North Allegheny swimmers claim 8 gold medals on 1st day of WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships
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Thursday, February 29, 2024 | 2:23 PM
North Allegheny’s William Gao swims in the 100-yard butterfly during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Natalie Sens swims in the 100-yard butterfly during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Natalie Sens poses for a picture atop the podium of 200-yard freestyle relay winners during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Natalie Sens and Danielle Hickson pose for a picture atop the podium of 100-yard butterfly winners during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s William Gao poses for a picture atop the podium of 100-yard butterfly winners during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Greta Mott cheers during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Danielle Hinkson swims in the 200-yard IM during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Grant Regule and Zachary Totin pose for a photo with their medals during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Grant Regule reacts to winning the 50-yard freestyle during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny’s Tori Tieppo swims in the 200-yard IM during the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
North Allegheny continued its dominance on the first day of the WPIAL Class 3A swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The Tigers bookended the day by sweeping the relays in both the boys and girls competitions.
Seniors Natalie Sens and Greta Mott and sophomores Tori Tieppo and Dani Hinkson won the 200-yard medley relay in 1 minute, 44.89 seconds.
Hinkson also took first in the girls 200 IM in 2:06.48, and Tieppo finished fourth behind Upper St. Clair senior Amanda Aidar (2:07.27) and Pine-Richland junior Sarah Shaffer (2:08.03).
Sens took home gold in the girls 100 butterfly in 54.74, while Hinkson finished third at 56.52, trailing Latrobe’s Lauren Bell (56.48).
The Lady Tigers’ quartet of Sens, junior Julianne Weaver and sophomores Eva Ogden and Claire Bacu finished the day with a 1:35.55 in the 200 freestyle relay to repeat as champs in the race.
For the North Allegheny boys, seniors William Gao and Riley Williams and juniors Gus Miller and Grant Regule took first with a 1:32.29 in the 200 medley to begin their day.
“We push ourselves and Coach Patrick’s really good at making sure we do push,” Regule said of coach Patrick Wenzel. “We chose the same relay lineup as last year. We know each other so well that we have it down and we can get off the blocks better.”
Regule finished first in the boys 50 freestyle in 20.63.
“It was awesome,” Regule said. “I had my head down the entire time, didn’t breathe, only looked at the board when I finished. Not to be cocky, but I was expecting to win.”
Regule edged Bethel Park freshman Jackson Edwards (21.17) and North Hills senior Dane Fazio (21.21).
Gao repeated as boys 100 fly champion, posting a time of 49.07, which bested his mark from last year by 0.35 seconds. His teammate, sophomore Zachary Totin, placed third (50.14) behind Franklin Regional senior Holden Thomas (49.62).
The North Allegheny boys group of Regule and sophomores Dylan Seiford, Zachary Totin and Danny Lesinsky posted a 1:24.5 in the 200 free relay to finish off the Tigers’ relay sweep.
The Tigers led both the boys and girls competitions at the end of the first day.
The girls hold a 301.5 to 173 lead over second-place Fox Chapel. Seneca Valley sits in third with 127.
The boys have a commanding lead in team points with 236.5, ahead of Upper St. Clair (176) and Mt. Lebanon (126.5).
One of the more competitive races of the day took place in the boys 200 freestyle.
Central Catholic junior Luke Hartman edged last year’s champion, Fox Chapel’s Christian Dantey by six-hundredths of a second, posting a 1:39.39. Dantey finished in 1:39.45, a full 1.4 seconds faster than his time last year.
“I put my head down the last 25 yards and didn’t breathe,” Hartman said. “I knew that if I was with Dantey by the last 100 I would have a chance.”
Central Catholic junior McClellan Clark rounded out the top three in 1:39.76.
Fox Chapel junior Sarah Pasquella took first in the girls 200 free with a time of 1:51.08 ahead of North Allegheny’s Bacu (1:51.94) and Fox Chapel freshman Charlotte Rusche (1:52.70).
Fox Chapel also claimed first in the boys 200 IM as junior Owen Howell posted a time of 1:52.38. North Allegheny’s Miller was second at 1:54.33 and junior Hunter Raymer of Gateway was third in 1:54.40.
Mt. Lebanon junior Sylvia Roy repeated as champion in the girls 50 free with a time of 22.84, missing last year’s time by 0.12 seconds. Upper St. Clair senior Kaitlyn Connors came in second at 23.18 and freshman Ava Komoroski of Peters Township was third (23.72).
Friday’s events include the 100 free, 500 free, 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke and 400 free relay. Competition will commence at 9:45 a.m.
Tags: Bethel Park, Central Catholic, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Gateway, Latrobe, Mt. lebanon, North Allegheny, North Hills, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Upper St. Clair
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