Lily King breaks state record, Mt. Pleasant teammates also win gold at PIAA 2A swim meet

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 10:27 PM

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LEWISBURG — Mt. Pleasant senior Lily King has broken records numerous times over her illustrious high school career.

The N.C. State commit added to her record-breaking haul Wednesday evening in the finals of the PIAA Class 2A girls 200-yard freestyle at Bucknell University’s Kinney Natatorium.

King was unchallenged as she swam to a PIAA and pool-record time of 1 minute, 44.64 seconds.

The time surpassed the previous PIAA and pool record of 1:44.73 set by West York’s Courtney Harnish in 2017.

King was slightly faster in the 200 free at WPIALs with a 1:44.62.

“I am very proud of my time and getting the state and pool records,” King said. “A best time would’ve been nice, but I had that goal of getting the state record for a couple of years. It’s an amazing feeling that I have come this far to where I am able to swim a time like that.”

Bishop Shanahan sophomore Whitney Kane was a distant second in the 200 free with a time of 1:52.22.

King now will go after her fourth PIAA title in the 100 free Thursday. If she wins gold in the event, she will complete a sweep with her 16th individual title at WPIAL and states combined.

She would be the first swimmer in history, boys or girls, to accomplish the feat.

King holds the PIAA record in the 100 free — 48.38 — set last year. She is the clear top seed with a time from WPIALs of 47.65.

She also will anchor the 400 free relay team, which is the top seed (3:33.46) in front of No. 2 Frankin Regional (3:36.11).

“I am very excited for tomorrow and what it holds for me and for everyone else on the team,” King said. “It’s hard to believe that they will be the final swims of my high school career.”

Later in the evening Wednesday, the Mt. Pleasant boys 200 medley relay of Seth Painter, Joseph Gardner, David Mutter and Gunnar Probst upheld the top seed for the finals it established after the preliminaries earlier in the day.

The quartet went 1:34.87 in the prelims, faster than its WPIAL-winning time at Pitt nearly two weeks ago. Then it clocked a 1:34.45 to claim state gold for a second year in a row, outdistancing second-place Cathedral Prep (1:35.80).

“It was all on my teammates. They set me up really well,” said Probst, the relay’s freestyle anchor. “I was just thinking about what I had to do with my stroke, all the corrections I made throughout the season, and how they all helped me. It felt so good to get back to the top of the podium. We lost one of our seniors from last year, but we were able to fill his spot and keep going.”

Northgate junior Sam Cavanaugh bested Gardner for the WPIAL title in the 200 IM, but Gardner was able to return the favor at states.

He touched the wall first in a time of 1:49.52, four seconds faster than his runner-up time from WPIALs (1:53.54).

Cavanaugh, the No. 1 seed for the finals, ended up in second (1:50.61).

“I came into states feeling really confident,” Gardner said. “I coasted a little bit in the morning, trying to save a little bit for the relay and for my other events. Coming into the finals, I just wanted to leave it all in the water. This is the last time I will swim (the 200 IM) as a high schooler. I had a good race. I am really proud of myself.”

Mutter, like Gardner, added individual gold to his win with the medley relay.

While he wasn’t able to meet or surpass his state record in the 100 butterfly (47.52) set last year, he did repeat as state champion with a finals time of 48.08, about a second and a half clear of the rest of the field, including runner-up Chris Belch, a senior from Hampton.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to go back-to-back,” said Mutter, who will swim the 500 free and 400 free relay Thursday.

“To go home with another gold medal in my final year to add to my collection, I can’t ask for much more than that. It was a good swim. I feel tired, but I just wanted to go out and do what I could do and hope that it would give me good results.”

The Mt. Pleasant girls 200 medley relay quartet of King, Kiersten O’Connor, Lainey Brown and Maddie Barrick finished runner-up to Erie Cathedral Prep.

The Vikings were the second seed coming into the finals and knocked exactly two seconds from their seed time to finish in 1:46.02.

Prep led after the third leg, and Kendal Johnston held off King in the freestyle to win in a time of 1:45.68.

Freeport placed third (1:48.08).

O’Connor, this year’s WPIAL champion and last year’s state champion in the 50 free, was edged out at the wall in the final heat by Westmont Hilltop freshman Rylee Kohan, who came from Lane 7 and the sixth seed to win in a time of 23.22.

O’Connor, who came in seeded first, finished as the runner-up in 23.34. She dropped 18 hundredths of a second from her prelim time.

“(Kohan) isn’t in our district, so I didn’t know that much about her going in, but I knew she had to be really talented to make it to this level,” O’Connor said. “She did a really good job.”

“I was a little disappointed with my time. I was hoping for a personal best, but the great thing about swimming is that I know I will do that race a hundred more times. I am just looking forward to the next race at this point.”

O’Connor finishes the 50 free at states with gold, silver, and bronze.

She came back in the 200 free relay and helped the Vikings, with Brown, Barrick, and Riley Shinsky, place second in 1:38.50.

The relay dropped 0.67 from its prelim time. It was in sixth heading into the final leg, and O’Connor rallied to bring it back for silver.

Cathedral Prep again captured relay gold as the Ramblers dropped a second and a half from their prelim time to win in 1:37.23.

The Mt. Pleasant boys 200 free relay of Probst, Painter, Gardner and Quinn Heinnickel captured bronze in a time of 1:28.25. The Vikings lead Indiana, 124-107, in the boys team standings after Day 1.

Franklin Regional was well represented on the girls 200 free medals podium as junior Magdalena Hull (1:55.47) and sophomore Scarlett Zolnar (1:55.62) placed fifth and sixth.

Both dropped more than a second from the times they swam in their preliminary heats earlier in the day.

Hull and Zolnak then helped power the Panthers 200 free relay, along with Jamie Kociela and Aidah Holm, to sixth in a time of 1:39.34.

Southmoreland junior Allison Stinnett was part of a fast final heat in the 200 indivdiual medley won by Shady Side Academy sophomore Ava Jochims (2:00.49).

Stinnett was one of four from the WPIAL to claim medals. She landed in seventh overall in 2:07.79, a full half-second faster than her prelim time.

Also bringing home PIAA medals were Derry sophomore Alexa Darazio in the girls 100 fly (eighth, 59.31) and Probst in the boys 50 free (21.91).

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: Mt. Pleasant