Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) hosted its WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Diving Championships this past Friday and Saturday at North Allegheny High School. A total of 42 student-athletes competed across the two classifications, with North Allegheny junior Maggie Lapina earning the Class 3A title and Hampton junior Gabby Elk defending her Class 2A gold medal.
Lapina makes it six consecutive seasons that North Allegheny has won WPIAL gold in the 1-meter dive, extending a streak that started with Christina Shi from 2020 to 2023 and then was followed by Lola Malarky last season. She is the fourth different Tigers student-athlete to win the title since 1980, joining Malarky (2024), Shi (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), and Jamie Tomazich (1994, 1995, 1996), and her win makes it twice in four years that North Allegheny has swept both Class 3A diving titles after classmate Ethan Maravich won the boys’ crown.
Elk is the 23rd student-athlete to win at least two WPIAL girls’ diving championships since 1980. She is Hampton’s second student-athlete to claim gold in the 1-meter dive, joining Nikki Perella from 2005.
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 12-15 at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University.
CLASS 3A RECAP
North Allegheny junior Maggie Lapina continued her school’s dominance in the Class 3A diving final on Saturday, winning the gold medal with a score of 477.80 – just 10.45 points ahead of second place.
Lapina was last year’s bronze medalist with a score of 412.90, competing a Tigers top three on the podium. Mars senior Mya Lee – the 2024 eighth-place finisher – earned silver with a score of 467.35, while North Allegheny senior and last year’s runner-up Juliet Hood took bronze with a mark of 430.35.
The final PIAA qualifier spot went to Seneca Valley junior Ali Waters with a score of 426.70. The remainder of the podium was made up of Upper St. Clair junior Delaney Burnette (5th, 424.55), Upper St. Clair sophomore Livia Tranquilli (6th, 422.70), Mars sophomore Marin Rable (7th, 415.40), and Pine-Richland freshman Charlotte Degrands (8th, 407.20).
North Allegheny will carry 41 points into this week’s WPIAL Girls’ Swimming Championships, and Mars brings 29 points from its finishes.
There were 26 competitors across 15 schools in Class 3A, with Bethel Park, Butler, Canon-McMillan, Fox Chapel, Gateway, Greater Latrobe, Mars, Montour, North Allegheny, Penn-Trafford, Peters Township, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley, South Fayette, and Upper St. Clair represented.
CLASS 2A RECAP
Hampton junior Gabby Elk successfully defended her Class 2A gold medal on Friday, registering a score of 444.25 – putting her 12.30 points ahead of the field.
Elk improved upon last year’s winning score of 441.05 to become the newest two-time champion. Quaker Valley senior Ruby Olliffe duplicated her runner-up finish from 2024 with a score of 431.95, and Derry senior Chaeli Keenan took bronze with a mark of 414.30.
Derry senior Ella Sylvis (4th, 372.85), Winchester Thurston senior Leila Monahan (5th, 356.05), and Derry sophomores Genavieve Hoyle (6th, 338.65) and Lidia Gamble (7th, 326.00) also earned qualification into the PIAA Championships with their finishes. Central Valley senior Hannah Stolec rounded out the podium in eighth with a score of 300.80.
Derry brings 56 points into this week’s WPIAL Girls’ Swimming Championships with its finishes, while Elk’s win gives Hampton 20 points.
There were 16 student-athletes from 11 schools competing in Class 2A, with Beaver, Central Valley, Derry, Elizabeth Forward, Franklin Regional, Hampton, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, Quaker Valley, Uniontown, and Winchester Thurston represented.
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