Mt. Pleasant swimming sweeps 2A titles at WCCAs; Franklin Regional boys, Latrobe girls win in 3A
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Saturday, January 25, 2025 | 7:04 PM
In the final Westmoreland County Coaches Association swimming meet of their high school careers, the Mt. Pleasant senior quartet of Lily King, Kiersten O’Connor, David Mutter and Joseph Gardner went out in style Saturday.
Three of the four set records as the Vikings boys and girls teams finished second out of 12 teams and each took home the title in Class 2A. The girls finished with 284 points, and the boys racked up 342.
“I was proud of them,” coach Sandy Felice said. “Lots of best times for the season, not their career best, but I felt they did a really good job.”
The overall winners at Derry Area Natatorium were the Franklin Regional boys, who defended their title from last year with 353 points, and Latrobe’s girls team (318 points).
The Derry girls placed third with 279 points, and Latrobe’s boys finished third with 284.
Out of 22 events, Mt. Pleasant finished second or first in 14 of them.
The day started off with the girls 200-yard medley relay team of O’Connor, senior Maddie Barrick, junior Lainey Brown and sophomore Riley Shinsky taking first with a time of 1 minute, 49.88 seconds.
The boys followed with their own first-place finish in the 200 medley relay as Mutter, Gardner, fellow senior Seth Painter and junior Gunnar Probst won in 1:37.07.
Next up was King, who appeared to swim effortlessly in her 200 freestyle and took first in 1:47.13, breaking her own record of 1:48.02 set last year.
“Even though it didn’t look like it, I was exerting myself,” said King, an N.C. State commit. “The 200 is always hard, but it felt pretty good for this point in the season. Really happy with the result.”
King then raced in the 100 freestyle and again broke her own record by swimming a 48.86, besting last year’s record time of 49.63. She was also the anchor on the 400 freestyle relay, which claimed first in 3:37.27.
O’Connor, a UConn commit, placed first in the 50 freestyle (23.58) and 100 backstroke (56.08). She just missed out on King’s record in the 50 free (22.74) and her own record set last year in the back (56.03).
“I wasn’t thinking of anything else but trying to go as fast as I possibly could,” O’Connor said. “Before the 50 free, I was getting a little nervous, so I was trying to stay calm and collected to execute as best as possible.”
Mutter took first in the boys 200 freestyle, posting a 1:41.86.
“I felt good, but I was tired going into that last 50,” Mutter said. “It was painful. I haven’t swam a lot of the 200 this year. I’ve been switching up events this season, but I’m right around where I was last year at this time.”
Mutter almost ran out of gas because he made a recent change in his racing style.
“I’ve decided to go all-out from the start and then hold on for the rest of my races,” he said.
Mutter, an Alabama commit, then grabbed gold in the 100 butterfly, swimming a time of 48.93, which broke the previous record held by Belle Vernon’s Ian Shahan in 2020 (50.32).
His teammate, Pitt commit Joseph Gardner, claimed gold in the 200 IM (1:54.88), but he was most proud of winning the 100 breaststroke.
“I had the record my freshman year, broke it my sophomore year and I missed it last year,” Gardner said. “I was bummed about that.”
Gardner swam a 56.94 last year, missing his record of 56.87 by just 0.08 seconds. This year, he left no doubt, posting a time of 56.58.
The Vikings also took gold in the girls 400 freestyle relay, where King was the anchor. The team swam a 3:37.27.
The only other records set on the day were by the Latrobe boys and girls 200 freestyle relay teams.
The Wildcats girls team of seniors Destini Homan, Maggie Elder and Lauren Bell and junior Hannah Carasia swam a 1:38.39, breaking the record set by Hempfield (1:38.80) in 2019.
Bell also claimed gold in the 100 butterfly (56.50), and she came in a close second to O’Connor in the 50 freestyle, posting a 24.12.
“I was talking with Kiersten before it, and we said a little prayer together,” said Bell. “We have a really good friendly rivalry, and we’re really good friends. Unfortunately, that’s the last time I’ll get to swim against her.”
The Latrobe boys 200 free relay of seniors Patrick Cratty and Heinrich van der Westhuizen and a pair of juniors in Chris Heese and Charlie Thomson swam a 1:26.91, besting the old mark of 1:27.33 set by Hempfield in 2022.
Cratty came in second to Mutter in the 200 freestyle with a 1:44.50 and knew from the start how hard he would have to swim to keep pace.
“I felt pretty good,” Cratty said. “I race David a lot, so I’m used to how he swims. He’s really fast, so it’s a good motivating tool for me. I was trying to hang with him, and I thought it went well.”
Although Franklin Regional only took first in one race — the boys 400 free relay with a time of 3:16.90 — the Panthers had swimmers place in the top six in a handful of races and accumulated enough points to earn the boys title and have the girls team finish fourth.
“The boys swam amazing today, had a great meet and it’s the highlight of their season so far,” said Panthers coach Dan Taylor. “I’ve been really proud of what they’ve done in practice, and it translated today. The girls had a nice showing, and their best is yet to come.”
Other winners included:
• Southmoreland junior Allison Stinnett in the 200 IM (2:11.35) and 100 breaststroke (1:05.18).
• Kiski Area’s Riley Yute swam a 22.18 in the boys 50 free, and teammate Justin Tucker swam a 4:39.85 in the 500 free.
• Norwin’s Hanna Klingensmith posted a time of 5:18.76 in the girls 500 free. Fellow Knight Tyler Turgeon took first in the 100 backstroke with his time of 51.82.
• In the diving portion of the WCCAs, which were held on Friday evening, host school Derry finished first and second in the girls competition.
• Chaeli Keenan posted 412.95 points and Ella Silvis had 387.05.
• The Trojan’s Jake Hauser won first on the boys side with a score of 458.70 and Franklin Regional’s Mac Miller posted a 337.00 for second.
Overall, 182 athletes and 45 relay teams improved their times.
Tags: Belle Vernon, Burrell, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Kiski Area, Kiski School, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford, Southmoreland
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