North Carolina recruit Mayo leads Westmoreland swimmers into WPIAL championship meet

By: Karen Kadilak
Monday, February 25, 2019 | 7:26 PM

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Hempfield senior Gavin Mayo looks forward to showing off the form that made him a Division I recruit Thursday and Friday at the WPIAL Class AAA swimming championships at Pitt’s Trees Pool.

Mayo, who will swim at North Carolina next season, is the top seed (21.29 seconds) in what he expects to be a hotly contested boys 50-yard freestyle. He was runner-up last season.

“I’ve been working on a lot of technique stuff all season,” he said. “I’m hoping that it will pay off with some personal-best times.”

Mayo is seeded fourth in the 100 backstroke (52.75).

North Carolina coach Rich DeSelm said Mayo has tremendous potential.

“Gavin has good size, has not overtrained and will gain strength and explosiveness in college,” DeSelm said.

Penn-Trafford’s boys team is among the favorites in five events. Seeded second are the 200 freestyle relay (1 minute, 28.47 seconds) and 400 freestyle relay (3:14.82) teams. Sophomore Austin Prokopec is seeded third in the 200 freestyle (1:46.35). Senior Luke Babik is seeded fourth in the 50 free (21.96) and sixth in the 100 free (48.12).

“Our boys team has surpassed expectations all season,” Penn-Trafford coach Dave Babik said. “They have been so impressive for such a small team.”

The Warriors are not likely to dethrone North Allegheny, which has six first seeds and is favored to win for the eighth year in a row. Senior Jack Wright, a Virginia recruit, is among the top-seeded Tigers.

On the girls side, Latrobe senior Carrie Lenz returns after missing last season with a shoulder injury. Lenz, a Clarion recruit, is seeded sixth in the 100 breaststroke (1:05.20).

“Being out of the water for that long was hard, but I have worked hard to be back,” Lenz said.

Franklin Regional senior Abbie Ramey, a Cleveland State recruit who is seeded fifth in the 200 individual medley (2:08.82), is among other medal contenders.

In Class AA, the Belle Vernon boys team is poised to win its first WPIAL title, led by two past champions, both of whom are top seeded in a pair of events.

Sophomore Ian Shahan, the reigning champion in the 100 backstroke, ranks first in the 100 butterfly (51.77) and the 100 freestyle (46.72), and senior Robert Spekis is first in the 200 IM (2:00.29) and the 100 breaststroke (58.42). Spekis won both of those events last season.

Spekis hopes to improve the meet record he set in the 100 breaststroke (57.80), and Shahan is eyeing the meet record in the 100 fly (50.29) established by Derry’s Zach Baum in 2017. Shahan was runner-up in the 100 fly last season.

“I feel very confident,” Shahan said. “I have trained very hard, and I am looking to come out of WPIALs well ahead of where I was last year.”

Spekis said he also has put in a lot of work and is staying busy with activities outside the pool to get his mind off swimming.

In the 100 breaststroke, Spekis will be pushed by Greensburg Salem senior William Crites, who is seeded second (59.20). The Leopards are seeded first in the 200 freestyle relay (1:32.41).

Among girls, Mt. Pleasant junior Heather Gardner is favored to repeat as champion in the 50 freestyle (23.84) and the 100 breaststroke (1:04.30). To stay calm, she is watching her races from last year.

“I look back on the season and all of the work I put in and know I did all I could at every practice,” she said.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Mt. Pleasant, Penn-Trafford