Mt. Lebanon, Central Catholic, Mars swimmers earn top seeds for Day 2 of PIAA Class 3A championships
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Saturday, March 15, 2025 | 1:02 PM
Swimmers compete during the Class 3A boys prelims at the PIAA swimming championships March 15, 2025, at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
Swimmers compete during the Class 3A boys prelims at the PIAA swimming championships March 15, 2025, at Bucknell’s Kinney Natatorium.
LEWISBURG — The WPIAL again will be well-represented in the gold-medal heats Saturday evening at the PIAA Class 3A swimming championships at Bucknell.
North Allegheny junior Claire Bacu will swim as the No. 2 seed (4:54.85) for the finals of the girls 500-yard freestyle.
Bacu’s Tigers teammate, sophomore Julia Tengowski, is the fourth seed.
Mt. Lebanon senior Sylvia Roy will go after her third PIAA 100 backstroke title, and she is the No. 1 seed (53.72).
Peters Township senior Lauren Opitz will give the WPIAL a second entry into the finals. She tied for fifth (56.55) after the completion of Saturday morning’s preliminary heats.
Fox Chapel senior Sarah Pasquella, the winner of the 200 free Friday, heads into the 100 breast finals as the No. 4 seed (1:03.33).
WPIAL champion Sarah Shaffer, a senior from Pine-Richland, qualified as the No. 6 seed with a morning swim of 1:03.50.
The North Allegheny 400 free relay of Tengowski, Bacu, Eva Ogden and Dani Hinkson will challenge for gold as the No. 3 seed (3:30.36).
Fox Chapel’s relay of Pasquella, Grace Kovach, Josie Stanczak and Charlotte Rusche is the seventh seed.
On the boys’ side, Upper St. Clair junior Nazar Zoukovski will enter the finals of the 100 free seeded fifth (44.97), while North Allegheny senior Grant Regule is the eighth seed (45.66).
McClellan Clark, a senior from Central Catholic, is the top seed for the 500 free after swimming a 4:25.52 in the prelims.
Kiski Area senior Justin Tucker also is in the finals. He is seeded fourth (4:32.25).
The WPIAL owns the top three seeds for the finals of the 100 backstroke. Mars senior Luke Lamb leads the way (48.34), while North Allegheny’s Danny Lesinski is second (49.21), and Tigers senior Gus Miller is third (49.32).
Upper St. Clair junior Ben Whiteford also hopes to make an impact in the 100 back finals. He is seeded sixth (49.72).
Fox Chapel senior Owen Howell will represent the WPIAL as the seventh seed (55.91) in the finals of the 100 breast.
The North Allegheny 400 free relay of Lesinski, Grant Regule, Alex Harbaugh and Zach Totin is the second seed (3:05.66) for the championship heat.
The girls consolation and championship finals begin at 4:35 p.m. with the boys finals to follow at 7.
Both sessions will be broadcast live on the Pennsylvania Cable Network.
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: Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Kiski Area, Mars, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Upper St. Clair
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