Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) held its WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Diving Championships this past Friday and Saturday at North Allegheny High School. A total of 53 student-athletes competed across two classifications, with North Allegheny junior Lola Malarky (Class 3A) and Hampton sophomore Gabby Elk (Class 2A) capturing WPIAL gold.
 
Malarky is North Allegheny’s fourth different WPIAL champion in the 1-meter dive and captured the school’s ninth title overall. She joins Nikki Joa (1993), Christina Shi (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), and Jaime Tomazich (1994, 1995, 1996) among the Tigers’ winners.
 
Elk is the second Hampton student-athlete to win WPIAL gold in the 1-meter dive, joining Nikki Perella from 2005. She is the first new champion at Class 2A since North Catholic’s Maggie Foley began her four-year reign in 2020, and is the 18th different student-athlete to win at the classification.
 
The top four finishers in Class 3A and top seven finishers in Class 2A have qualified for the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Girls’ Swimming & Diving Championships, which will be held March 13-16 at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University.
 
CLASS 3A RECAP
North Allegheny junior Lola Malarky led a clean sweep of the top three positions in Class 3A, winning the title with a score of 510.55 – 40.40 points ahead of second place.
 
Malarky is the 13th champion at Class 3A to post a score over 500.00, and the Tigers’ 1-2-3 finish is the third of its kind since 2020. North Allegheny previously accomplished this at the 2020 and 2021 championships when Christina Shi, Maya Ennis, and Zoe Ky swept the top three spots.
 
Tigers junior Juliet Hood (470.15) and sophomore Maggie Lapina (412.90) claimed second and third, respectively. Mars senior Emily Mueller was the final PIAA qualifier with a score of 390.55.
 
The remainder of the podium consisted of Pine-Richland junior Kendyll Jerry (374.65), Seneca Valley sophomore Ali Waters (373.80), Fox Chapel junior Ainsley Anderson (364.40), and Mars junior Mya Lee (359.20).
 
There were 25 competitors in the classification, with student-athletes from Bethel Park, Butler, Canon-McMillan, Fox Chapel, Franklin Regional, Greater Latrobe, Hempfield Area, Mars, North Allegheny, North Hills, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, and Upper St. Clair represented.

CLASS 2A RECAP
Hampton sophomore Gabby Elk took home gold in Class 2A, besting a large 28-competitor field with a score of 441.05.
 
Elk’s tally of 441.05 marks the sixth consecutive season in which the Class 2A champion was over 400.00. Her total was 35.50 points higher than the runner-up spot, which was claimed by Quaker Valley junior Ruby Olliffe (405.55). Olliffe’s teammate, senior Kate Blackmer, placed third with a score of 405.25.
 
The other PIAA qualifiers were Northgate senior Lilia MacKenzie (383.05), Quaker Valley junior Ruby Krotine (358.75), Derry junior Chaeli Keenan (351.15), and Beaver senior Elizabeth Michael (340.10). Thomas Jefferson senior Addison Arndt rounded out the eight-person podium with a tally of 338.30.
 
There were 28 competitors in the classification, with student-athletes from Beaver, Blackhawk, Central Valley, Derry, Elizabeth Forward, Freeport, Gateway, Hampton, Indiana, Ligonier Valley, Montour, Mt. Pleasant, Northgate, Oakland Catholic, Quaker Valley, Thomas Jefferson, West Allegheny, and Winchester Thurston represented.
 
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