Norwin’s Tulenko captures pair of gold medals at WPIAL championships

By: Robert Scott
Thursday, February 27, 2020 | 2:37 PM

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Purchase Photo Options

Previous Next

After sitting out all of last year to compete in club swimming, Norwin’s Ethan Tulenko is a two-time WPIAL gold medalist after the first day of the WPIAL Class AAA championships.

The senior placed first in the 200-yard and 50-yard freestyle events Thursday at Pitt’s Trees Pool, winning the 200 (1:40.07) by more than two seconds and the 50 (20.78) by a half-second. He missed the WPIAL 50 free record by 0.78 of a second.

Tulenko, a George Washington commit, swam for club team Racer X Aquatics under coach Jim Skirboll in place of the WPIAL season last winter.

It means a lot to Tulenko to achieve dual-gold medalist status after taking a path less traveled.

“It just shows how hard work can pay off, waking up early all summer just to go to practice and work hard,” Tulenko said. “The biggest key is to have the mindset that you are going to win. If you have any doubt (in yourself), you’re just not going to win.”

This was not his first time competing at the WPIAL championships as he earned sixth place in the 50 freestyle event two years ago.

Tulenko beat multiple Westmoreland County swimmers in the 50 free, including several from Hempfield. Brian Wilson placed sixth (21.64), and Will Falcon and Anthony Peila finished eighth (21.76) and ninth (21.80), respectively.

“The 50 is kind of my trademark event,” Tulenko said. “It’s what has got me to junior nationals this last winter. I wanted to swim to kind of get that redemption aspect (considering his results during his sophomore year).

“The 200 took more preparation just because it’s a longer event, and you need to be able to hold that pace, but winning the 50 was (more satisfying).”

Franklin Regional’s 200 freestyle recorded the best relay result of any Westmoreland school as the team of Andrew Harris, Max Wang, Owen Holm and Payne Rizzer earned silver (1:25.73) behind North Allegheny (1.25:11).

“Going into the race, we knew we had a pretty good shot to knock off the two-seed (Norwin),” Franklin Regional swimmer Owen Holm said of the 200 freestyle race. “We went in with a great mindset and just did it.”

Penn-Trafford’s 200 freestyle relay team of Austin Prokopec, Ben Yang, Michael Vareha and Nick Graziano placed fifth (1:27.47).

The Hempfield’s best Day 1 finish arguably happened in the boys and girls 200 freestyle relays. The boys relay team consisting of Anthony Peila, Brian Wilson, Hunter Cooper and Will Falcon finished fourth (1:26.94). The girls relay unit with Emma Martz, Francesca Nemetz, Jordan Crupie and Mandy Cisco placed sixth (1:39.45).

Relay teams from Penn-Trafford, Norwin, Franklin Regional and Latrobe each finished 10th or higher in the girls race.

The 200 medley relay event kicked off the day, and North Allegheny won gold on both the boys and girls side.

Hempfield and Franklin Regional each medaled in the boys race, placing sixth (1:37.34) and eighth (1:37.87), respectively.

“It feels great to medal in this event. We put a lot of hard work in (throughout the season,” said Hempfield swimmer Anthony Peila, who was part of Hempfield’s 200 freestyle and 200 medley relay teams. “A lot of our technique came together, our starts were quick and our transitions were good.”

With one more day of competition, Hempfield ranks fifth in the boys’ team standings with 89 points. Franklin Regional is in sixth with 78, chasing perennial champion North Allegheny (196) for the Class AAA team championship.

Hempfield’s girls rank ninth with 60 points, trailing first-place North Allegheny by 155 points.

Only gold medalists automatically qualify for the PIAA championships March 10-14 at Bucknell. The WPIAL’s remaining qualifiers will be decided after every district holds its championships.

In the 200 freestyle, Norwin’s Jordan Kutchak missed a medal by 0.34 seconds (1:56.38). Franklin Regional’s Madalyn Meyers finished 15th (1:57.02).

Penn-Trafford’s Corina Paszek placed sixth in the girls 200 IM (2:08.64) while teammate Alyssa Tomb took 10th place (2:11.66).

The highest local finish in the boys 200 IM was Franklin Regional freshman Aiden Bunker in 13th (1:59.83) followed by Norwin senior Phong Tran in 14th (2:00.43).

Bunker was one of four Panthers competing in the event.

Two more Hempfield swimmers finished in the top 11 of the girls 100 butterfly race as Jordan Crupie’s 58.75 time was good enough for ninth, missing a medal 0.03 of a second (58.72).

Watch the archived video stream of the meet on Trib HSSN.

Robert Scott III is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Norwin, Penn-Trafford