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 27, 2022 | 11:01 AM

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Before competing in college at Youngstown State, Summer Raymer has one final chance to make her mark on the biggest high school stages in Pennsylvania.

The Gateway senior distance swimmer, who will compete in both the 200- and 500-yard freestyles and the 200 and 400 free relays at the WPIAL championships March 3 and 4, said she is ready to “go after it.”

“I am just going in with a positive mindset. I am excited to swim and see what I’ve got,” said Raymer, who is seeded fifth in the 500 free (5:11.61), 14th in the 200 free (1:58.94), 11th with the 200 free relay (1:43.46) and 12th in the 400 free relay (3:47.19).

Raymer finished as the WPIAL runner-up in the 500 as a sophomore.

“If I have my best race that day, I have a pretty good chance to challenge for one of the top spots,” she said.

Raymer joins fellow seniors Drew Holmes and Gabe Sha in competing at WPIALs for the final time. There also will be several WPIAL debuts, including freshman Hunter Raymer, the No. 2 seed in the boys 500 free (4:43.16) and the No. 8 seed in the 200 individual medley (1:58.01).

“Everyone is so excited for WPIALs,” Summer Raymer said. “We all have the same mindset. We all want to do our best for each other. This is such an exciting time of the year. In some ways, it’s more mental than physical.”

In all, 16 Gateway swimmers will take to the pool at WPIALs in either individual or relay events.

For most of the regular season, swimmers and coaches alike waited to get word on both the location of and the number of qualifiers for the WPIAL championships.

Covid last year severely altered the normal operations, so many hoped things would return to a semblance of normalcy.

On Feb. 8, the WPIAL announced that, in fact, WPIALs would be returning to Pitt’s Trees Pool and the number of qualifiers would double in size from last year, from 16 to a maximum of 32 for each individual event and from 12 to 24 for each relay.

“I am so excited that the championships are back at Pitt,” Gateway coach Sherry Sonetti said.

“It gives the kids so much energy to perform their best.”

Holmes, the newly minted Bloomsburg commit, returns to WPIALs after capturing last year’s WPIAL title in the 200 free and finishing runner-up in the 100 free.

He is back in the 100 free as the No. 3 seed (47.49), but he switched up his first-day swim to the 50 free and is seeded third there as well (21.37).

Junior Morgan Holmes continues to chase Olivia Livingston’s school record in the 100 backstroke (58.87) and she is the No. 9 seed with a top time this year of 59.37.

She also has her sights set on WPIAL gold in the 50 free where she is the No. 2 seed (24.42) behind Mt. Lebanon freshman standout Sylvia Roy.

The boys 200 medley relay of Sha, Raymer, Holmes and junior Primo Brodt-Jenkins earned an automatic WPIAL cut (1:37.77), is seeded seventh overall, and is chasing the school record of 1:36.71 set in 2014.

“The relay really wants the record, and they are going after it,” Sonetti said. “They can get it if they all hit their best times.”

The same four in the boys 200 free relay also hit a WPIAL automatic cut (1:28.30) and secured a No. 5 seed.

The 400 free relay is the eighth seed after picking up an automatic cut of 3:16.27. The relay will feature sophomores Mark DiPalma, Chase Anthony and Colton Park; and freshman Owen Echegarry.

The top eight finishers in each individual and relay event earn WPIAL medals. Sha hopes to be in that mix in the 50 free as he is seeded 11th (22.30). He also will swim the 100 free.

The top 13 in the boys 100 breaststroke earned automatic WPIAL cuts, and Brodt-Jenkins is on that list in 13th (1:01.18). He also is set to go in the 200 IM.

“You never know what can happen in some of these races at WPIALs,” Sonetti said. “That’s what makes it so exciting. The best swim against the best, and you always see someone make a big jump from where they are seeded.”

Others who have qualified for individual events at WPIALs are DiPalma (200 free, 100 free), sophomore McKenna Brown (50 free) and sophomore Mallory Brown (100 free, 100 breast).

“Everybody is now working on technical things like starts and turns,” Sonetti said. “These kids know how to get fired up. They are fine-tuning things at this point.”

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: Gateway