Kiski Area swimmers excited for ‘measuring stick’ of WCCA championship

By: Michael Love
Thursday, January 23, 2025 | 6:33 PM

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A trio of Kiski Area individual swimmers and one relay team have the biggest targets on their backs as top seeds for Saturday’s Westmoreland County Coaches Association championships at Derry.

Sophomore Leah Kunkle has the fastest time this season among Westmoreland swimmers in the girls 200-yard individual medley.

Senior Riley Yute leads the pack in the boys 50 freestyle, and fellow senior Justin Tucker is No. 1 in the boys 500 free.

The Cavaliers boys 400 free relay also has earned a top seed based on its best time this season: 3 minutes, 24.10 seconds, recorded against Highlands on Jan. 13.

“This meet is such a great measuring stick to see where everyone is at this point in the season,” Kiski Area coach Ryan Berberich said. “The kids are ready. They will show up and swim well no matter if we are seeded first in an event or last or somewhere in between. I expect all of our swimmers to compete and swim to the best of their abilities and give the teams and the coaches 100% effort. If they are able to do that, and they do that knowingly, I’ll have no issues with the way the results turn out.”

All of the seeds for Saturday’s meet are based on times recorded in dual meets and high school sanctioned invitationals through the first six weeks of the season.

Saturday’s swim meet begins at 10 a.m., and all the heats in every event will be contested with an estimated finish time of 4 p.m.

Meet records are expected to be broken. Last year, six records fell.

Mt. Pleasant senior and N.C. State commit Lily King knocked off two of them: the 200 free (1:49.02) and the 50 free (22.74).

In addition to the four top seeds, several other Kiski Area entries are seeded among the top three in various events.

The girls 200 medley and 400 free relays are seeded second, and Leah Kunkle is second in the 100 breaststroke.

Other Cavaliers girls highly seeded include senior Paige Kunkle (third, 100 backstroke) and senior Amara Sterlitz (second, 500 free).

Top-three seeds on the boys side are Tucker in the 200 IM (third), Yute in the 100 butterfly (third) and sophomore Connor Erwin in the 100 back (third).

Last year’s meet saw several top finishes from returning Cavaliers swimmers, including silver medals earned by the girls 200 medley relay (Paige Kunkle, Sterlitz), Tucker in the 200 IM and 500 free and Yute in the 100 fly.

Berberich said the offseason merger of the Kiski Area and Burrell programs has been seamless.

Three Burrell students, led by sophomore standout Joey Roos, are members of the Cavaliers.

“It’s been fantastic,” Berberich said. “They assimilated well with us, and we welcomed them with open arms. The good thing was that the kids already knew each other through USA Swimming. It was very easy. Knowing the type of kids I have on these teams, I knew it wouldn’t be an issue. I know everyone has had a positive experience.”

Last year, Roos, a WPIAL qualifier for Burrell, led off his run to WPIALs with an eighth-place finish at the county meet in the 500 free. He added a 12th in the 200 free.

On Saturday, Roos is the fourth seed in the boys 500 and the sixth seed in the 200.

“He made a couple of (WPIAL) cuts in the relays, and he is close in both the 500 and 200,” Berberich said.

“He’s swimming fast. We just have to get him swimming faster at the right time so everything works out well for him. I think that he has a great chance to get them Saturday. That is one of the reasons we love the county meet so much. It is a really nice meet to swim against the top competition within the county.”

In all, Kiski Area swimmers have earned 21 WPIAL individual cuts, and all six relays have qualified.

County divers will get the chance to shine and open the two-day event.

Diving Friday starts at 5 p.m., and junior Lacey Ray will represent Kiski Area.

“Lacey’s dove for us in the past, and she would’ve competed at counties last year but an injury pretty much sidelined her for the second half of the season,” Berberich said. “She is doing really well now, and we’re excited to see what she will be able to do on Friday.

“We have a few other divers who have improved to the point where they are able to do a six-dive sheet. They just don’t have enough dives to do an 11-dive meet requirement. That is why Lacey is the only one who is diving at counties right now.”

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: Burrell, Kiski Area