Mt. Pleasant adds 6 state swimming gold medals to trophy case

By: Michael Love
Friday, March 15, 2024 | 11:06 PM

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WPIAL individual swimmers and relays captured nine out of a possible 12 state titles on the first day of the PIAA Class 2A championships Friday at Bucknell University.

Mt. Pleasant claimed six of the nine and added a state record to the program portfolio.

Junior David Mutter was a big part of what ended up being a WPIAL sweep of the six boys championship heats. He set a state record in the preliminaries of the 100-yard butterfly Friday morning with a time of 47.58 seconds.

The previous record of 48.01 was set in 2015 by Brent Benedict from Corry in District 10.

Mutter came back in the evening and won the state title. He shaved off another five one-hundredths to 47.52.

Last year, Mutter finished runner-up to Southmoreland graduate Henry Miller.

“I had a quick stroke to the wall at the end. It was a rough finish, but it was a good swim overall, and it’s a state record,” Mutter said. “It’s a great, great feeling that I have the record for all of (Class 2A) in the state of Pennsylvania. I’ve only been beaten by one triple-A kid this year. He had a great swim with a 45.7.That is crazy fast.”

Jacob Johnson, a senior from Springfield in District 1, set the Class 3A 100 fly state record Wednesday morning.

The Mt. Pleasant boys 200 medley relay of Mutter, Logan Snively, Joseph Gardner and Gunner Probst started things off by winning PIAA gold in a time of 1:32.57.

The quartet cut nearly two seconds from its prelim time. It came in as the No. 1 seed after swimming to 1:34.15 at WPIALs.

Probst, a sophomore, is a newcomer to the relay as Mutter, Snively and Gardner were a part of last year’s team that placed third at Bucknell.

“My confidence in these guys was at an all-time high,” said Snively, who swam the relay’s leadoff leg.

“We have some really great guys. Joseph in the breaststroke, David in the fly and Gunner the freestyler. We worked so hard all year for this, since the summer. We put in thousands and thousands of yards. I had no doubt in my mind that they were going to bring it home and get the win.”

Gardner added to the medals haul with a win in the 200 IM. He cut more than four seconds from his prelim time and came from the No. 4 seed to finish in 1:49.01.

“I felt good in warm-ups, so I expected something awesome,” Gardner said. “After that relay, and after winning with my guys, I knew I had to come out and put it all on the line towards this individual event. I wanted to score as many points as I could for the team. I knew where I had to work on my race with each stroke. It’s awesome to know I was able to swim so much faster in the finals.”

With the three state titles leading the way, the Mt. Pleasant boys are a close second to Indiana in the team standings. The Little Indians lead the way with 105 points, one more than the Vikings.

When it was the girls turn to take to the pool, the winning continued for Mt. Pleasant.

The Lady Vikings claimed three titles, starting with the 200 medley relay of juniors Kiersten O’Connor, Kaylie Korpiel, Maddie Barrick and Lily King.

The relay won in a time of 1:46.78 and led a contingent of five WPIAL teams in the championship heat.

O’Connor also was on last year’s gold-medal winning 200 medley relay with graduates Sara Jo Gardner, McKenna Mizikar, and Reegan Brown.

King had a quick turnaround for the finals of the 200 free. She went in as the No. 1 seed.

She repeated as the event’s champion with a personal-best time of 1:45.51 as the WPIAL went 1-2-3. Northgate senior Elise Nardozzi was second, and Kiski Area senior Eliza Miller was third.

King also got closer to the 200 free state record of 1:44.73 held since 2017 by West York’s Courtney Harnish.

Harnish went on to swim at the University of Georgia.

“I will say the (state record) was in the back of my mind,” King said. “But at the same time, I was trying to just focus on myself and go in with the mindset of swimming as fast as I can. I am always happy with a best time.”

King returns to the pool Saturday in the 100 free where she is the defending champion. King won last year with a state-record 48.93 which also was a Bucknell pool record.

O’Connor capped the state-title haul for Mt. Pleasant and the WPIAL with a win in the 50 free.

Third in the state in the event last year, O’Connor came back with the goal of standing at the top of the medals podium.

After a time of 23.48 in the finals heat, O’Connor was right where she wanted to be.

“There’s not a lot of thoughts and strategy going on in a quick race like that,” she said. “I just go out and swim as fast as I can. It was an amazing feeling to get the title. I’ve been working up to this for like three years now. To be able to swim this event here and be a state champion is amazing.”

O’Connor dropped 24 one-hundredths of a second from her prelim time.

She returns Saturday as the No. 3 seed in the 100 backstroke (55.37). The top seed is defending champion Leah Shackley from Bedford who comes in with a top time of 50.43.

Westmoreland swimmers and relays claimed four additional medals.

The Latrobe boys 200 free relay of Chris Heese, Patrick Cratty, Jace Pedicone and Charlie Thomson placed fourth in the finals with a time of 1:27.52, a drop of 1.37 seconds from their time in the prelims.

Earlier Friday evening, Cratty placed seventh in the finals of the 200 free with a time of 1:44.15.

Snively, Probst, Mutter and Seth Painter teamed to place the Mt. Pleasant boys 200 free relay in seventh overall (1:28.67).

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