North Allegheny boys strike lots of gold on Day 1 of PIAA swimming championships

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | 10:33 PM

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LEWISBURG — The North Allegheny boys swim team is well on its way to defending its PIAA Class AAA championship.

The Tigers captured five state titles in six events during Day 1 action Wednesday evening at Bucknell. They enter Thursday with 165 points, 52 ahead of second-place North Penn (District 1).

The highlight of the championship-finals session was North Allegheny's new National Federation of High Schools public school record of 1 minute, 19.60 seconds in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Juniors Jack Wright and Joel Songer, sophomore Rick Mihm and senior Mason Gonzalez also crushed their own state record of 1:20.95 set last year.

“We've had a pretty strong team the past couple of years,” Wright said. “We've worked hard. We wanted to come back and show everyone what we're made of. We knew a lot of teams would be coming after us.”

The Tigers 200 medley relay of Songer, senior Andrew Zhang and juniors Jerry Chen and Tolik Borisov got things started with a win in 1:31.14.

Wright then brought home gold with a time of 1:34.77 in the 200 freestyle.

Mihm joined in on the fun with a first-place finish in the 200 individual medley (1:46.09).

“I just wanted to get off to a fast start and keep the train going,” Mihm said.

Gonzalez defended his 50 free title with a 19.99, the exact time he recorded at states last year.

“You always want to go faster, but it's my best time so I'm happy with that,” he said.

Zhang provided team points and earned a medal with a fourth (49.66) in the 100 butterfly.

In addition to North Allegheny's big first day, Penn Hills junior Kimani Gregory, the WPIAL champ in the 100 fly, turned in a runner-up performance Wednesday in the event with a time of 48.03 seconds.

Conestoga (District 1) junior Brendan Burns won the 100 fly with a time of 47.04, which surpassed the previous state record of 47.26 set by Upper St. Clair alum Ryan Dudzinski in 2015.

Fox Chapel junior Jonah Cagley fronted the WPIAL divers and placed third in the Class AAA boys competition. It was his second PIAA third-place finish in as many seasons.

Gateway's Olivia Livingston was golden again in the Class AAA girls 50 freestyle. She held off the field and tied her own state record with a time of 22.73.

“I wanted to go faster than (states) last year and also beat my time at WPIALs (22.71),” Livingston said. “But it was a still a great time, and lots of people would love to have that time.”

Livingston returns Thursday in the 100 free, and she hopes to grab the title that eluded her last year in a runner-up finish at Bucknell.

“I want to go out really fast (Thursday) in my first 50,” Livingston said. “I've been working hard on my second 50. It should be a pretty good race. I'm excited for it.”

Butler sophomore Laura Goettler turned in a bronze-medal performance in the girls 200 IM as she swam to a time of 2:02.49, nearly a second faster than her prelim swim earlier in the day.

The North Allegheny girls lead the WPIAL contingent in the Class AAA team standings. They are in eighth place, while Mt. Lebanon ranks 10th.

North Penn leads the way with 134 team points, 20 clear of second-place Governor Mifflin and 33 ahead of third-place Avon Grove.

The Class AAA preliminary swims Thursday also will feature the 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay. The boys heats will begin at 8 a.m., and the girls will take to the pool at 10:40.

The consolation and championship finals will be 6:05 p.m. for the boys and 8:35 for the girls.

The Class AAA girls diving championships will be at 2:35 p.m.

Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at mlove@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Mlove_Trib.