Herald roundup: Shady Side Academy girls capture WPIAL title

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, March 4, 2018 | 11:25 PM

The Shady Side Academy girls swim team won its fourth consecutive WPIAL Class AA championship March 1-2 at Pitt's Trees Pool.

The Indians finished with 287 points, and Indiana came in second at 266.

“What an amazing two days it was,” SSA coach John Landreth said. “There were so many emotional moments. This phenomenal senior class has meant so much to our program. Winning the first girls WPIAL swimming championship four years ago was wonderful, but collecting the next three was so incredibly rewarding. Each one was challenging and different, but this one was truly a collective effort. I could not be more proud of how our swimmers embraced and capitalized on each and every opportunity during the last two days.”

The team got off to a strong start on the opening day. The 200 medley relay team (Jeanne Lauer, Maya Groff, Meredith Cummings, Lindsey Grune) finished second. Grune won the 200 individual medley. Cummings finished third in the 100 butterfly, and the 200 free relay team (Sasha Arefyev, Heather Grune, Groff, Lindsey Grune) took first.

The Indians finished the opening day with a 244-228 lead over Indiana.

On the final day, Lindsey Grune and Cummings tied for second in the 100 freestyle.

“I've never seen that in 26 years of coaching,” Landreth said.

Arefyev placed second in the 500 free, and the 400 free relay team (Arefyev, Lauer, Heather Grune, Meredith Cummings) finished first.

The SSA boys finished sixth, highlighted by a first-place finish from the 200 free relay team (Christian Taylor, Sevryn Napora, Nick Lauer, Adrian Beckford).

The Indians had 18 swimmers garner top-eight finishes with five earning top-16 finishes.

The top three finishers in each event will head to the PIAA championships at Bucknell on March 14-15.

Fox Chapel

Fox Chapel junior Jonah Cagley claimed his second consecutive WPIAL diving championship with a strong final dive and advanced to the PIAA championships. Last year, he finished third at states.

“I won't be preparing any differently,” he said. “I will again focus on doing my best and winning a gold medal.”

Teammate David Manelis finished third in diving and also will head to states.

FC's Joslyn Filo qualified for states with a second-place finish in the 100 butterfly in Friday's action. Overall, the Foxes girls finished in 10th place.

The girls 200 medley relay team of Grace Gackenbach, Jackie Filo, Joslyn Filo and Molly Weise finished fourth. They will qualify because their time was among the best across the state.

Marty Stewart is a freelance writer.