North Hills swimmers set various pool records

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 7, 2019 | 8:03 PM

Pool records are falling at North Hills, and the newly minted marks for the Indians couldn’t come at a better time.

Training and competition is coming to a head before the WPIAL Class AAA championships at the end of this month.

On the girls (6-3) side, Madelyn Mahoney, put her name on the wall in two events.

First, the freshman phenom set the 100-yard freestyle mark with her time of 53.21 seconds Jan. 17 in a meet against Pine-Richland. Then, in the same meet, she teamed up with Sarah Grace Kuchma, Chloe Salopek and Madison Cordial to break the 200 free relay record with their time of 1:40.70.

“Madelyn, she was just two-tenths of a second off the team record. It was a really exciting performance from her. She has stepped in and proved her speed and versatility immediately,” North Hills coach Lucas Marsak said.

“Her and another freshman, Jewel Thomas, they’ve really helped elevate us as a team. They’ve contributed right away. They’ve been getting stronger and stronger as the season has gone on, and they’ve been able to play key roles for us in individual events and relay events.”

For the boys team (2-7), Josh Bogniard owns a record in the 100 back, recording a time of 54.79 to break a 28-year-old mark by Paul Kress III.

The sophomore is building a reputation as a force with which to be reckoned.

“Josh has definitely been demonstrating his speed and his competitiveness. He’s getting more and more excited to compete against stronger competition. I think he’s motivated to be one of the top sprinters and backstrokers in the area,” Marsak said.

“He definitely has goals to get to a higher level of swimming, and I think he’s on the cusp of that. He’s really swimming well, and I think he’s just beginning to scratch the surface.”

Bogniard and his senior teammate, Matt McHugh, have qualified for WPIALs in multiple individual events.

For the girls team, Mahoney, Thomas, Kuchma, Salopek, Cordial and Mia Cutenese have qualified in individual events for the Class AAA championship event, set for Feb. 28-March 1 at Pitt’s Trees Hall.

Kevin Lohman is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Hills