Latrobe’s Lauren Bell takes 8th in 100 fly at PIAA swimming championships

By: Michael Love
Friday, March 14, 2025 | 11:01 PM

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LEWISBURG — Latrobe senior Lauren Bell hoped for big things with one more crack at the 100-yard butterfly at the PIAA Class 3A state championships at Bucknell University.

She was the only Westmoreland individual or relay to make it back for one of the championship-final heats Friday inside Kinney Natatorium.

Seeded eighth for the final, Bell dropped time in her race and placed eighth in 57.15 seconds.

“My mindset was that it was my last 100 fly of my high school season and to hustle through it. I was talking myself through it to just get to the wall as fast as possible,” Bell said.

The heat was fast, and it also produced a state record.

Hatboro-Horsham senior Annie Jia swam to a winning time of 50.65, which surpassed her own record of 51.26 set last year.

“To swim in the same heat as Annie Jia is awesome,” Bell said. “She is crazy fast, and that experience was so cool. It was just really good competition overall.”

Bell comes back Saturday as the 13th seed for the prelims of the 100 free.

Later in the meet, Bell led off the 200 free relay in the consolation finals, and the group, which included Destini Homan, Hannah Carasia and Maggie Elder, clocked a time of 1:37.27, faster than its WPIAL time of 1:37.99, and placed ninth.

They also were faster than three teams in the championship heat. But because they were in the consolation heat, they could rise no higher than ninth.

The relay finished with a prelim time of 1:38.65, just four one-hundredths of a second away from eighth.

“I do understand the rules, but it still is a little frustrating,” Bell said. “There were just some small technical things in the prelims. We were right there, so close to a spot in the finals.

Bell said she was proud of her teammates for coming together and making the relay what it became at states.

“I got out, and I had so much trust that they were going to carry us the rest of the way, and they did,” Bell said.

“I am so glad I got that experience with these girls. We really ended on a bang with that relay. We’re going to continue on with that energy tomorrow.”

The Latrobe boys 200 free relay of Chris Heese, Patrick Cratty, Heinrich Van Der Westhuizen and Charlie Thomson improved on their prelim time in the consolation finals. They swam to a 1:25.38 and placed 12th.

Heese swam individually in the consolation final of the 50 free and landed in 16th overall (21.40).

Franklin Regional sophomore Thomas Westerman was seeded 13th for his consey finals swim in the 200 free. He was able to tick up one spot to 12th in a time of 1:42.74.

WPIAL girls 100 fly champion Amber Klingensmith of Norwin saw her time elevate in her consolation-finals heat. She swam to 16th in a time of 59.37.

The top 16 finishers earned points to their team’s score.

The Class 3A championship meet at Bucknell continues Saturday morning with the girls prelims in the 100 free, 200 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breast and 400 free relay at 8:05 a.m., followed by the boys prelims in those same events at 10:55.

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.