Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) hosted its WPIAL/UPMC Sports Medicine Girls’ Swimming Championships this past Thursday and Friday at Joseph C. Trees Pool on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. Over the two days, there were six championship meet records that fell, two student-athletes joining the historic four-time event champion club, and North Allegheny and Indiana capturing their respective team championships in Class 3A and Class 2A.
North Allegheny is now a 29-time WPIAL girls’ swimming & diving team champion, extending its historic streak to 17 consecutive years topping the podium. The Tigers now have a nine-title advantage on second-place Bethel Park (20), winning championships in 1973, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2004, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Indiana’s team championship is its first and becomes the 15th different school to win a WPIAL girls’ swimming & diving team title. The Indians are the fifth new champion at Class 2A since 2019, joining Elizabeth Forward (2020), Kiski Area (2024), Mt. Pleasant (2022), and Northgate (2019).
In Class 3A, Mt. Pleasant senior Sylvia Roy became a four-time champion in the 50 freestyle and 100 backstroke, joining Gateway’s Olivia Livingston (50 freestyle, 100 freestyle; 2017-20) and Penn Hills’ Melaine Buddemeyer (100 butterfly, 200 individual medley; 1981-84) as the only student-athletes since 1980 to win two separate events four times. Mt. Pleasant senior Lily King also became a four-time gold medalist in Class 2A, doing so in the 100 freestyle, and is an eight-time gold medalist across individual events with three wins in the 200 freestyle and a 2022 triumph in the 50 freestyle. In total, there are now 29 student-athletes since 1980 who have won four titles in a single event.
Additionally, Freeport senior Kira Schrecongost and Mt. Pleasant senior Kiersten O’Connor won their third gold medals respectively in the 100 butterfly and 50 freestyle, while six other student-athletes earned their second title in a specific event – Fox Chapel senior Sarah Pasquella (200 freestyle), Knoch senior Giona Lavorini (100 breaststroke), North Allegheny senior Claire Bacu (500 freestyle) and junior Dani Hinkson (200 individual medley), Pine-Richland senior Sarah Shaffer (100 breaststroke), and Shady Side Academy sophomore Ava Jochims (500 freestyle).
Each event champion and additional student-athletes and relay teams move onto the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Girls’ Swimming & Diving Championships, which will be held on March 12-15 at Kinney Natatorium on the campus of Bucknell University.
CLASS 3A RECAP
North Allegheny captured its 17th consecutive Class 3A team championship with a point total of 415.0 – besting runner-up Fox Chapel by 109.0 points. The Tigers carried 41 points from the previous weekend’s WPIAL Diving Championships, and garnered three gold medals (200 medley relay, 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle) and four silvers over the two-day event.
North Allegheny started the championships with a win in the 200 medley relay, as the junior quartet of Dani Hinkson, Tori Tieppo, Eva Ogden, and Madden Woycheck finished in 1:45.40 – 1.56 seconds ahead of runner-up Mt. Lebanon. Peters Township earned bronze with a time of 1:49.27.
Fox Chapel senior Sarah Pasquella defended her 200 freestyle title with a time of 1:48.79, finishing 2.11 seconds ahead of the field. North Allegheny junior Claire Bacu claimed silver with a time of 1:50.90 and Foxes sophomore Charlotte Rusche took third with a mark of 1:51.92.
Hinkson joined Pasquella for successful defenses with a win in the 200 individual medley, as her time of 2:07.72 bested Armstrong sophomore Amelia Bissell’s time of 2:08.17 by 0.45 seconds. Pine-Richland junior Riley Shafer took third with a time of 2:08.42.
Mt. Lebanon senior Sylvia Roy joined the four-time champion club in WPIAL championship meet fashion, breaking a seven-year standard in the 50 freestyle with a time of 22.57 seconds – 0.14 seconds ahead of the previous mark from Gateway’s Olivia Livingston in 2018. Peters Township sophomore Ava Komoroski finished second with a time of 23.54 seconds and Woodland Hills sophomore Cameron Peretti touched the wall in 23.67 seconds to earn bronze.
Norwin sophomore Amber Klingensmith captured gold in the 100 butterfly with a time of 56.34 seconds – topping runner-up Greater Latrobe senior Lauren Bell’s time of 56.66 seconds by 0.32 seconds. Peters Township senior Lauren Opitz claimed third with a time of 56.76 seconds.
Fox Chapel took its first of two relay wins in the 200 freestyle relay, as the team of Pasquella, Rusche, and sophomores Norah Kovach and Josephine Stanczak touched the wall in 1:35.14 – 0.21 seconds ahead of runner-up North Allegheny. Greater Latrobe took third with a mark of 1:37.99.
Komoroski claimed victory in the 100 freestyle after touching the wall in 51.68 seconds, besting runner-up Peretti’s time of 52.18 seconds by 0.50 seconds. Bell placed third with a time of 52.21 seconds.
Bacu defended her 500 freestyle crown with a time of 4:54.94, pacing the field by 5.56 seconds. North Allegheny sophomore Julia Tengowski made it a one-two Tiger finish with a time of 5:00.54, and Moon sophomore Madison Puthoff collected bronze with a mark of 5:04.24.
Roy broke another WPIAL championship meet record in the 100 backstroke, becoming a four-time champion in that event as well with a time of 52.53 seconds – 0.06 seconds faster than the previous standard of 53.59 seconds from North Allegheny’s Jacquelyn Du in 2015. Opitz placed second with a time of 56.60 seconds, and Klingensmith took third with a time of 57.24 seconds.
