Knoch’s Lavorini successfully defends 100 breaststroke title at WPIAL Class 2A championships

By: Michael Love
Friday, February 28, 2025 | 9:07 PM

Giona Lavorini knew the emotion of putting a gold medal around her neck at the WPIAL Class 2A swimming championships.

She did it last year by outracing two-time defending champion Peyton Scott from Indiana in the 100 breaststroke.

Lavorini, a senior at Knoch, was back on the top step of the medals podium Friday afternoon at Pitt’s Trees Pool. She defended her title with a time of 1 minute, 3.03 seconds.

Southmoreland junior Allison Stinnett crashed the party in a big way with a runner-up finish in 1:03.74. Scott was a close third at 1:03.84.

Lavorini was fourth in the 100 breast as a freshman and runner-up to Scott as a sophomore.

“I felt very good in the race,” she said. “It’s always nice to go up against amazing competition like Peyton and Allison. We always have good races against each other.

“It’s kind of crazy to think this is my last WPIAL meet. I’ve come a long way since my freshman year. It doesn’t even feel like it was three years ago. It’s gone by so fast.”

Lavorini adds her second 100 breast gold medal to Thursday’s third-place finish in the 200 individual medley.

Friday’s victory also gives her an automatic berth to the PIAA championships in two weeks at Bucknell.

Only the WPIAL champion in each individual event and relays earn the automatic trip. The other at-large berths are based on times recorded at each district or regional meet. The full list of qualifiers is expected to be released Sunday on the PIAA website.

“I am sure I will see (Stinnett and Scott) in a race again at states,” Lavorini said.

She said she’s excited to head to Bucknell and defend her PIAA 100 breast championship.

“It will be another tight race up there,” she said. “I can’t underestimate anybody. I made a couple of mistakes in my swim today. I am looking forward to going back and analyzing it to see what I need to do to do better and get a better time.”

Indiana edged Mt. Pleasant by 1.5 points — 240.5 to 238 — for the Class 2A girls team title. Franklin Regional finished third with 204 points.

Freeport was a close fourth with 197 points, and 32 of those points came in the girls 400 freestyle relay to cap the meet.

The quartet of seniors Kira Schrecongost, Mary Ann Altman and Isabella Barton, along with sophomore Kasey Schrecongost, led Franklin Regional and Mt. Pleasant after the third leg.

But Mt. Pleasant senior standout Lily King struck again. As the anchor, she made up a 4-second deficit for her team, which brought home the gold in a time of 3:33.46.

“The energy was so high for our race, and I am so proud of the girls,” said Kasey Schrecongost, who earned an individual medal earlier Friday with a fifth-place finish in 100 free (53.61). “We were hungry for that, and we really wanted it. We cut a lot from our time last year, which is awesome. We’re going for it at states.”

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: Freeport, Knoch