North Allegheny swimmers in position to extend WPIAL championship streak

By: John Grupp
Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The North Allegheny swimming team ordered T-shirts for this season that paraphrase a famous Vince Lombardi quote.

“If you chase perfection, you can land among the stars of excellence,” said Tori Tieppo, part of a loaded junior class at NA. “You strive for the most you can, and you will end up somewhere good.”

Odds are better than good the Tigers this season will earn gold medals to match their custom T-shirts.

The NA girls swimming team has won 16 consecutive WPIAL titles, the second-longest streak in any sport in league history, behind only the 20-time champion Bethel Park boys swimming team (1981-2000).

The two-time defending PIAA Class 3A champion NA girls return seven swimmers and three divers who competed at states last season and are prohibitive favorites to win another WPIAL crown.

“The girls are excited to compete,” coach Patrick Wenzel said. “Inevitably, when you are the returning champion, there is always going to be some sort of pressure. We just try to minimize it and make sure we are doing the things we can control.”

A pair of Division I swimmers, Natalie Sens (George Washington) and Greta Mott (George Mason), have graduated, but the Tigers boast more than enough returning starters and rising talent to continue their historic run.

Junior Claire Bacu is the defending WPIAL Class 3A champion in the 500 freestyle and classmate Dani Hinkson won the WPIAL 200 IM last season. Tieppo placed fourth in the 200 IM and the 100 breaststroke and another junior, Eva Ogden, was part of two WPIAL gold medal-winning relay teams. Breaststroker Shelby Sundgren and freestylers Madden Woycheck and Emma Dietz are also part of the star-studded junior class.

“We have a really big, strong junior class,” Wenzel said. “We lost a couple of really strong girls, but we hope to be able to compete at a high level again this year.”

The talent extends beyond the 11th-graders. Senior sprinter Julianne Weaver, sophomore distance freestyler Julia Tengowski and promising freshman Evey Masztak give the Tigers a deep, formidable lineup built to excel in both dual meets and championship format.

A powerful diving program also boosts the Tigers. Seniors Lola Malarky and Juliet Hood and junior Maggie Lapina finished 1-2-3 at the WPIAL diving championships last season and all three placed top 10 in the state.

“We are super thankful to have that kind of skill on the diving board,” Wenzel said.

The NA boys, who have won two consecutive WPIAL team titles and 16 in the past 19 years, also are favored. Senior Grant Regule is the defending WPIAL Class 3A champion in the 50 freestyle and senior Gus Miller was runner-up in the 200 IM. A trio of juniors, Zachary Totin (third in 100 butterfly), Danny Lesinski and Dylan Seiford, were part of a WPIAL-champion 200 free relay team.

“The boys team is really super excited to show how good they can be this year,” Wenzel said. “They really trained hard this summer. They are very hungry right now to keep up with our girls team.”

Even with the WPIAL team title looking like a sure thing, the North Allegheny girls are fueled by individual motivations.

Bacu is eyeing the school record in the 500 freestyle (4:51.80) and Hinkson, also one of the WPIAL’s top butterfliers, looks to reach the PIAA finals in the 200 IM after missing the cut by three-hundredths of a second last season and settling for 17th. They both prepared for this season by competing at the USA Swimming Futures Championships on July 25-28 in Richmond, Va.

Tieppo admitted there is pressure that comes along with the WPIAL title streak, but it is not something that weighs on them.

“We know the legacy that we carry, and we keep that in our hearts when we train,” she said. “We keep up that hard work and know it’s going to amount to something really important.”

Golden years

Here are the longest team championships streaks in WPIAL history

Team streak years

• Bethel Park boys swimming, 20, 1981-2000

• North Allegheny girls swimming, 16, 2009-present

• Burrell wrestling, 15, 2007-21

• Sewickley Academy boys tennis, 15, 2004-18

Tags: North Allegheny