North Hills swimming teams enjoying improvement this season

By: Kevin Lohman
Thursday, January 2, 2020 | 5:42 PM

While they’re only a handful of meets into their season, the North Hills boys and girls swimming teams are seeing measureable gains in their performances.

So far, the North Hills girls (3-0) have seen one pool record, in addition to qualifying three of their relay teams for WPIALs and six of their individual performers for the championship event.

Meanwhile, the North Hills boys (1-2) also have notched a pool record, courtesy of one of their most accomplished swimmers, to go along with two WPIAL qualifying relay teams and three individual qualifiers.

Coach Lucas Marsak is encouraged by the progress, and he says he hopes to see a few more of his swimmers make the WPIAL-qualifying mark in their upcoming meets.

“I think it’s a testament to the collective group effort to work together to become better. I think there’s a good focus and intensity from this group to raise the bar of what’s possible,” Marsak said.

“Whether that means looking to reset pool records or qualify more kids for WPIALs or race for a higher finish at WPIALs, there’s definitely a focus on raising the bar as high as possible.”

Sophomore Maddie Mahoney is responsible for the pool record for the girls team, finishing the 50-yard freestyle in 24.50 seconds. She and fellow sophomore Jewel Thomas have qualified for WPIALs in multiple events.

Other WPIAL qualifiers include Sarah Grace Kuchma, Madison Cordial, Chloe Salopek and Elizabeth Shaffer.

For the boys team, Josh Bogniard set a pool record at North Hills in the 100 backstroke, breaking his record from last season with a time of 52.90 seconds. So far, the junior and boys team co-captain has qualified for WPIALs in the 50 free, 100 fly, 100 free, 100 back and 100 breast.

Senior Tyler Eisses, the other boys captain, also has qualified for WPIALs in the 50 free. It is Eisses’s first time qualifying for the postseason.

Freshman Brady Lawrence has qualified for WPIALs, as well. He will participate in the 100 back.

“We have more boys on the team this year than we did last year. There’s good camaraderie there, and they’re working well together,” Marsak said. “For the whole team, our goal is just to compete against the best and to use that opportunity to maximize our own potential. We’re definitely looking toward WPIALs this year, being competitive at the individual level and trying to get on that final podium for those relay events, too.”

Tags: North Hills