WPIAL swimmers claim 6 more golds to wrap up successful PIAA Class 2A meet

By: Michael Love
Sunday, March 17, 2024 | 12:49 AM

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WPIAL swimmers brought home six more PIAA Class 2A state championships Saturday evening to cap a highly successful two-day meet at Bucknell University.

North Catholic junior Luke Lamb won his second individual crown in as many days with a victory in the boys 100-yard backstroke, while Mt. Pleasant junior Joseph Gardner claimed his second-straight 100 breaststroke title in record fashion.

Indiana clinched the boys team title when its 400 freestyle relay of Joshua Reed, Rey Nunez, Alex Bauer and Preston Kessler won with a time of 3:06.81.

On the girls side, Mt. Pleasant junior Lily King lowered her own 100 free state record and Bucknell pool record to 48.38 in the championship heat.

Knoch junior Giona Lavorini won a state title for the first time, claiming the girls 100 breast, and the Northgate 400 free relay of Kendall McKelvey, Katie Petrina, Amelia Hardiman and Elise Nardozzi dropped 4.17 seconds from their prelim time to take first (3:35.05).

The half-dozen gold medals secured Saturday brought the total haul over the two days to 15 out of a possible 24.

Lamb added his win in the 100 back (48.08) to the 50 free title he brought home Friday.

It also prevented Riverside senior Joseph Roth from taking home his third straight championship in the event. Roth finished as runner-up with a time of 48.34.

Lamb cut eight-tenths of a second from his prelim time, while Roth dropped a little more than half a second from the prelims.

“This has been another big goal for me all year,” Lamb said. “I had reminded myself of the state-record time (48.55). It was good motivation to work to. I had to work hard, but I knew it would pay off when I got to race.”

Roth finishes his 100 back career at states with two gold and two silver.

Gardner lowered his 100 breast state-record time to 54.28, besting Indiana senior Alex Bauer by almost two seconds.

“I felt pretty good during prelims. My breaststroke felt on. I was very close to my best time,’ Gardner said. “I am pretty happy with how I swam.”

Gardner’s best time in the 100 breast is a 54.13 recorded at the Pitt Christmas meet in December.

With all of Gardner’s individual and relay success Friday and Saturday, he was presented a plaque honoring him as the boys swimmer of the meet.

“I kind of forgot that it was a thing,” Gardner said about the award. “But I remembered that (Southmoreland grad) Henry (Miller) won it last year. If I could get two (individual) gold medals and break my record, I thought I could be in for swimmer of the meet. That was pretty cool.”

Bauer swam to a runner-up time of 56.17.

“My time could’ve been a little quicker, but second place in the state, I am pretty happy about that,” he said. “I wish I could’ve gotten the win, but it was nice to get those points for the team.”

With Bauer’s finish and the 17 points that came with it and the 400 free relay’s 40 points, Indiana wrapped up the boys team title with 168 points, 16 more than second-place Mt. Pleasant.

Northgate finished third with 118 points.

Indiana is the first WPIAL boys team to win a Class 2A state title since Quaker Valley in 2015.

“I am extremely proud of everyone on this team and how hard we worked together all year to make this happen,” Bauer said. “There were a lot of ups and downs. People were working through injuries and sickness at different times. It was so much fun to work towards this with a great group of guys.”

Bauer said it was the team’s mission to win it all after placing third last year.

“The second last year was over, we wanted this and knew that this year could be our year to get that win, and that’s just what we did,” he said.

While the Mt. Pleasant boys were the runners-up, their Viking female counterparts took the team title, scoring a total of 164 points, 19 more than District 10’s Cathedral Prep.

“I am beyond words proud of all of them,” coach Sandy Felice said as her voice cracked slightly with emotion. “They worked so hard. We had a couple of new girls have great races. With that last relay, we knew we had to get what we were seeded, fifth place, and we did it with a great time.”

King now owns a total of 10 state championships, both individually and with relays.

“(The 100 free) was a nice gauge on how much I’ve improved from last season,” said King, a North Carolina State verbal commit. “It was a great feeling to be able to lower my state time twice.”

Lavorini won the 100 breast with a time of 1:02.11, less than a half second better than defending champion Peyton Scott from Indiana.

Lavorini also beat Scott for the WPIAL title.

“We push each other so much, and I don’t think I would be in the spot I am without her being right there,” said Lavorini, who took fifth in the 200 individual medley on Friday. “It was kind of a crazy feeling to be up there on the top of the podium. I’ve worked so hard for it.

“I was kind of glad that I wasn’t the top seed going into the finals. I seem to do better when I am behind. This morning, I kind of just swam in an old tech suit to get the swim in. I definitely focused on tonight, and I am super excited that I got first.”

Nardozzi said she and her Northgate 400 free relay teammates had the confidence to return in the evening and show out in the finals heat.

“Honestly, (the prelims) was kind of a kick in the butt,” she said. “We were in an outside lane (for the finals), but we knew we just had to bring it. We have three seniors on this team. The energy was contagious. We just wanted to swim for each other, and swim with our hearts.”

Indiana’s Preston Kessler was denied his third PIAA title in the 100 free. He touched the wall second in 44.01, but Blue Mountain junior Noah Powers clocked a winning time of 43.82.

“It goes back to what I had said before. We worked so hard all season to get to this point with the opportunity to win a state title,” Kessler said. “We get that fire to compete and swim as fast as we can.”

“I am a little mad, knowing that I probably could’ve done a little better, but knowing how hard Noah has worked, I am really proud of him.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.