Pine-Richland senior Sarah Shaffer returned to the top of the 100 backstroke podium, pairing a new gold medal with her 2023 one with a time of 1:02.11 – just 0.04 seconds ahead of runner-up Pasquella. Seneca Valley sophomore Katie Bookwalter touched the wall in 1:04.24 to finish third.
Fox Chapel finished the day with a win in the 400 freestyle, as Pasquella, Kovach, Stanczak, and Rusche clocked in at 3:27.93 – 2.99 seconds faster than runner-up North Allegheny. Mt. Lebanon took third with a time of 3:32.88.
Following North Allegheny and Fox Chapel (306.0) on the team leaderboard was Pine-Richland (223.0), Mt. Lebanon (173.0), Seneca Valley (148.0), Greater Latrobe (143.0), Peters Township (120.0), Armstrong (119.0), Plum (118.0), and Norwin (104.0). A total of 25 teams had at least one student-athlete or relay that scored a team point.
CLASS 2A RECAP
Indiana earned its first Class 2A team championship in narrow fashion, totaling 240.5 points – just 2.5 points more than runner-up Mt. Pleasant. The Indians entered the championships without any points from the WPIAL Diving Championships, but displayed consistency throughout the two-day event and garnered two bronze medals, two fourth-place finishes, two sixth-place finishes, and points from a fifth, seventh, and eighth-place effort.
Mt. Pleasant posted a new WPIAL championship meet record in the 200 medley relay to begin the first day, with the team of seniors Kiersten O’Connor, Maddie Barrick, and Lily King, and junior Lainey Brown clocking in at 1:45.22 – topping the previous mark of 1:45.86 set by the Vikings in 2023. The quartet was 1.6 seconds ahead of the field, with Freeport (1:46.82) placing second and Indiana (1:49.60) taking third.
King captured her third consecutive title in the 200 freestyle, breaking her own WPIAL championship meet record in a process with a time of 1:44.62 – topping her 2024 mark of 1:46.01. Franklin Regional sophomore Scarlett Zolnak (1:55.12) and junior Magdalena Hull (1:55.54) finished second and third, respectively.
Shady Side Academy sophomore Ava Jochims joined the record-breaking party, setting a new WPIAL championship meet standard in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:00.09 – besting the previous mark of 2:00.57 set by Highlands’ Bailey Bonnett in 2016. Finishing second was Freeport senior Kira Schrecongost with a time of 2:06.44, and Knoch senior Giona Lavorini took third with a mark of 2:07.59.
Mt. Pleasant senior Kiersten O’Connor won her third straight gold medal in the 50 freestyle with a time of 23.30 seconds – just 0.07 seconds ahead of the runner-up, Thomas Jefferson senior Genevieve Cody at 23.37 seconds. Winchester Thurston junior Thea Siegel placed third with a time of 23.82 seconds.
Schrecongost captured her third gold medal in the 100 butterfly, clocking in with a time of 54.85 seconds – 0.55 seconds quicker than the time of 55.40 seconds from Hampton junior Lainey Sheets in second. Trinity sophomore Paige Schott earned bronze with a mark of 58.00 seconds.
Thomas Jefferson’s group of freshman Wynter Olsen, junior Shannon Chalfant, senior Nadia Casamassa, and Cody won the 200 freestyle relay with a time of 1:37.75 – topping runner-up Mt. Pleasant by 0.53 seconds at 1:38.28. Franklin Regional took third with a time of 1:38.47.
King became the newest member of the four-time champion club in the 100 freestyle, doing so with a new WPIAL championship meet record of 47.65 seconds – shattering her respective previous WPIAL and PIAA championship meet records of 48.21 and 48.38 seconds. Cody placed second with a mark of 50.84 seconds, and Siegel took third with a time of 52.43 seconds.
Jochims made it two-for-two in the 500 freestyle, remaining undefeated in the event at the WPIAL championships with a time of 4:54.22 – 20.12 seconds ahead of the time of 5:14.34 from Quaker Valley senior Margaret Getty in second. Hull claimed bronze with a time of 5:16.89.
O’Connor won the 100 backstroke for her second individual medal of the championships, doing so with a time of 54.62 seconds – 0.94 seconds ahead of reigning champion Sheets’ time of 55.56 seconds. Northgate freshman JoAnn Cook took third with a time of 56.26 seconds.
Lavorini defended her title in the 100 breaststroke, claiming gold with a time of 1:03.03 – 0.71 seconds ahead of the runner-up time of 1:03.74 from Southmoreland junior Allison Stinnett. Indiana senior Peyton Scott collected bronze after touching the wall in 1:03.84.
Mt. Pleasant finished the day with a win in the 400 freestyle relay, as the team of Barrick, Brown, King, and sophomore Riley Shinsky clocked in at 3:33.46 – 2.65 seconds ahead of runner-up Franklin Regional at 3:36.11. Freeport took third with a time of 3:36.22.
Following Indiana and Mt. Pleasant (238.0) on the team leaderboard was Franklin Regional (204.0), Freeport (197.0), Hampton (181.0), Derry (167.0), Thomas Jefferson (149.0), Northgate (119.5), Quaker Valley (110.0), and Shady Side Academy (88.0). A total of 34 teams had at least one student-athlete or relay that scored a team point.
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