Top 19 of ’19: Trib HSSN breaks down the top stories of the year — No. 9

By: Don Rebel
Monday, December 23, 2019 | 5:01 PM

The 2019 high school sports season is nearly in the books.

While we anxiously look ahead to 2020, let’s reflect on the district high school sports scene over the last 12 months.

Here is a look back at the top 19 stories from around the WPIAL in 2019.

HSSN Top 19 in ’19: No. 9 — Swimmer breaks national mark

At the WPIAL swimming championships in February, Upper St. Clair’s Josh Matheny won Class AAA gold and broke a WPIAL record with a winning time of 54.70 seconds in the 100-yard breaststroke.

But Matheny was just getting started; he saved his best for the PIAA championships in March.

The USC sophomore not only set a new PIAA championship mark by winning state gold, his time of 52.52 broke the national record in the backstroke of 52.65 set by Chandler Bray of Avon, Ind. in 2016.

Over the summer, Matheny was named to the USA swimming national team after winning gold at the world junior championships in Hungary.

In December, Matheny made a verbal commitment to swim for the Indiana Hoosiers.

Here’s a look at the rest of the top stories of the year:

No. 19 — Big Ben strikes often

No. 18 — Near perfect on the pitch

No. 17 — Five golden rings

No. 16 — Bucs title run is now a teenager

No. 15 — Worldly results lead to district and state gold

No. 14 — Black out

No. 13 — Big time ballers

No. 12 — Four decade wait is over

No. 11 — Fight for survival

No. 10 — A Crummie ending

Tags: Upper St. Clair