Gateway’s Andrew Holmes posts top WPIAL time in 200 IM

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 14, 2021 | 9:01 AM

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Gateway junior Andrew Holmes earned a WPIAL swimming championship automatic qualifying time in the 200-yard individual medley with a personal-best of 1 minute, 52.04 seconds against North Hills on Feb. 9.

That put him at the top of the list in the event, surpassing Seneca Valley junior Daniel Simoes (1:52.25) in Class AAA.

Those who reach the automatic qualifying standards released by the WPIAL on Jan. 12 are guaranteed a spot at the WPIAL championship meet March 7. Each swimmer again is permitted to swim up to two individual events and two relays at WPIALs or one individual event and three relays.

The WPIAL on Feb. 3 announced only the top 16 for individual events and the top 12 relays will gain entry. After all of the automatic entries are determined, the WPIAL then will select from the secondary qualifiers to fill out the heats for each event.

Holmes also owned three spots on the WPIAL performance lists released Feb. 8 at WPIAL.org. Included in that was his No. 1 place in the 200 free (1:43.71).

He also was ninth in the 500 free (4:50.48) and 11th in the 50 free (22.10).

The latest performance list was to be released Monday, past the deadline for this week’s edition.

Junior Summer Raymer owned five spots on the Feb. 8 Class AAA performance lists, including the top spot in the 500 free (5:07.37) recorded against Hampton on Jan. 21.

She also checked in at No. 5 in the 200 free with a 1:55.71 from a meet with Fox Chapel on Jan. 28.

Both times are automatic for the WPIAL championships.

Morgan Holmes, a sophomore, is guaranteed to swim at the WPIAL championships March 7 as she earned an automatic qualifying time of 24.84 in the 50 free in the Gators’ Feb. 4 meet with Franklin Regional.

She also recorded a 54.86 in the 100 free against Franklin Regional for 16th on the performance list. The automatic time in the 100 free is 53.70.

Gateway coach Sherry Sonetti said Holmes also hopes to grab an automatic time in the 200 free.

Sonetti said as of last Wednesday’s meet with Woodland Hills, all six relays had achieved secondary times.

The boys 200 medley relay of Holmes, Gabriel Sha, Promo Brodt-Jenkins and Sam DiPalma swam a time of 1:40.61 against North Hills. The automatic WPIAL time is 1:40.

On the girls side, the 200 medley relay of Raymer, Holmes, Mallory Brown and McKenna Brown hoped to continue closing the gap for an automatic time. They were three seconds away after the North Hills meet.

Gateway boys bowling wins section title

With their 7-0 victory over Penn Hills last Wednesday, the Gators guaranteed the best regular season record in the East section.

The win put them at 9-0 with a match against Valley remaining the next day. That final match was to be contested past the deadline for this week’s edition.

The finish propelled Gateway to the WPIBL team tournament this week at North Versailles Bowl.

The top two teams in each boys and girls section punched tickets to the WPIBL tournament. The Gators, by virtue of their section title, also have secured a spot in the Western Regional team tournament March 6.

In addition to helping the team qualify for the WPIBL tournament, all five Gateway senior starters will test their mettle at the singles event Feb. 24 at AMF Mt. Lebanon Lanes.

Mason Servello recorded season highs for a game (278) and a series (662) against Penn Hills, bumping his average up to 197.6.

Nathan Clark, with his 577 series against Penn Hills, upped his average to 189.2.

Liam Brown rolled a season-best 222 game against the Indians for a 185.4 season average.

Cody Beckwith (182.3) and Anthony Zappa (173.1) also hope to make an impact in playoff tournaments.

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